One day I was listening to music on my iPad, sitting in the car after a long day at school. I was listening to all of my music on shuffle play, staring out the window at the monotonous San Francisco landscape, made up of old victorians, gas stations, corner stores, and the occasional abandoned lot. I was bullied a lot at school, but I never really told anybody, because I knew if it came back to the bullies it would get worse. That day had been especially horrible, and I was just trying to forget what had happened. The songs playing through my headphones were just echoes in the background, unimportant. Then, I heard the lyrics:
You are not a burden, not a waste
You’re not a copy, can’t be replaced
You’re not your pain, not your past
Your scars will never hold you back
There’s so much that you’ve been through that nobody knows
So many things you never show (“You’re” 18-23)
Dani Cimorelli’s voice rang through my ears, and I decided that, from that day on, I wouldn’t be afraid of what they would do if I told. I wouldn’t keep what happened every day inside. Instead, I would be confident, and never be afraid again. So, I told my dad what happened. Those few lyrics changed a lot. Cimorelli is a band made up of 6 sisters, Amy, Kath, Lisa, Dani, Christina and Lauren Cimorelli. They grew up in Sacramento, only a few hours north from here in SF. They all have a love for country music, which greatly influences their music. Many of Cimorelli’s songs criticize things troubling young people, such as body image, self esteem issues, and stereotypes. “You’re Worth It” was released on Cimorelli’s album Renegade, and the song was released specifically on October 3, 2014. It points out many stereotypes, and carries the general message of most Cimorelli songs: Be yourself. Cimorelli uses rhyme, symbolism and loaded language to convey the inspiring message that it doesn’t matter what people think about you because you are irreplaceable and unique.
Cimorelli uses rhyme to help convey the theme that it doesn’t matter what other people’s opinions of you are, because you are irreplaceable and unique. In the hook of the song, Cimorelli focuses on body image and insecurity by singing, “You are not your make up, not your clothes/An anonymous face that no one knows”(“You’re” 1-2) By rhyming “not your make up, not your clothes” with “anonymous face that no one knows” Cimorelli connects makeup and clothes, which are part of our exterior identity to being faceless, hiding yourself and following the crowd. This connects to the message that other people’s misconceptions about you, because you are irreplaceable and unique.
Cimorelli’s final literary device is loaded language. They use this device to convey the message that you are not defined by what other people think of you because you are irreplaceable and unique. Although in the first verse and in the hook Cimorelli may focus on body image, in the fourth verse they switch over to a part of the message involving uniqueness by singing: “You are not a burden, not a waste/You’re not a copy can’t be replaced” By using strongly negative words like “burden,” “waste” and “copy,” Cimorelli conveys a negative attitude towards people who want to bring us down. This reveals the theme that no matter what other people think, you are irreplaceable and unique.
What makes this song inspirational is probably the video. In the video, there is a part in the beginning that says, “What defines us? Our choices? Our looks? Our feelings? If I feel like I’m nothing, is it true?"(Music Video) This part can help people understand the point of the song, and the message. Although the song has many, many good aspects, more literary devices could have been used. A very minimal amount of literary devices were used in the song, and it would have been more powerful with more literary devices, or ones other than loaded language and rhyme.
All in all, “You’re Worth It” is a song that conveys an inspirational message that can be important to everybody: You are never defined by what people think of you, because you are irreplaceable and unique. This to pic is important because a lot of people suffer from self esteem issues or are bullied for aspects of their personalities, and this song is very uplifting and can help people feel better. This is relevant to my own life because I have been bullied about aspects of my personality for my entire life, and this song just lifts me up and makes me feel happy after a bad day. Most of the music I hear promotes stereotypes by singing or rapping about skinny women who have a stereotypical body type, which objectifies women and can make people have self esteem issues based on the way they look. Cimorelli sings of self acceptance, which is a much needed change in this society of bullies.
Works Cited
Cimorelli. “You’re Worth It.” Renegade. By Cimorelli. Cimorelli. Rec. 3 Oct. 2014. Universal
Records, 2014.
Cimorelli. “Cimorelli-You’re Worth It.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 16 May
2016.
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