"Unpretty" and "The Sun Screen song"

Today I've picked two songs which both send out a critical message about self esteem, self love, self image and life in general .. The first one is "Unpretty" which was recorded by TLC in 1999. Unpretty originated from a poem dealing with a woman's struggle with her self image. The poem also addressed the comparisons females make between themselves and the unrealistic images often portrayed by the media. Apparently this was the most expensive video ever made, if you check it out you can understand why.
It is rather impressive.

The second I picked is "Everybody's Free ( To wear Sunscreen)" or the Sun Screen song by Baz Luhrmann was released in 1998 and the speech was narrated by Lee Perry. This song was derived from the common names of an essay titled "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" this was written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997, but often erroneously attributed to a commencement speech by author Kurt Vonnegut.

I'm not going to elaborate too much on these two songs, I think the words really speak for themselves. However now that I am older, a little larger and somewhat wiser I will say that the words are meaningful enough to really listen to ( I posted the lyrics for "Unpretty" as you can't really hear what she is singing ). Like most of the female population I always used to read beauty magazines, comparing myself to ridiculous images, setting myself ridiculous standards and continuously being hard on myself for not looking the way "I am supposed to look".. I try not to do that anymore. " I am the one and only" ( I quote Chesney Hawkes )and there will only ever be one of me , why would I let magazines and other people try to change who I am and how I look ? There is nothing wrong with striving to be the best you can be, as long as things are kept in perspective and we are achieving our goals for ourselves and not for others.. to make them "happier" with us.

Anyway I could go on and on but I'll stop right there and provide you with these two great videos and the lyrics for "Unpretty" as promised...Have a great day :)

Unpretty Lyrics :

I wish I could tie you up in my shoes
Make you feel unpretty too
I was told I was beautiful
But what does that mean to you
Look into the mirror who's inside there
The one with the long hair
Same old me again today(yeah)

My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Everytime I think I'm through
It's because of you
I've tried different ways
But it's all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
I'm just trippin'

*Chorus*
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can by all the make-up that M.A.C. can make
But if you can't look inside you find out who I am too
Be in the position to make me feel
So damn unpretty
I'll make you feel unprety too
Never insecure until I met you
Now I'm bein' stupid, I used to be so cute to me
Just a little bit skinny
Why do I look to all these things
To keep you happy
Maybe to get rid of you and then I'll get back to me (hey)

My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Everytime I think I'm through
It's because of you
I've tried different ways
But it's all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
Me, I'm trippin'




There will be a message that appears in the Sun screen song below.. before you can play it ( please just ignore this- don't click on it) You can just close these two messages ( there are two crosses you'll just need to click on each of these to close them) and then the video will play for you. Enjoy !!