Songs About Self-Acceptance
published 3/6/16; updated 12/8/22
by Catharine Hannay, founder of MindfulTeachers.org
Continuing the popular series of Song Playlists for Teachers, here are a variety of songs about about being true to ourselves and recognizing our own strength and vulnerability.
Teachers, please note: With such a multicultural audience teaching young children through adults, I can’t guarantee that all of the songs and videos will be appropriate for your particular context. Please preview anything you plan to share with your students.
A Better Man, Keb' Mo'
lyrics; official video
Brave, Sarah Bareilles
lyrics; official video showing people having a wonderful time doing uncool dance moves
Courage, Superchick
youtube video with lyrics
This is a song about recovering from an eating disorder.
Express Yourself, Labrinth
lyrics; video of live performance (song starts :47)
Fight Song, Rachel Platten
lyrics; video of duet with Caly Bevier, a 16-year old cancer survivor, on The Ellen Show; lipsynched version by patients, families, and staff at Valley Children's Hospital; video of two-man band version by Benjamin Kheng and Kurt Hugo Schneider
Firework, Katy Perry
lyrics; official lyrics video (there's one briefly-flashed photo of two boys kissing; otherwise this is much less controversial than the notorious official video); alternate video with American Sign Language interpretation by Jason Listman
I Am Enough, Daphne Willis
lyrics; official video
If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Cat Stevens
lyrics; audio; cover by Kat Dennings in the film Charlie Bartlett; cover by Anders Bjorkman
Invincible, Kelly Clarkson
lyrics; official video
Make Your Own Kind of Music, Cass Elliott
lyrics; original audio; cover by Charlotte Campbell
Pretty Hurts, Beyoncé
lyrics; official video; cover by Chloe and Halle
I normally don’t include links to videos with very scantily-clad women, but this one has a compelling story about a beauty pageant contestant who looks “perfect” during the competition but is miserable backstage. If that's inappropriate for your context, try the Chloe and Halle version, with modestly-dressed young girls. (And yes, that’s the same Halle from The Little Mermaid)
You might also be interested in Victoria’s Secret by Jax (see below), as well as the short (6-min) film "Perfection" by Karen Lin, which shows a girl growing into a woman who's struggling with internal pressures about how she must look and behave and what she must achieve.
Stressed Out (Blurryface), Twenty-One Pilots
lyrics; official video; ASL Interpretation by Amber Galloway
Try, Colbie Caillat
lyrics; official video showing women of different ages with and without their hair and makeup done. (This becomes quite moving, especially if you don't know what to expect.)
Victoria’s Secret, Jax
lyrics video (with a photo of herself, photoshopping to make her look skinnier)
Who You Are, Jessie J
lyrics; video of live performance (She explains for the first 3 minutes about facing challenges and why she wrote the song.)
You'll Be Okay, A Great Big World
lyrics; audio; ASL interpretation by Jason Listman
Related Posts
There are many more song playlists and resources on self-awareness and self-acceptance here at MindfulTeachers.org, including the following posts: