Her debut album was See Red (1999), a collection of early demos, was critically-acclaimed for its smart and quirky lyrics. It was nominated for the LA Music Awards Indie Pop Album of the Year in 1999.
The follow-up, 2003's Smash, had a harder, more urgent rock sound. It was also nominated for the LA Music Awards Album of the Year. In 2004 Cindy also received a number of awards: Indie Pop Artist of the Year at the LA Music Awards, Songwriter of the Year at the Just Plain Folks Awards, and Best Female Vocalist from All Access Magazine.
Her third album was Angels and Demons in 2005, followed in 2007 with an album entitled Wobble With the World. After a hiatus of five years, 2012 saw the release of Every Rise and Fall, a much more personal album with a more introspective feel.
Cindy's music has also been featured on a number of movie soundtracks (Sugar and Spice, Here on Earth) and compilation albums (Eclectic Cafe).
Grow Up
Cindy Alexander Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Rocking back and forth my Superman was crying like a baby
Asking what it is we live for
When the world is ripped from the boy that used to hold it in his hands
Now I can barely stand
To grow up
We break down
We freak out
We freak out
Thought that you were cool ’til she rearranged the script
Now you hate everything about her that is you and doesn’t fit
The plans you made so well she swallowed
Well that canary’s gonna change her up and down and inside out
You two play hard, you play it loud
To grow up
We break down
To get real
We freak out
We freak out
Some people get it when they’re young
Some people find it at the gates
I am hanging from a rung and I know it’s getting late
It’s getting late
It’s getting late
To grow up
We break down
To get real
We freak out
We freak out
To grow up
We break down
To get real
We freak out
We freak out
The lyrics to Cindy Alexander's "Grow Up" explore the complexities of transitioning into adulthood. The opening lines depict a moment of vulnerability where the singer finds her superhero, Superman, crying on the floor. The word "him" is never mentioned, but the reference to Superman as a male superhero coupled with the lyrics "Asking what it is we live for" suggest that the song is primarily narrated by a woman. This sense of fragility is echoed in the lines that follow - "When the world is ripped from the boy that used to hold it in his hands / Now I can barely stand" - further underscoring the themes of disillusionment and confusion that are central to this song.
The chorus of the song - "To grow up / We break down / To get real / We freak out / We freak out" - is both a reminder of the struggles that come with growing up and a call to embrace these challenges as part of the maturation process. It is a reminder that adulthood is not just about gaining power and independence but also about accepting the responsibilities and limitations that come with it. The second verse of the song takes a more personal turn, focusing on the singer's relationship with another person. The lyrics "Thought that you were cool 'til she rearranged the script / Now you hate everything about her that is you and doesn't fit" describe a relationship where one person's expectations clash with the reality of the other's identity. The singer warns that trying to force someone to be someone they're not will only result in frustration and conflict. The chorus that follows is once again an affirmation that the challenges of adulthood are universal - "To grow up / We break down / To get real / We freak out / We freak out."
Overall, "Grow Up" is a song that speaks to the daunting challenge of coming to terms with the realities of adulthood. Whether it's coping with unexpected disappointments or struggling to accept the imperfections of ourselves and others, the song suggests that these difficulties are integral to the process of growing up.
