In the current society, some might say romance and chivalry are dead. Instead of being asked out on dates, it’s more common to send and receive casual texts, similar to the one 23-year-old Nashville singer/songwriter Bailey Bryan received that sparked the idea for her single, “play w/ me.”
Videos by American Songwriter
“I wrote ‘play w/ me’ originally because I got a ‘you up?’ text from a dude I was talking to, who I didn’t even like that much honestly,” Bryan tells American Songwriter “I thought, ‘how dare he disrespect me,’ and then wrote this song.”
After getting the late night text, Bryan knew she didn’t deserve to be treated that way, in fact, in that moment, she felt confidence in herself. When “play w/me” was released this past summer, Bryan found that the song also spoke to a lot of other people going through something similar.
“That’s really cool that it’s hitting people on a deeper level,” says Bryan. “It’s a good reminder of how the more authentic and raw you are about your shit, the more people will connect to it.”
Fast forward to the day where Bryan was having a difficult breakup conversation that quickly turned around and brought her back to her “savage” headspace. On this day, Bryan received a Tik Tok video of someone using her single as part of a message. In tears, Bryan watched the short clip, realizing she needed to start taking her own advice. In the video, Bryan heard the girl explain that listening to “play w/me” will make you forget about the boy who made you cry and help you remember who you are.
“The best part of this has been what she did for me with that Tik Tok. She gave me the reminder that I didn’t even know I was giving other people with the song,” Bryan recalls. “It changed the whole meaning for me, it means so much more now.”
Recently, Bryan decided to release two videos to accompany “play w/ me,” a sensitive version and a full band performance. This way, her audience can hear it through Bryan’s different emotions.
“I’m not in the same, confident place that I was when I wrote it … I think a common theme with my songs is to just show people that you can be multidimensional in your emotions and who you are,” says Bryan. “As a woman, you don’t have to put yourself in a box of being the ‘sad girl,’ the ‘funny girl,’ the ‘angry girl,’ or the ‘sexy girl.’ You don’t have to be one thing and I love that, I identify with that, but I also cry a lot and am a really big feeler.”
Bryan released the videos to express the feeling that it’s okay to have different emotions and to not always feel like the best version of yourself. Each video shows the song in a little bit of a different light.
Since putting the song out and being more open to talking about how she’s doing in her life, Bryan has become a role model for other people who might not feel that they can do the same.
“I really want to bring positivity into the world, to be a good example for younger girls and other women and make people feel less alone,” adds Bryan. “I am such a work in progress, and I don’t take my own advice half of the time. I feel this pressure to act like I have it all figured out, but I’m trying to build my music around being really open about that.”
During all the “play w/ me” excitement, Bryan has unveiled a new project, Fresh Start, which has the young artist releasing a new song on the first Friday of every month until the project is complete. Bryan kicked the project off with the release of the title track, followed by the latest release, “Sober.” Each song will reveal a lesson the 23-year-old has learned that led to her to a “fresh start.”
“The whole theme of this project in this era for me, is life, love and the pursuit of confidence, because that’s the category that all the songs fall into,” Bryan says, explaining that the lesson which inspired the project is that, “you don’t have to reach a certain point before you can start seeing yourself in a different light or before you can make a change and have a ‘fresh start.’”
Check out the current releases in the Fresh Start project and watch the sensitive version of “play w/ me,” here:
Photo credit: Nikko LaMere
