This Is Me

This Is Me

This is Me is a song from The Greatest Showman. It truly embodies what it means to be different.

Verse 1:

I am not a stranger to the dark
Hide away, they say
‘Cause we don’t want your broken parts
I’ve learned to be ashamed of all my scars
Run away, they say
No one’ll love you as you are

This song is about accepting who you are and really embracing and supporting who you want to become. In modern society, people are so critical and judgmental. We’re taught to hide away our insecurities and change everything about ourselves: our appearance, our mannerisms, and our background in order to be accepted. Every day of my life I see ads for people to change their skin, change their hair color, change their body type; if you aren’t the ideal body type, you’re out.

I’ve heard stories about people not being accepted in LA because of their body type. A fairly slim comedian was told that she wouldn’t make it in LA because she was too fat and she looked too old. She was 30 and slim. In this day in age, if you don’t look like a Kardashian you’re not accepted. There’s a reason they advertise fat burning lollipops and waist trainers, and it isn’t because they think the product works. They advertise the products for money, because that’s what people care about now.

Pre-Chorus & Chorus

But I won’t let them break me down to dust
I know that there’s a place for us
For we are glorious

Instead of listening to society and changing herself, she won’t let it happen. If you’re not accepted in one place, you will be in another. There’s a reason that there’s so many cliques throughout high school, even throughout life. If one group of people doesn’t accept you, another group is bound to.

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I’m meant to be, this is me
Look out ’cause here I come
And I’m marching on to the beat I drum
I’m not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me

The Chorus is about just ignoring everyone’s opinions and going about your life. Instead of focusing on that people think is wrong and trying to change it, the song tells you to embrace it. Don’t apologize to anyone for who you are, and don’t change for anyone. Charlotte Temple changed and look where that got her. George stayed true to himself and it made him a new lifelong friend. This truly illuminates the fact that if you stay true to yourself. If your voice is more powerful than the voices of those who are trying to change you, then there’s nothing they can do.

Verse 2:

Another round of bullets hits my skin
Well, fire away ’cause today, I won’t let the shame sink in
We are bursting through the barricades
And reaching for the sun
(We are warriors)
Yeah, that’s what we’ve become
(Yeah, that’s what we’ve become)

The second verse basically just reiterates that you shouldn’t let anyone tell you who you can or cannot be. People will continue to fire away with insults and try to break you down, but if you fight back and continue to stand strong, nothing bad will come of it. Instead of sitting and taking the criticism, the cast members became warriors because they fought back and didn’t allow anyone to beat them down.

Outro

(Oh-oh-oh-oh)When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
(Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Oh-oh-oh-oh)
I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
(Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh)
This is me

The outro ends with the most powerful part. It reiterates that no criticism or negative opinions will be taken, and that they will instead fight back and continue to stay louder than the opposition. The song ends with the most powerful phrase: “This is me.” This shows that nobody will be able to change them, and nobody should be able to. People were frowned upon in this movie for having a slight difference, or even for being black. This still happens in society today, and it shouldn’t. It only happens because we let it, and there needs to be a change.

-Collin Bierley