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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
So... if you happen to catch the next time someone gets that cheeky look on their face and says to me, "So is it true that you wrote Love Song for your record label when they told you to write them a love song?"
You will mostly likely see me smile and answer yes.
But you'll know better.
i have been listening to sara bareilles for as long as i can remember. one of my earliest and most formative memories is seeing her face displayed on the screen of every possible television set at the entrance of the sam's club in my hometown, the music video for king of anything playing on all of them. since then, i have been carrying her music with me, letting her soundtrack some of my most hectic years, so i am forever grateful to have her songs in the background of my life.
that makes sense the more that i think about it, considering the whirlwind of events that she details in this book. her music thrives and connects the best in chaos. no wonder her most recent record is named that. even though this is about a world i am not entirely familiar with, it is insightful as hell. this is a side of sara that you can encounter easily in her discography, but you will never really know it until you have seen it put down on the page. she speaks openly about her experiences in the music industry and earnestly about her slow but steady progress into feeling accomplished, fulfilled, and loved. it is exactly the kind of story that speaks outside the bounds of anything standard.
the day that what's inside was released, i instantly fell in love with every song, their sweet simplicity a perfect accompaniment for the musical that waitress would soon be. it is interesting to revisit it all these years later, reading her thoughts before she would ever go on to play the woman she was writing for. to echo her, full circle indeed.
i highly recommend listening to the audiobook while reading a physical copy! she sings every song that each chapter is named after, so hearing it in combination with reading her handwritten lyrics makes the read feel much more personal. i have to say, though, the song i loved hearing her sing most isn't the title of any of the essays. also, the photos of her! everything about this memoir is so lived in, something absent from others i have read. i can't wait to see what she does now. (i wish it was more girls5eva!)
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Highly recommend the audiobook so you can hear Sara singing the songs for each chapter a cappella. As a big longtime fan, I loved the insights into her songwriting process. The beauty of a memoir like this is that hearing her vulnerabilities forges a deeper understanding of how universal one's own vulnerabilities are, too.
Once again Sara’s magic gives me exactly what I need when I need it. It was wonderful to read about her journey and see that it was just as winding and flawed as my own, and when it comes down to it, none of us have any idea what we are doing. I can’t wait to read the updated version of her book!
I listened to the audiobook of this because I had some spare audible credits and had just had my mind changed about Sara by her song King of Anything (previously I had not been a fan). I found parts of this book engaging, but most of it fairly bland. I was put off by Sara's comments about the fact that Friends and Seinfeld episodes in Italy (she went on exchange there) were dubbed over in Italian. What did she expect? Everyone gets a bit homesick when they are overseas but to expect a country to not put a TV show in their native language smacks of the American imperialism that has driven me mad recently. (I say this as a US citizen - my dad is from the US and I have spent a lot of time there). She does come off as quite honest though, gotta hand her that.
3.5 stars but I’m rounding up. I loved listening to Sara read and sing in the audiobook. Some of the stories were a lot more interesting than others.
As far as celebrities who write autobiographies about themselves go, you can consider me an anti-fan. But Sara Bareilles shares her story in a creative way, weaving her music and story into one to take readers on a musical journey through reading. She's funny, she's dark, she's real. She's an absolute breath of fresh air. If you're a Sara Bareilles fan, you're going to want to read this.
I loved the structure of the book. I also appreciated the candor involved in writing the book. I do feel like I know the artist and person better. I’m a big fan of her music and I enjoyed the insight into her songs.