I'm so glad that you finally made it here

Why is it that as we grow older and stronger
The road signs point us adrift and make us afraid?
Saying: "You never can win," "Watch your back," "Where's your husband?"
Oh I don't like the signs that the signmakers made.

So I'm gonna steal out with my paint and my brushes
I'll change the directions, I'll hit every street
It's the Tinseltown scandal, the Robin Hood vandal
She goes out and steals the King's English
And in the morning you wake up and the signs point to you

They say:
"I'm so glad that you finally made it here,"
"You thought nobody cared, but I did, I could tell,"
And "This is your year," and "It always starts here,"
And oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh, "You're aging well."

In Revolution from Within Gloria Steinem writes that during adolescence most girls become women who are less true to themselves, less confident in themselves, and love themselves less than in childhood.  (The opposite is true for most boys becoming men.)  That message resonates with me in a powerful and unsettling way.  When I think back to who I was as a child I certainly had more confidence and self-esteem than during most of the past... oh... ten years of my life.  Wow.  Ten.  Years.  My point is, the signs that the signmakers make are fucking lame.  Which I've known for the past ten years, but damn it is hard not to see the fucking lame signs everywhere, isn't it?  And when you see them everywhere, it's kind of hard not to follow them, isn't it?  I love what Dar says in this song and I love it especially because I feel I am just beginning to find my ability to actually re-write the signs.  God, I'm so glad I finally made it here, despite following many lame signs along the way, despite knowing I'll follow more lame signs in the future.  It feels good and comforting and hopeful to know I can write my own signs.  And find my own way.  And my own self.