Let’s get this party started. This is the lullaby to the quiet. It’s the cherry on the top of the work of learning to translate the inner voice that you no longer speak the language for. From my girl. This is a really important moment – you need to know the history to get this one. Just take it all in.

I’ve been here from the beginning. All the way back to M!ssundaztood. I’ll still dance my ass off to “Get the Party Started” like it is my job. It was this album that also has the total Lacy-of-all-ages anthem “Just Like a Pill.” Let’s pick up the story here…

It was October. ACL is this little music thing that my people attend. We live in the A of ACL. Austin. When the suggestion came to go as a family to ACL, I didn’t really have a good excuse. Last May, the group text discussion began. When I did not immediately jump with excitement at the thought of tickets, the children said, “Mom, have you seen the lineup?” They know. Because immediately upon opening the link that was previously untouched, I responded that I would be where she was. ACL, I’ll brave you for my woman.

I have seen P!nk live 3 previous times. Each time, at Toyota Center in Houston. But, this was not my first festival. I knew what I had to do. Alone. Because to be at the stage for P!nk, I would (I’m literally saving you here. You don’t want to know what I would have done to protect my spot 4 people back from the stage) have done almost anything. I lived through the crowd of Lil Nas X and didn’t back down. I was going to be close to her. Because there is nothing like being there with other huge fans of your music. You don’t stand for a place on the rail if you are not a fan. Back to the story…

The intro for “Just Like a Pill” started and NOT ONE HUMAN around me knew the words. But I did. And when I realized that I was the super fan, I LOST MY MIND. With every word there were tall girl limbs going insane. As the chorus built, she started down the runway right to me. Well, the cool kids all knew the chorus. So what? But then the second verse started. And I helped her. It was perfection. I LOOOVVE P!nk. “I haven’t moved from the spot where you left me…must have been a bad trip..”

If there is a single artist that makes me want to evolve with them, it’s P!nk. We share a similar default. Big. I loved her as a loud and irreverent 20-something, but I LOVE her as a mom of 2 with all the baddassery and the depth to hold the big hurty feelings in tender protected safety. The same woman that recorded “U + Ur Hand” and “Walk of Shame” also sings “Love Me Anyway (with Chris Stapleton)” and “Glitter in the Air.” She has fought the soul wars on singles like “Walk Me Home” and “I Am Here.” She is just…P!nk.

So how did a song from 2017 find its way to my 2022 advent? I am a fan of her art. I realize that I don’t know anything about P!nk personally. As someone who allows people peeks into truth, I remember this often. With that said, when she released Beautiful Trauma there was a shift. This came at a pivotal point in my own journey. What I was feeling inside was reflected in the multiple personalities of this album. And this one is on that album.

The quiet ends with this song. And in some way, it’s the only way it could end. With a promise to myself.

“I fight because I have to. I fight for us to know the truth…”

All good showdowns need a walk out song. Walking to the batter’s box…hype song. Running out of the tunnel…hype song and smoke. Getting dressed for work on a Wednesday…hyyyype. The people in my life know that my energy requires the force of Adam and Queen or a little 90’s Aerosmith and Dr. Dre to really give me the energy I seek. But there is a moment. It happens in the soul quiet before the first note of the big energy. When you know you are fighting for your life and you just need a hug. This is my hug. This is my ‘there is nothing in this world that can break you” Knowing song.

We make a hard left tomorrow. I promise all the curiously explored hype. But for today, I’m just letting the hardest softie on the planet sing me to a place of trusting truth. Even if parts of me have to die. Even if I’m afraid. Especially if I don’t want to.

“There’s not enough rope to tie me down. There’s not enough tape to shut this mouth…the stones you throw can make me bleed but I won’t stop until we’re free….wild hearts can’t be broken.”

I dare you to sing the bridge. Dare you.

And don’t you freakin’ dare go soft. All the fierce fire of truth is hard earned. Sing the crap out of this. When I first explored sitting in the quiet, I thought it was for me to “receive” knowledge. Today, I’m sitting in my living room writing while listening to this song. It’s 6:23 in the morning and I just stuck my fist in the air and motioned for more. Bring it. What else you got, world? Because when I know I’m listening to my insides, I’m ready…for whatever may come my way. Helloooo, trouble.