Jason Mraz released a
much-awaited studio album in 2018 called "Know" and it was his sixth.
However, only 10 songs made it in the album’s tracklist. Other
gems from the singer/songwriter’s roster had to be still unreleased. One of
those unreleased gems was a song called “My Own Shit”.
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| Jason Mraz from redandblack.com |
LINK FROM YOUTUBE:
Judging from the title, it was
not very radio-friendly with regards to the profanity of the word “shit”. In
line with this, a song from that album called “Unlonely” used the word “fruck”
to disguise some other word that rhymes with it. Going beyond the title, one
would really feel the emotion running through the course of the whole song. I
would say that “My Own Shit” could humanize whoever is singing along with it.
With only audience recordings
of the song’s rare performance available, it could be said that
non-concertgoers like me would be able to grasp the meaning of the song.
The song starts off with these
lines.
“Everybody’s got a little bit
of their own
I got voices inside
And I got fears I still hide
I’m gonna break down sometimes
‘Cause I got tears I must cry
I’ve got wrongs I get to right
Truth be told I’ve told some
lies
I’ve got friends I’ve got to
find
And I still need to apologize…”
Soon after, Jason leads us to
this wonderful chorus.
“Everybody's got, everybody's
got
Everybody's got their demons
Everybody got their reasons
Everybody goes to seasons
Trying to hold on
Everybody’s got their own shit
Everybody's got to own it
Everybody's got those
hardships they're trying to let go of
I've got my own”
The song tells us about the struggle
present in one’s life. There are conflicts involving friends, parents and
families, and even lovers. But as for me, the most difficult one to handle
would be the conflicts that one could have with their own self. Those inner
demons can damage you more than anything else, and eventually be the roots of
the conflicts one is bound to have with some, if not all, of the relationships
and interactions needed for harmonious living.
It can be very challenging to
admit that you have issues and roots of conflicts within you. What can make it
work is knowing that “everybody’s got a little bit of their own”. Knowing that
we all experience problems though they may not be entirely similar. It is not
about the joy knowing that there is somebody else feeling the same agony that
you feel, but it is instead about the thought that you are not alone. “I am not
the only one who is still a work in progress.”
The worst thing that one can
feel after acknowledging the existence of his/her demons and conflicts is the
feeling of being alone. One shall not be a lone fighter in this world. One
cannot overcome his battles alone. Being there for someone can be really instrumental
in accomplishing that work in progress.
