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Leah Neff

Professor Freeland

English 1201

January 29, 2022

A summary of “A song that glows with the fury of the big black women in pop’s past.”

“A song that glows with the fury of the big black women in pop’s past” by Danyel

Smith, refers to the song “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo, which appeared on the “25 Songs That Matter

Now” and it spent seven weeks at the top of Billboard's Hot 100. This song was the number one

pop song at the time of its release. “Truth Hurts” became a popular song through the social

media platforms known as Tik Tok and Netflix soundtracks. The main idea of this summary is

that this song was a breakthrough for many women because it represented those women that

work so hard to make it in this industry, especially African American women. Women of all

types have been breaking through the beauty standards every day especially Lizzo; she is at the

forefront of judgment because she is representing those girls that have talent that have been told

no because of the way they look. Lizzo is open about the challenges she has faced like living out

of her car, but the most important lesson from this is that she got out of that situation and look

where she is now. Lizzo not only stands up for those girls that feel out of place but she preaches

about how feeling good about yourself is not a bad thing, this can show other young women to

be comfortable in their own skin. The lyrics of the song “Truth Hurts” describe strong women

that push through the barriers holding them back. This song takes the perspective of women

being in charge and not men. The lyrics make listeners feel inspired to be strong independent

women that don't settle for anything less than greatness. 

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Works Cited 

Smith, Danyel. “A Song That Glows with the Fury of the Big Black Women in Pop’s Past.” 25

Songs That Matter Now, The New York Times Magazine, 12 Mar. 2020,

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/11/magazine/best-songs.html#lizzo.

Accessed January 27th