Freedom Begins with You.

Build Yourself First.

It’s Friday. We do music on Friday.

Yes, we look for music with freedom-oriented themes. But we also want it to be good tunes that you might add to your playlist.

“Rebel,” by The Picturebooks featuring Lzzy Hale, is good, solid rock. I like Hale’s bad-girl vibe and take-no-prisoners voice. Maybe you will too.

So what’s the tie-in here?

It’s simple, really. Everything begins with you.

That’s not a selfish attitude; it’s just the truth.

• If you’re weak and needy, you won’t be as good a friend.

• If you’re codependent, you won’t make as good a spouse as if you’re strong and confident.

• If you’re enslaved in your heart, you’ll never be free, no matter what happens in the world.

As Hale sings, you’ve got to be “a rebel from the inside out.”

First, she establishes the difficulties of external circumstances:

I’ve been talking with angels crying, trying to understand
I’ve been dealing with devils lying, just to play my hand
Always some kind of gravity beating, trying to keep me down

And like many of us, she starts to look for help from external sources:

I saw the eyes of salvation at the end of a cigarette
Empty promises and empty bottles went straight to my head
I’ve been searching for remedies nowhere to be found

I was counting on you, boy, to comе and save me from myself
I depended on love to escape my personal hell

Soon comes the realization.

I never needed anyone, baby, I know that now
I’m gonna be a rebel from the inside out
From the inside out

I don’t need your prayers or epiphanies any more
I won’t give my apologies babe for breaking down that door
I’m gonna turn all my tears into diamonds for my crown
I’m gonna be a rebel from the inside out

None of this means that we should be alone or should want to be alone. Quite the contrary. We should just try to be the best we can as individuals.

Buzzwords like “empowerment” kinda bug me sometimes, but I just woke up, and I can’t think of a better word right now. It’s empowering to stop blaming the world for our problems. It’s empowering to stop looking outside ourselves for solutions.

Build yourself, build your world—from the inside out.

Then join together as strong individuals.

Rock on.