Following a minor stroke at age 18, she gained a Sony publishing contract and penned hits for the likes of Chris Brown, Dutch X Factor winner Lisa Lois, and Miley Cyrus (the American number two hit "Party in the USA"). After building up an established online presence, she signed to Universal Records and began working with the likes of hitmaker Dr. Luke (Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson), Atlanta rapper B.o.B, and R&B producer Labrinth on her debut album, Who You Are. In 2010, her first single, "Do It Like a Dude," originally written for Rihanna, reached number 25 in the U.K. charts and, following in the footsteps of Adele, Florence + the Machine, and Ellie Goulding, she was announced as the winner of the Critics Choice Award at the 2011 Brits. That same year, an appearance on Saturday Night Live coincided with her album being reissued in the U.S.
Following a tour that took in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, Malaysia, and her first show in North America, Jessie J became the first U.K. female solo artist to achieve six Top Ten singles from a single studio album. The success of the sixth single, "LaserLight," featuring David Guetta, was aided in no small part by her appearance as judge on the U.K. edition of The Voice. The hit show gave the singer a chance to display her talent for musical coaching, while building a rapport with fans both old and new on prime-time television. Also involved were Tom Jones and will.i.am, with whom Jessie J performed at Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert in June 2012, before heading back to the studio to work on the follow-up to Who You Are.
After finishing her second and final season of coaching on The Voice in 2013, J returned with the singles "Wild" and "It's My Party," which preceded her second album, Alive, that September. With a planned U.S.-only version of Alive featuring collaborations with Pharrell Williams eventually put aside, J instead focused on recording new material for what would become her third studio album, Sweet Talker. Including the likes of Diplo, the-Dream, and the aforementioned Pharrell, the album also saw her join forces with De La Soul and 2 Chainz, while Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj both featured on the lead single, "Bang Bang," which debuted at number one in the U.K. and became a Top Ten hit in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Bulgaria. Sweet Talker arrived in October 2014, reaching the Top Ten in the U.S. and U.K. Taking a break from music, she joined the cast of judges on television singing competition The Voice Australia. She returned in 2017 with the singles "Real Deal" and "Queen," which later appeared on her fourth LP, R.O.S.E.
Loud
Jessie J Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why do they hate me?
Why are their blocks set up to debate but only forsake me
How am I doing
And why do you care
With my failures comes the smiles
When I win, I write, you just compare
So why
When I'm better than what I've been
But that's not good enough, why
You can't hear my decency
Instead of me singing of friends
I'm talking over enemies
The world is so
Loud
Loud, loud
It's so loud
Loud, loud
It's like hearin' pins drop in the crowd
They won't stop until they goddamn tear you down
Man the world is so loud
Loud, loud, it's so loud
Loud, loud
I try to drown them all out with my sound
But they won't stop
Stop until they tear you down
Until they tear me down, huh! (One day you will, take me as I am)
Until they tear me down!
(As I am)
Wish for my destruction
That's why I'm so reluctant
Want me to pass the ball
But you're not on my team
You wanna cast a stone
We're so ready to fight
Got the nerve to ask "how did I sleep?"
I heard you all through the night
Somebody tell me why
I know it's not just me
Over a billion voices
Don't think, just speak
You hate me when I'm up
You love me when I'm down
I'm so confused by the world,
Hey the world is so
Loud
Loud, loud
It's so loud
Loud, loud
It's like hearin' pins drop in the crowd
They won't stop until they goddamn tear you down
Man the world is so loud
Loud, loud, it's so loud
Loud, loud
I try to drown them all out with my sound
But they won't stop
Stop until they tear you down
Until they tear me down, huh! (One day you will, take me as I am)
Until they tear me down!
Until they tear me down, until they tear me down
Until they tear me down, until they tear me down
Long ago, I swear that
I couldn't hear a sound
I couldn't hear a sound
There's a little girl, now
With a little fortune (with a little fortune)
Opinions wish to tear me down (Opinions wish to tear me down)
Oh!
The world is so loud (so loud)
Loud, loud
It's so loud (it's so loud)
Loud, loud
It's like hearin' pins drop in the crowd
They won't stop until they goddamn tear you down
Man the world is so loud
Loud, loud, it's so loud
Loud, loud
I tried to drown them all out with my sound
But they won't stop, stop until they tear you down
Until they tear me down
(One day you will, take me as I am)
Until they tear you down!
