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"Free to Be Me" is a song written by Francesca Battistelli, from her debut album My Paper Heart, released in 2009.
The song has been said to "not [be] afraid to look at life's highs and lows from a very personal angle". Battistelli wrote the song to cheer herself up after backing into a lawyer's car in her driveway.
At twenty years of age
I'm still looking for a dream
A war is already waged for my destiny
But You've already won the battle
And You've got great plans for me
Though I can't always see
'Cause I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
And on my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me
When I was just a girl
I thought I had it figured out
See my life will turn out right
And I'll make it here somehow
But things don't always come that easy
And sometimes I would doubt
'Cause I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
And on my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me
And you're free to be you
Sometimes I believe
That I can do anything
Yet other times I think
I've got nothing good to bring
But You look at my heart and You tell me
That I've got all You seek
And it's easy to believe, even though...
Got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
And on my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
And on my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me
And you're free to be you
WAGED= If a war is waging, it is happening. The war alluded here is the fight between good and bad that takes place in her heart and her mind.
YOU= We usually capitalize the pronouns and possessive adjectives referring to God. Here she's referring to God so we spell "You". Later you'll find a sentence which is not referring to God but to the listener, so it's not capitalized: "and you're free to be you".
I CAN'T ALWAYS SEE= Sometimes I don't understand.
We often use the verb "see" with the meaning of "understand":
- You broke it. See? this is why I told you not to touch it.
- Can't you see that I love you? It's only that I love you in my own way.
- Sorry, I don't see what you mean.
- Well, if it doesn't make any sense to you, keep reading and you will see.
Following the analogy, we can also use the image of opening your eyes meaning to realize, to make pieces fit in your mind:
- Open your eyes and see that if we continue this lifestyle we're destroying the planet.
- Things are not what you think. When will you open your eyes (and see)?
- And then, suddenly, my eyes opened and I could see (= I could understand)
GOT= (coll.) I've got, I have.
DENTS= A dent is a hollow or dip in a surface, as one made by pressure or a blow. If another car hits your car lightly, you will get a dent in your car.
FENDER (AmE, = BrE bumper)= A protection band cars have on the front and on the back as protection against mild bumping (see picture)
RIP= A tear in a piece of cloth, the place where a garment is torn, broken (see picture of ripped jeans).
TRY TO FIT THE PIECES TOGETHER= This is not an imperative, but the subject is missing, it should be: "I try to fit the pieces together" which means "I'm trying to understand, I'm trying to make sense out of all this".
In a literal sense, to fit the pieces together means to be able to join the correct pieces of a jigsaw puzzle (see picture) to get the right picture.
ON MY OWN= Alone, without help (in this case, without God's help)
CLUMSY= /klʌmzɪ/ If you are clumsy you have no ability.
Note: words ending in /ɪ/ can also be pronounced with a /i:/ so here she actually says /klʌmzi:/
FIGURED OUT= If you figure something out, you solve that problem or you can take a decision about it. In this case she means that when she was a girl she thought she could understand everything (she had solved the mystery of life, or maybe, for her, there was no mystery at all, it was all crystal clear). It can also mean that when she was a girl she knew what her life was going to be (she had taken all the decisions).
TURN OUT RIGHT= If something turns out right, it has a happy ending.
MAKE IT= If you make it to a place, you go there.
SOMEHOW= One way or another, in some unspecified way.
DOUBT= /daʊt/ hesitate, not to be sure about what to do.
YET= Nevertheless, but.
SEEK= Look for.
EVEN THOUGH= This is an emphatic equivalent of ALTHOUGH.
This song says that if you trust in God, you can stop worrying about life and problems because you know that your life makes sense and God has plans for you, plans that may look nice or bad, but if they are God's plans you know that they are always the best for you, what you need, so you don't need to worry. If you believe that, your anxiety disappears and you will feel free and strong, no matter how confused and weak you feel now, and you will have the courage to move through life making the right choices.
So the basic message is: I'm small and weak, but if I trust in You, Lord, I'll get Your strength and Your support and I will understand, and I will have the strength to realize my full potential:
on my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me
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