After half a decade of legal turmoil and a wealth of tabloid attention our beloved dirty pop queen Kesha has finally blessed us with new music. “Praying” is the first song to surface off the singer’s forthcoming album, Rainbow, and it very directly addresses everything the world has seen her go through over the last several years.
The video for “Praying,” which arrived online early Thursday morning, opens with a monologue that includes the following lines:
Am I dead? Or is this one of those dreams? Those horrible dreams that seem like they last forever? If I am alive, why? If there is a God or whatever, something, somewhere, why have I been abandoned by everyone and everything I’ve ever known? I’ve ever loved? Stranded. What is the lesson? What is the point? God, give me a sign, or I have to give up. I can’t do this anymore. Please just let me die. Being alive hurts too much.
The sadness of these words teases a depressing song, but “Praying” actually turns into something empowering quite quickly. After remarking on how the world has told her she would never be anything of worth, Kesha fights back, recognizing that she is capable of anything she puts her mind to in this life. She sings of finding the strength to defy those that try to hold you down, stopping just long enough to pity their stupidity, before triumphantly declaring the start of a new chapter in her life.
There may be some metaphors and clever phrasing found in the lyrics to “Praying,” but any doubts about the inspiration for the track are squashed when witnessing the official video. Kesha is lost, stranded at sea, and hunted by pigs in suits. The allegory could not be more obvious unless the planet everything took place on was called Music Business-topia.
Kesha will release her new album, Rainbow, in August. Stay tuned to Substream for updates.
