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As songs do, they change, they evolve, they move into different things. There is so much fear and so much mania right now, and that’s part of what was informing the birth of this song back in the beginning of the Trump administration. I really believe that it’s a bipartisan experience right now. When I talk to my friends and community, I think we all are suffering from this sense that the world feels like it’s on fire.
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Originally, it was going in another direction. The seeds of the song were planted right after the election. There are so many stories and gut-wrenching personal accounts that we’ve read and heard in the last year that could have informed “Armor.” When did you write “Armor,” and what was the spark for that particular flame?
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Lady Gaga, Cyndi Lauper, Amy Schumer & More React to Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court Hearing This song felt like it wanted to belong to this moment in time. We weren’t going to release anything until next year, and I was really moved by the experience of watching the Kavanaugh hearings. It had a really big impact on me, looking at my community and whom I draw strength from and the kinds of things I want to be talking about in music right now. It’s been something I’ve been thinking a lot about: what it means to be a woman in the world, how you cannot escape the power, the impact of the #MeToo movement, looking at how women are seen and how we’re felt and heard in the world. You know, it’s been a really interesting and fertile couple of years for the women’s movement. Why did you choose this to be the jumping-off point for your new music? “Armor” is the first song we’ve heard from the forthcoming album - and it’s a jam. Below, Bareilles unfolds her “Armor” and tells Billboard about the catharsis it gave her, where she wants it to go, and why the song is her first step forward in a new, raw direction she’s eager to explore.