It’s In Me Too
From I'm Still Here
It’s In Me Too
Rose has written self-examination songs before, but ‘It’s in Me Too’ is the one where the ledger gets read out loud without flinching, and it arrives at exactly the right moment. The album has spent two tracks on what it feels like to be seen poorly by the world; now comes the harder turn, examining what the person at the center of all that indignation might owe in the other direction. The line ‘I’ve used my pain like proof that I see deeper than the rest’ is the kind of honesty that can collapse a song if the performance does not match it, but Rose earns it. The production delivers: a close-miked confession that breaks open into full-band declaration right when the lyric demands it, architecture closer to Springsteen at his most direct than anything indie or country. The restraint in the verses is real, not strategic, which is what makes the release genuine. As a penultimate passage into the album’s final stretch, it clears the air of everything self-protective, which is exactly what the record needs before it can close.
Lyrics
I've been jealous of younger faces And embarrassed that I was I've been sharp with happy people Just because they still had buzz I've made little jokes about myself So nobody else could get there first And called that being honest When really I was hurt
I don't love these parts But there they are And lying doesn't wash them off
I've got bitter in me I've got fear in me I've got pride that hates growing old I've got anger, vanity Old regret and self-pity I don't say that proud I just say it straight It's in me too
I have judged the young for ease As if I wouldn't wear it too I have turned my losses holy Just to make them feel more true I have used my pain like proof That I see deeper than the rest Maybe sometimes that was wisdom Other times just defense
So here's the hard part No nice light No better story than the one that fits
I've got bitter in me I've got fear in me I've got pride that hates growing old I've got anger, vanity Old regret and self-pity I don't say that proud I just say it straight It's in me too
And maybe saying all of this Out loud for once Keeps it from running everything The way it does some days (yeah) Some days
I've got bitter in me I've got fear in me I've got things I wish had never grown this way Still they're mine to face Mine to keep in place Mine to keep from running every room I'm in I don't need to hide I can say it plain It's in me too