Yeah (as I am) oh
(One day you will, take me)
Take me as I am
As I am
The world is so loud!
Jessie J's "Loud" is a powerful anthem that talks about the challenges of dealing with criticism and hate from the people around you. In the first verse, she questions why people are against her while being supportive of someone else, saying that she's better than what she was, but it's not good enough for them. She then talks about the noise that surrounds her and how she tries to drown it out with her sound, but it's not enough, as people won't stop until they tear her down.
In the second verse, Jessie J talks about how people want her to fail, how they're always ready to fight, and they criticize her no matter what she does. She's confused by the constant hate, and the world is so loud, she can hardly hear herself think or speak. She ends the song by saying that one day people will take her as she is, with all her strengths and flaws, without trying to tear her down.
"Loud" is a song that addresses the constant bullying and criticism that many artists and public figures face in their everyday lives. It also touches on the issues of jealousy and envy that people feel towards those who succeed, and highlights the importance of self-love and acceptance in the face of negativity.
Line by Line Meaning
Why don't they hate you?
Questioning why the haters don't hate someone else instead of her
Why do they hate me?
Asking herself why people hate her
Why are their blocks set up to debate but only forsake me
Wondering why people set up blocks to debate but end up ignoring her
How am I doing
Asking how she's doing to herself
And why do you care
Asking why anyone even cares about how she's doing
With my failures comes the smiles
She's trying to be positive when she fails, but it seems like people are happy about it
When I win, I write, you just compare
Implying that people only compare her to others when she wins
So why must I try to earn your love
Questioning why she needs to try so hard to earn other's love
When I'm better than what I've been
She thinks she's better than her past self
But that's not good enough, why
Someone is always trying to bring her down even when she's better
You can't hear my decency
People only hear her bad side
Instead of me singing of friends
She should be singing about her friends, but she can't because of all the enemies
I'm talking over enemies
She has more enemies to talk about than friends
The world is so loud
The world is too noisy with all the negativity and criticism
It's so loud
The noise is deafening
Loud, loud
Repeating how loud the world is
It's like hearin' pins drop in the crowd
Even though the world is loud, she can hear the negative pin drops
They won't stop until they goddamn tear you down
People won't stop until they completely tear her down
Man the world is so loud
Repeating again how loud the world is
I try to drown them all out with my sound
She uses her music to drown out the haters
But they won't stop
Unfortunately, the haters won't stop
Stop until they tear you down
They will keep going until they completely tear her down
Until they tear me down
Repeating that they won't stop until they completely tear her down
Wish for my destruction
Hatred for her is so strong that people wish for her destruction
That's why I'm so reluctant
She's hesitant to move forward with her music because of all the hate
Want me to pass the ball
People want her to give up her music and pass the reigns
But you're not on my team
But the people asking her to give up her music are not on her side
You wanna cast a stone
People want to judge her without any compassion or understanding
We're so ready to fight
People are always ready to fight and argue with her
Got the nerve to ask 'how did I sleep?'
People even have the audacity to ask how she slept despite all the negativity they throw her way
I heard you all through the night
She heard people hating on her all night long
Somebody tell me why
She's asking for a reason why people hate her so much
I know it's not just me
She knows that she's not the only one being hated on
Over a billion voices
There are so many people in the world, and not all of them are positive
Don't think, just speak
People don't think before they speak, especially when it comes to hate and negativity
You hate me when I'm up
People despise her success
You love me when I'm down
People only show her love and compassion when she's at her lowest
I'm so confused by the world
She's so confused by all the negativity in the world
Hey the world is so loud
Repeating again how loud the world is
Long ago, I swear that I couldn't hear a sound
Long ago, she didn't hear any negativity, but now she can't escape it
There's a little girl, now with a little fortune
Now that she has some success and fortune, people are even more negative towards her
Opinions wish to tear me down
Everyone has an opinion, but most of them wish to tear her down
Oh! The world is so loud
Exclaiming again how loud and noisy the world is
(One day you will, take me as I am)
She's hopeful that one day people will accept her for who she is
Until they tear me down!
Repeating again how the haters won't stop until they completely tear her down
As I am
She wants people to take her as she is, without any judgement or disdain
Until they tear me down, until they tear me down
Repeating again how the haters won't stop until they completely tear her down
Until they tear me down, until they tear me down
Repeating again how the haters won't stop until they completely tear her down
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER A. STEWART, TERIUS YOUNGDELL NASH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind