"At seventeen, Lanae' says "everything shifted." A long-time relationship with a serious boyfriend ended badly, and she entered her senior year of high school with all of her hidden emotions and insecurities finally beginning to spill out. She was desperate for a way to numb her feelings, and soon found one.
"I had never heard of 'cutting'," Lanae' says, "but I had reached the point where I didn't like who I was and I was tired of living. I knew you could die if you cut your wrists, so I found a vein and started cutting. But when you do that, your body can respond to the physical pain with a rush of endorphins that make you feel good for a while. So that was where the addiction started. It got worse as it went on. The cuts got deeper. When I didn't want to deal with emotions, I would just cut them away.
"Lanae' tried sleep aids and alcohol as well, but it was the knives she kept hidden beside her bed and in her car that she most often turned to for immediate relief. The crushing cycle of shame and addiction spiraled for three years, until the night Lanae' found herself in her college apartment holding a handful of pills, ready to take them all.
"There was something deeper in my soul that just wouldn't let me do it," she says, "something that wouldn't let me die. I poured the pills out of my hand. I can look back at that moment now and know that it was God. Some time later I came across Psalm 147:3, 'He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.' It seemed too good to be true. I asked God 'Can you really do that?' because nothing else had worked and I desperately wanted to be healed. God was really beginning to use events in my life to break down my walls and reveal to me that I needed something more. Eventually, I realized how broken I was outside of Jesus. There was a moment when I finally fell on my face and offered the pieces of my life to God."
don't cry
Lanae' Hale Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Write a book 'bout the times that
You've held your head in your hands
And you've cried
For poverty to end
Oh no (x3)
Verse 2:
Fall upon your chest
It's getting hard to believe
When life's such a mess
Oh no (x3)
Pre-chorus:
Apathy will set in soon
If you don't believe
When you fight you can't lose
Oh no, you can't lose, oh no
Verse 3:
Try to stand
But your feet keep falling down
Muscles weak, atrophied
By the chill of the ground
Oh no (x3)
Pre-chorus:
Chorus:
Pre-chorus:
Chorus:
In her song "Don't Cry," Lanae' Hale paints a vivid picture of someone who has gone through a lot of trials and tribulations, and is struggling to hold on to hope. In the first verse, Hale talks about the times that the person has held their head in their hands and cried, hoping that poverty would end. The second verse emphasizes just how heavy the weight of their situation is, making it hard to believe that things can get better. The pre-chorus warns that apathy will set in soon if they don't hold on to their belief that they can win the fight. The chorus serves as a beacon of hope with the repeated message "don't cry, don't cry" encouraging the listener to persevere. The third verse describes how the person is trying to stand up but keeps falling down, their muscles weakened and chill of the ground taking a toll. Hale's use of language and imagery lends the song a poignancy that speaks directly to those who have faced similar struggles and can relate.
Line by Line Meaning
Write a book 'bout the times that
Reflect on the moments where
You've held your head in your hands
You felt overwhelmed and powerless, as if the weight of the world rested on your shoulders
And you've cried
You allowed yourself to feel and acknowledge the pain you were experiencing
For poverty to end
You prayed for an end to the injustice and suffering caused by poverty
Feel the weight of the air
Sense the crushing heaviness of the atmosphere around you
Fall upon your chest
Press down on your chest and make it hard to breathe
It's getting hard to believe
Doubts and despair are creeping in
When life's such a mess
When everything around you seems to be falling apart
Apathy will set in soon
If you don't maintain hope and motivation, you risk becoming indifferent and disengaged
If you don't believe
If you don't have faith in yourself or a higher power
When you fight you can't lose
If you persevere and keep pushing, you will eventually overcome obstacles and succeed
Try to stand
Attempt to rise and keep going
But your feet keep falling down
Despite your best efforts, you keep stumbling and failing
Muscles weak, atrophied
Your physical and emotional strength has been depleted
By the chill of the ground
Metaphorically frozen and drained by the harshness and callousness of the environment
Contributed by Kayla E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.