It’s been a while since I’ve played along with Helen and her weekly Song Lyric Sunday link up.

But when I saw her word of the week was courage, I had to join in.

We listen to a collection of older CDs in the car and for the past week the Hits of 2014 has been in the player and we’ve been playing Sara Bareille‘s Brave on repeat.

There is something truly wonderful, hopeful and rather empowering about my 5-year-old daughter screaming out from the backseat about how she wants to see me be brave as she sings along with the song.

Here are the lyrics, courtesy of AZlyrics:

You can be amazing;
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug.
You can be the outcast;
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love.
Or you can start speaking up.

Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do;
When they settle ‘neath your skin.
Kept on the inside and no sunlight;
Sometimes a shadow wins.
But I wonder what would happen if you…

Say what you wanna say.
And let the words fall out.
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out.
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave.

Everybody’s been there,
Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy.
Fallen for the fear;
And done some disappearing,
Bow down to the mighty.
Don’t run, just stop holding your tongue.

Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live.
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in.
Show me how big your brave is

And since your history of silence;
Won’t do you any good,
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty.
Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out.
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.
With what you want to say;
And let the words fall out.
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave.

The song is from her fourth studio album, The Blessed Unrest, from 2013.

That said, I didn’t notice it at the time. According to Wikipedia it only hit #58 in Canada, so maybe that’s why.

Indeed, I discovered the song courtesy of blogging and a fellow blogger who loved and raved about the song online.

She was right. So I went out and found it.

The singer’s inspiration for the song was seeing the struggles that a close friend dealt with regarding coming out as gay.

I love the message of the song about finding the courage to speak up and say your piece, and still find it motivating to listen to when I need a bit of a confidence boost or am struggling with a situation. Sometimes we all need the reminder to be courageous, find our voice and be brave.

And I currently love that I now have the pleasure of hearing my youngest sing along to it almost daily in the car.

What songs give you courage?