Music Review // Angela Saini "Wanna Be You"

 

Packaged in a pop rock song the likes of Michelle Branch and Jill Sobule, Angela Saini has created a song which is both a joy to listen to but also embodies a message which we should all hold dear on "Wanna Be You".   As the song starts, there are lines: "I hate being jealous / But I can't help myself / When seeing someone's triumph / Makes me feel like not enough".   We've all felt this at times, especially in whatever field we choose to try and forge our path in.  As a musician, you can easily see someone who started playing shows years after you get bigger spots before you and that might be frustrating.

It took me perhaps too long in life to live by this motto, but there is a saying by Teddy Roosevelt that I hold near and dear to me that says "Comparison is the thief of joy".  I just fully believe we're on our own paths and so you can't compare where someone else is going or has been compared to where your path is leading you.   This is also especially apparent with the lines "Scrolling Instagram / I'm a work in progress doing my best".  Social media is a great way for us to unjustly compare ourselves with others and see what they're doing that we wish we were doing as well or instead.

As the song takes us into the chorus we get the line "There's only one me so why would I wanna be you".   This is perhaps the message that comes through strongest because of the title, but also there are the lines "I don't wanna be nobody else / I don't wanna be nobody else but myself" and those should be taken as a mantra in ways as well.  This song can be empowering for anyone listening to it when you learn to shed those false comparisons and just start being you.

In music, there is this idea of comparison because people want to know what music sounds like.  So you can say "This sounds like The Beatles", but that doesn't mean the artist should be trying to be the next Beatles.  You should just try to be yourself, as I believe with this song Angela Saini is doing a great job of not being the next ____, but rather just being the first and best Angela Saini.