VOA名师答疑2023--What Does the Song, ‘This Is Me’ Mean?

What Does the Song, ‘This Is Me’ Mean?

Hello. This week on Ask a Teacher, we will explain parts of a song for a listener.

Question:

I have a song I want you to explain. It is This Is Me from the Greatest Showman.

Masafumi, Japan

Answer:

Dear Masfumi,

Thanks for writing to us. The song you asked about is from a 2017 movie about P.T. Barnum. He started his circus, a traveling show featuring unusual animals and people, in 1870. He gathered performers of all kinds for the show. One was a very small man. Another was a very tall woman. A woman named Josephine Clofullia had a beard; her face was covered with long hair. In her act people called her a "bearded lady."

In the movie, Hugh Jackman plays the part of P.T. Barnum. One of his lines in the movie expresses his view of the unusual people he employs: "Every one of us is special, and nobody is like anyone else. That's the point of my show."

The actor who sings the song This Is Me in the movie is Keala Settle. She plays the character Lettie Lutz, a bearded lady, in The Greatest Showman.

Song meaning

Now that you know about where the song appears and who sings it, let us look at its meaning. The song is about strength in the face of criticism¹. The singer confirms her individuality and self-acceptance.

Here are the words of the song showing its basic meaning. First, the criticism:

Hide away, they say

'Cause we don't want your broken parts

I've learned² to be ashamed of all my scars³

Run away, they say

No one will love you as you are

Next, her resistance⁴ to it and self-acceptance:

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down

I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out

I am brave, I am bruised⁵

I am who I'm meant to be, this is me

To be "bruised" can mean to have marks on one's skin from a blow. But it can also mean a person received an emotional⁶ injury. Another image we can draw from the song's words is the person who hears a "different drummer" and marches, or moves forward, to that beat.

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 song uses a common expression about a person who does not follow the expected path. That person is "marching to the beat of a different drummer."

In one part of the song, the singer uses "we" to include all of the unusual performers in the show.

We are bursting through the barricades⁸

And reaching for the sun (we are warriors)

Yeah, that's what we've become

Connection to social issues

I hope this answers your question, Masafumi. You may also find it interesting to know that Barnum was against the practice of slavery before it became illegal in this country. And the ideas presented in the movie The Greatest Showman are being debated today.

Do you have a question for us? Write to us at [email protected] and we will try to answer you in another Ask a Teacher.

I'm Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

bruised – adj. injured in a way that causes discoloration to the skin

barricade⁷ – n. a line of vehicles or other objects placed across a road or open space to stop people from getting past, for example, during street fighting or as a protest

1 criticism   

n.批评，批判，指责；评论，评论文章

参考例句：

• Some youth today do not allow any criticism at all.现在有些年轻人根本指责不得。
• It is wrong to turn a deaf ear to other's criticism.对别人的批评充耳不闻是错误的。

2 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

3 scars   

n.伤痕( scar的名词复数 )；精神上的创伤；有损外观的地方；裸岩

参考例句：

• Slowly the war scars faded. 战争的创伤慢慢地消失了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• I've got scars from head to toe in tribute to my courage. 为了嘉奖我的胆量，我得到浑身的伤疤。 来自辞典例句

4 resistance   

n.抵抗力，反抗，反抗行动；阻力，电阻；反对；adj.抵抗的

参考例句：

• Very little resistance was put up by the enemy.敌人没怎么进行抵抗。
• An aircraft has to overcome the resistance of the air.飞机须克服空气的阻力。

5 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

6 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

7 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

8 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。