As Ella Henderson prepares for the release of her upcoming EP, Glorious, she gives fans a glimpse into the new project with the release of “Young.” “Young” is the second single to release from Glorious, following Henderson’s successful first release, “Glorious.” Both singles from Glorious share similar themes of self-liberation and acceptance, which are things we always love to hear! “Young” particularly focuses attention on all of the societal and political injustices occurring and how exactly we can learn from these experiences to find a new space for growth and potential. The 23-year-old singer admits that she too is in the middle of navigating her life, reassuring us that we’re not alone in the fight for equality.
The intro for “Young” starts off strong with a very captivating message. A small child’s voice leads us into the song with a short-yet-moving spiel: “This is life people. You got air coming through your nose, you got a heartbeat… that means it’s time to do something.” This unique direction Henderson and co-producer Jordan Riley chose for the song really sets it off in the right tone. It’s a friendly reminder that we’re all privileged enough to be living in this moment, making for a wonderfully positive opening statement.
Henderson then begins singing the first verse where she vaguely speaks about the social and political issues society has undergone within this past decade. She sings “And I don’t mean to be the one // But I’ma go ahead and say this // But we were dealt with a bad hand // Sold our souls to the bad man // And now our home is dry land.” She shares her feelings, claiming that we cannot help the situation we were born into, but that doesn’t mean we’re stuck there forever. She continues into the pre-chorus: “If we grow up believing we can’t change // We’ll never love the life and road we take // I see too many kids these days self medicating // Tell me what’s the deal with that?” Here, the singer puts a positive, uplifting spin on the current state of events and encourages us all to fight for the things we want to change. In the words of the young narrator in the intro of the song, “it’s time to do something!”
Perhaps the most striking part of “Young” is the simplistic chorus where Henderson shares her outlook on how she lives her life. She states, “If we just be who we are // Then we could be proud of a lot // And be forever young // We’ll be forever young.” Using feminist principles in her lyrics, Henderson empowers us by motivating the world to simply “be who we are.” Once we all reach a healthy level of self-actualization, we can break free from all of the hate, judgment and insecurities that come along with growing up in today’s world. She also makes a great point that once we reach this level of self-acceptance, we feel youthful, just as we did as children. She reminds us of simpler times when we were children and acted more ambitious due to our lack of fear and embarrassment. She confirms that our youthful, child-like parts of the soul are still with us; it’s just up to us to tap back into that secure energy.
Featured Image: Warner Records
