Have you ever felt stuck? Not just stuck, maybe, but trapped in your own self? Writer’s block would be a good example. Or when you’re out with a group of people and you feel like you just can’t be you – you’re too self-conscious? That’s when you need a song like “Houdini” by Foster the People.
The actual Houdini was a master escape artist, famous for being able to remove himself from handcuffs, chains, small spaces, straightjackets and so on. In the song, you hear the lyric:
“Got shackles on, my words are tied
Fear can make you compromise
With the lights turned up, it’s hard to hide
Sometimes I wanna disappear”
You’re shackled in your own fear of failure. You’re afraid of what you might lose, so you compromise in order to stay “safe.” Sometimes it would be easier to just give up, throw in the towel — “disappear.”
BUT DON’T! You can Houdini your way out of the straightjacket of your own self-doubt!
As the track progresses, the line “raise up to your ability” starts to sneak into the backing vocals… until the repeating refrain “FOCUS on your ability” takes over. Sure, it might seem a little cheesy, like a coach giving a locker room speech to a sports team before the big game… but sometimes YOU NEED A CHEESY LOCKER ROOM SPEECH.
I listen to this song almost everyday before I go on-air, and whenever I need a boost of confidence. It’s a reminder that YOU ARE CAPABLE. YOU GOT THIS. YOU CAN GET YOURSELF OUT OF ANYTHING AND IMPRESS THE MASSES WHILE YOU’RE AT IT.
You can pull a Houdini!