On August 9, 2024, the Filipino singer-songwriter Beabadoobee released her recent album This is How Tomorrow Moves. On her discography, you can find 14 tracks that are either mellow and soft-spoken, or indie rock. One song in particular stood out to me the most, which is "Girl Song", the sixth track. "Girl Song" is a song that embodies the struggles of being a young girl in the modern day.
In the first verse, Beabadoobee sings, "In a way, I’m figuring it out at my own pace. Just a girl who overthinks about proportions or her waist, the creases on her face." Already at the beginning of the song, the listener can feel the pain of insecurities that girls go through. In this generation, many young girls are faced with the idea of fitting in society’s beauty standards — or at least how they see it. Widespread concepts of beauty can be found across various social media platforms. Girls are often found comparing themselves to other people out there who could have their ideal body features, something they desperately desire. Beabadoobee details every type of insecurities someone could have, which could be their proportions, waist, or creases in their face, as she states. These lines give an idea that this artist understands the feeling of overthinking each of their characteristics.
In the first and second choruses, Beabadoobee sings about girls making constant mistakes and finding what to say. "All I want to do is find the words to make it up to you. Making all the same mistakes, I guess there’s still a lot to prove. And there’s something I can’t say in an ordinary way." Everyone has their own difficulties when it comes to communicating. Sometimes, we could go through our own cycles that may end up hurting ourselves or even our loved ones. When it is time to own our actions, we become anxious about the fact that things could change. In response, we begin to act overly sensitive or have other emotions that could go through ourselves when we are overwhelmed. "And there’s something I can’t say in an ordinary way” emphasizes the idea that we may not always keep calm and composed when we are in situations that involve speaking out.
The second verse can represent the girls who struggle with their body image. "Waking up to hardly recognizing my own face. Just a stranger in the mirror thinking, 'Oh, what a shame. I didn’t think she’d look this way.’ Don’t look any different to how I looked yesterday." Beabadoobee’s lyrics represent how girls could feel that they look different physically on many days — even though they do look the same. This part of the song can illustrate the idea of girls who suffer with body dysmorphia.
In the bridge of this mellow piece, the artist’s lyrics can represent the girls who have trouble opening up and admitting they seek help. "Brain’s no good at fighting. My hands are tired, and I’m out loose. And I’m no good at lying; I’m better at denying. The consequence that stands, damn, I need a helping hand." The bridge speaks out to me the most, as it says that we can become burnt out in everything we do, whether it is at work, school, or any other place. We do our best to do everything we can with our power, but in the end we realize we need a helping hand at times.
Finally, Beabadoobee continuously refrains the lines, "Day like no other, and just another bad day." It enforces the idea of an endless cycle every girl goes through that drains us physically, mentally, and emotionally.
"Girl Song" is my favorite track in This is How Tomorrow Moves. Beabadoobee’s piece beautifully displays the problems of being a young girl in this generation. Whether it is through insecurity, fear, denial, or anything else, "Girl Song" truly expresses the mind of most girls in this world.
Image Courtesy of Erin Mc in Flickr.
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