Paintings of the Stars is a song that tells of finding a voice and creativity and the will to fight back during hardship. It is, I feel, a universal story to BIPOC and people living in poverty, people who are takatāpui, or neurodivergent. There has, for a very long time, been no platform for people who don't fit a very specific set of characteristics in society, so it is on us to make our own.
The song also deals with other universal feelings for people in a social minority -- such as being misunderstood by people who have privilege, or the euphoria of seeing people like yourself represented. I hope that, in sharing a fictionalised version of these hardships, I can speak to people who feel as if their voice is not being heard and reassure them that if they sing loud enough the melodies will let them fly.
lyrics
She wants to play piano, but her parents laugh when she mentions it
They can’t afford it, and she cries because she understands
Hiding, in her own house seeking guidance from the dark
Afraid of the world, this room is quiet
Every night, she lies awake, wants to stop worrying
The world is loud, and she thinks about escaping
Crying, when she sees people who look like her
Dance in paintings of the stars
Whatever happened to that little girl
Who bears the weight of the world?
Did she learn to write the songs
The melodies that let her fly
Away
Grown now she talks to a man who tells her off her life
And speaks as if she doesn’t know
The world is strangling her again, she tries to find the words
This time will the voice be her own?
Whatever happened to that little girl
Who bears the weight of the world?
Did she learn to write the songs
The melodies that let her fly
Hearing your name in someone’s story
Reaching out to touch another
Sorrow swells and fills the airwaves,
Have you found your voice at last?
Whatever happened to that little girl
Who bears the weight of the world?
Did she learn to write the songs
The melodies that let her fly
Away
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