Line by Line Meaning
Thought that I was strong til l til I found him on the floor
I believed that I was strong until I saw my loved one crying helplessly on the ground
Rocking back and forth my Superman was crying like a baby
My superhero, who I thought was invincible, was sobbing uncontrollably like a toddler
Asking what it is we live for
Questioning the purpose of our existence
When the world is ripped from the boy that used to hold it in his hands
When the boy who held the world in his hands loses everything he loved
Now I can barely stand
I am struggling to even stand on my feet
Thought that you were cool ’til she rearranged the script
You thought you were cool until she changed the whole script of your life
Now you hate everything about her that is you and doesn’t fit
You loathe everything about her that is a reflection of you but doesn't align with your expectations
The plans you made so well she swallowed
She devoured the well-crafted plans you made without any regard to your feelings
Well that canary’s gonna change her up and down and inside out
She is going to change every part of herself, including the ones she thinks define her, with the same ease as a canary that changes its feathers
You two play hard, you play it loud
You and the person you love played hard and now it's ending with lots of drama
Some people get it when they’re young
Some people understand life when they are young
Some people find it at the gates
Some people realize it just before it's too late
I am hanging from a rung and I know it’s getting late
I feel stuck and hanging on a rung while I am aware that time is running out
To grow up
Growing up
We break down
Involves breaking down along the way
To get real
The process of becoming authentic and genuine
We freak out
Freaking out or losing control while trying to figure out things
We freak out
Freaking out or losing control while trying to figure out things
To grow up
Growing up
We break down
Involves breaking down along the way
To get real
The process of becoming authentic and genuine
We freak out
Freaking out or losing control while trying to figure out things
We freak out
Freaking out or losing control while trying to figure out things
Contributed by Max T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Shayla Ballard
If I may present my pitch for the sequel, "Snow White: Girlboss."
A beautiful princess sings "I Want to Break Free" as her jealous stepmother looks on. It's deep because she wants to be free from abuse. Later, the stepmother tries to kill her, and Snow White escapes into the woods. She is very, very sad that she was forced out of her abusive situation.
She is taken in by a group of seven dwarfs; their sexualities are never confirmed, so there are a lot of gay jokes. However, they'll also flirt with Snow White when she can humiliate them in a quirky, funny way. They're comic relief, not because they're funny, but because they are the butt of a lot of jokes. It's okay to laugh at them, though: they're poor and ugly.
After teaching the dwarfs discipline by making them clean the cottage, she sends them off to the mines for a long day of work. She uses her "me time" to fashion the jewels the dwarfs had mined in the past into clunky statement necklaces.
Then she gets poisoned by an apple. It's not really a huge deal.
She has a dream sequence where she sees herself, wearing a fluffy tulle dress and the chunkiest statement necklace she's ever seen. They sing a duet about self-love, she kisses her dream self, and she wakes up.
The prince is there, trying to talk to the dwarfs into letting him take the comatose princess to his kingdom, where the finest doctors in the world can try and revive her. He's ecstatic to see she's awake. She punches him in the face before kissing him. It's funny. (I did not mention the prince earlier, but he showed up! It wasn't love at first sight, I promise!!)
Snow White then returns to the palace to confront her stepmother, who starts crying because she'd only ever been valued for her beauty and was very jealous. The audience already knew that, but Snow White didn't, so she and her stepmother sing a reprise of the self-love song because Snow White forgives her. She's not traumatized or anything.
In the end, Snow White becomes a business woman, making huge statement necklaces. She has the dwarfs work long hours to provide her with the jewels she needs, and they split the profits 50-50 between herself and seven men, who were already living off the grid in the woods. The dwarfs are totally chill with this arrangement.
And they all live happily ever after, because Snow White is now super empowered and rich, and she and her stepmother are friends now. The End.
Katie C.
Camila Cabello adds vocal runs to all the songs the way SJM adds em dashes to all her books.
Asmi Jain
@CallMeRavenLee sarah j maas
CallMeRavenLee
Who’s SJM?
Dhara Barot
@Joaxx looks like Morse code I love it
Joaxx
@J. G. Btw for me it's more like
"Dot— Dot— Dot—"
nikolai's wife
I CHOKED
NJ_game_over
It's annoying how the director said that the original Cinderella was so submissive and therefore not an accurate image of "feminism", dude, like she was a victim of abuse, what do you expect from her? Who wouldn't jump on the chance to marry the prince and escape the abusive household? That's more girlboss than her sewing two mediocre dresses -also,if they're trying so hard to actually represent a woman stepping out of societal standards, why
couldn't she be a blacksmith then- like, women were expected to sew and cook at that time bro, it's not even odd
Olivia Downs
@Maurine T omg yes I loved Cinder so much it’s one of my fav books
Annika Clemmons
In the original story, she went to the ball to enjoy herself, then fell in love with the prince with no ulterior motive.
S I N
A lesbian story about a blacksmith Cinderella and the princess sounds exactly like what I need rn