- I was raised to just be very strong willed,
and to not show my emotions, but yet,
my personality is the total opposite, and I'm so emotional,
and I literally wear my emotions on my sleeves,
and so, being able to talk about that in the song,
and knowing that I'm still gonna get there,
even if I may not be exactly what
my mom thought I was gonna be.
So, I went through many titles for this song,
I thought I was gonna call it "20 Gay Teen",
when we were writing this song it was,
"I'm this, I'm a diva, I need respect",
it was I, I, I, I, and we were like,
"What if we change it to she, and take you out of it,
"even though it's such a personal story,
"and just make it about this girl
"that's trying to conquer the world?"
It's everyone's story, and it's everyone's story
about trying to do things right, trying to have respect,
just trying to be the best, and following your dreams.
"She acts like she's in seventh grade,
"but actually, she's 20-gay."
In seventh grade, being in the closet,
and knowing who I was, I wasn't able to act on my feelings.
When you grow up questioning your sexuality,
or maybe hiding your sexuality,
when you're free, you end up living out your younger self.
"And she's been telling people she don't date,
"that it ain't for her. She's been so in love
"for a real long time, but it aint her first."
I've been in love many times,
sometimes the girls never knew I was I in love,
but it's fine, because now that I'm open with who I am,
and you share those experiences,
people think it's your first time experiencing it,
they're like, "Oh, is this your first time?"
And it's like, "No, I have been feeling these feelings,
"but no one has known about them, and now they do."
"She keeps driving down the PCH,
"it's the only thing that numbs the pain."
Growing up in Los Angeles, I have been fortunate enough
to have access to the beach, and so, to get to the beach,
you take the PCH, which is the Pacific Coast Highway.
There's something about feeling the wind in your hair,
seeing the ocean, driving down this windy road,
it's a little scary, you have mountains on either side,
and there's something so freeing
and hopeful about that drive.
And so, when I think of driving down the PCH,
it kinda melts away my stress.
"Don't wanna be dreaming, warm in bed,
"don't wanna be old with one regret.
"Gotta be a diva, have respect,
"be that girl you can't forget."
I'm fun and kind of lighthearted, but I'm very serious,
and I can be very boss-like, it can come off diva-ish,
but I think that can be a positive thing.
I was thinking of Aretha Franklin, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, right,
and demanding respect, and being a diva.
And that's something that's really powerful,
and you can get things done.
That is just how I've always kinda been,
at a young age, I've just always been very focused,
and zeroed in, and my goal in life has always been
to just have respect.
And so, for me, singing those lyrics to myself
gives me the power to continue to be who I am,
and not be ashamed of feeling like
I want that kind of respect.
"If you try to make her less,
"she'll stand up and pound her chest."
I thought about this standing up and pound your chest,
because as a child, I acted like Tarzan,
I would have my shirt off, and I'd just be like (screaming),
and I'd be pounding my chest.
Besides that visual aspect of it,
I was also thinking about the fact
that when you're at your lowest low, you have to stand up,
and be like, "I'm stronger than this, I have to keep going."
And a lot of the times, you can't rely on other people
to get yourself back up, you would like to,
but the person that's gonna get you up is you.
"You'll be mad she ain't a part of your life.
"Miss Do It Right."
The concept of doing it right is different for everyone,
and so, me saying, "Miss Do It Right",
that can mean anything to anybody,
and there's no exact way of doing things.
"She works so much, she's never home,
"her mama taught her all she knows."
Some of the greatest lessons are also
very difficult to digest,
because a lot of the times, she's like,
"Happiness is hard work."
And so, a lot of the times, I'd go to my mom,
and I'd be like, "I'm working so hard, I'm doing this,
"I'm not getting to where I wanna be."
And she's like, "That's just life."
As a child, you don't really wanna hear that,
you wanna hear something completely different."
"She tried it, born and raised to put on a face,
"but her feelings show."
As men, you're raised to put on a face,
as women, you're raised to put on a face,
and be nice to everyone.
Everyone has to put on some kind of face,
and it's like, why are we doing this?
Our feelings are gonna show no matter what.
For me, my feelings always show,
and sometimes, I can feel bad about being super vulnerable,
and always crying, but I can still be a tough girl,
and cry all the time, that's just who I am.
"And everything that she ever says is taken wrong."
Being stern, or maybe being harsh
can come off being a bitch,
there's all these stereotypes of how women speak,
and how they should speak, and it can be taken wrong
just by the preconceived judgment,
or the preconceived notion of who women are,
and what they're supposed to be.
We're all just doing our best,
and we're all just being ourselves,
and we're all vastly different.
"Gone, she's gonna get it done, she'll do it on the run,
"but still have so much fun fun."
I love working, I love being productive,
it's so much fun, it literally is so much fun,
I'm literally saying the lyrics,
it's so much fun to get stuff done!
That's it, that's a wrap!
It feels so good, and it's empowering,
that's why the bridge feels so freaking good,
because it does feel good to get stuff done.