In celebration of Pride Month, I have been listening to “True Colors,” by Cyndi Lauper. It has always been one of my favorite songs to cover, but has taken on a deeper and heavier meaning this year.
“True Colors” was released on August 28, 1986. It quickly went to #1 on the Billboard charts and won Lauper a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Over the years, it has become an anthem in the LGBTQIA+ community. The song was written by American songwriters, Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, who wrote hundreds of pop hits in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Their original demo was a gospelly piano ballad, much different than the version we know today. Cyndi Lauper recorded and produced the song in early 1986. Her arrangement is acoustic guitar driven, stark, harmonically simple, and hauntingly beautiful.
The first verse opens in the key of A minor with an underlying sense of sadness.
[Verse 1]
You with the sad eyes
Don’t be discouraged
Oh I realize
It’s hard to take courage
In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
And the darkness inside you
Can make you feel so small
As we move into the chorus, we feel a sense of warmth and belonging (like a big hug.) Lauper tells the listeners that they are seen, felt, heard, understood, and invited to be their true and whole selves.
[Chorus]
But I see your true color
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that’s why I love you
So don’t be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True Colors
Are beautiful like a rainbow
Verse 2 has one of my all-time favorite lyrics. “Show me a smile then don’t be unhappy. Can’t remember when I last saw you laughing.” (Not sure if it’s the lyric or her beautiful performance.)
[Verse 2]
Show me a smile then
Don’t be unhappy
Can’t remember when
I last saw you laughing
If this world makes you crazy
And you’ve taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I’ll be there
[Chorus]
And I’ll see your true color
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that’s why I love you
So don’t be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
Are beautiful like a rainbow
Although, Lauper did not write the lyrics, she had a friend who recently died of HIV/AIDS in mind while singing it. This sadness and sentiment can be felt and heard through her performance. In 2008, Lauper founded, True Colors United, a nonprofit organization addressing the issue of LGBTQIA+ youth homelessness in the United States.
Take a few minutes and listen to the song today! Happy Pride, friends! -Grace