Kesha is on one hell of a comeback tear lately. As the latest single from her much-anticipated album Rainbow, the pop star decided to come to terms and face her past head-on. “Learn To Let Go” is an anthemic exercise in catharsis. In the video, Kesha takes a stroll down memory lane…literally. The clip opens with her popping in a VHS tape and watching footage from her childhood. Shortly thereafter, she finds herself outside, grabbing hold of physical reminders from the tape like old Christmas gifts and a karaoke set.
While the visual element is pretty clear, the song itself makes even deeper allusions to some of the more troubling and traumatic events and people from her past. “Had a boogieman under my bed / Putting crazy thoughts inside my head,” she sings, no doubt alluding to her one-time manager Dr. Luke who she has taken to court several times to extricate herself from, and who she has accused of abusing her.
“’Learn to Let Go” is more than a song title… it’s become one of my mantras over the last few years,” Kesha explained in a letter she wrote for The Huffington Post. “As much as our past creates who we are, we can’t let it define us or hold us back. And especially if you’ve been through something hard, and we all have, you can’t hold on to resentment because it’s like a poison. You have to learn to let go of those bad feelings and move forward.”
You can watch Kesha’s uplifting “Learn To Let Go” video above.
