The Meaning Behind 'Your Own Brand of Cool'

Last week I released the song, Your Own Brand of Cool. I thought I’d share a bit of what I was thinking as I wrote the song and what it means to me.

On the music video description, I wrote:

This song is a fun celebration of diversity and the variety of perspectives that we all have. An acknowledgment that the way we look on the outside doesn’t have to change who we are on the inside.

And that sums it up pretty well, but to go just a little deeper…

When I wrote this song I was thinking about how much of a connection there is between who we really are as a person and what we look like. Sometimes we want to communicate something to people around us by what we wear and how we style ourselves. But sometimes we just wear what we want because we like it and it’s not really a reflection of a belief or perspective. And then there are some of us who are putting on a style trying to make a statement, but it’s not really representative of who we are on the inside. And none of that even touches on the appearance of our physical bodies, over which we usually have no control.

So with all of those scenarios, does the ‘brand of cool’ we choose really matter? Not as a means to judge someone. The externals are not an accurate way of knowing a person.

So just enjoy what you enjoy and don’t waste energy judging others on what they enjoy.

The song says:

You’ve got your own brand, got your own brand of cool.

I’ve got my own brand, got my own brand of cool too.

You can lay it all out, you can put on the shell you choose.

It doesn’t change what you are, what you’ve got to lose.

By “… You can put on the shell you choose”, I’m bringing up the idea of crustaceans and how they can move to a different shell. So, who we are is not tied to our appearance.

“… What you’ve got to loose”, talks about your treasure. Like, the thing about you that is really valuable is what’s on the inside.

Near the end of the song, I change the chorus lyrics a bit and say, “You’ve got your own brand, got your own point of view.”. I’m trying to say that since we respect each other’s ‘brands of cool’ we should also respect each other’s perspectives.

So the next time you hear the song, maybe it will have just a little more meaning for you. :-)

And if you haven’t heard it yet … Well, now you’ve got more of a reason to go find it on your music service of choice!