YouTube/keshaVEVOKesha just released her latest song and music video off her album Rainbow, and of course, it's already got us singing and smiling along.
The hit, "Learn to Let Go," was the first song she wrote for the album, expressing a message about embracing your past but not letting it define you today. Thus, the music video to go with it takes us on a journey through some of the pop star's special childhood moments as a means of embracing that childlike innocence we tend to lose as we get older.
In fact, in an essay for Huffington Post, Kesha dives deeper into that idea.
"'Learn to Let Go' is more than a song title... it's become one of my mantras over the last few years," she wrote. "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."
She continued, "The only way to truly evolve is to let the past be the past and move forward with an open heart. If you let your demons haunt you, they will haunt you forever. Learn from your mistakes but don't dwell on them, and if you feel like someone has wronged you, let that be their problem — not yours."
After admitting that she struggled to find the perfect lyrics for this song, she said she was inspired by a friend who had been through some hardships but still managed to always remain positive.
"Her beautiful spirit inspired me to consider how, even though we all go through tough things in our lives, we all have the ability to make the decision to just let it go and move forward," Kesha wrote. "Your past only has as much effect on your future as you want it to. It's about embracing your past, but not letting it define you."
She continued, "For the video we play on that concept by incorporating home movies that my aunt Sonia Sebert had filmed over the years and then we recreate some of the scenes with me as an adult in a really whimsical kind of way. It's this idea of reconnecting to my child-like self because that's when you are so full of wonder and joy. You can choose to learn from the bulls--t along the way but not dwell on it and and instead connect with that joyful childhood innocence."
The message is especially reflective from Kesha's own struggle as she, too, had to learn to move on from her past following her emotional legal battle with Dr. Luke over the last several years.
"This song, and the ideas behind it, were a big part of this record, and I hope my fans like it because it is my gift to them for sticking with me for all of these years," she concluded. "This idea of learning to let the negative things go has been extremely helpful for me over the last few years, and I hope it resonates with others."
Watch the full video above.