The Songbird
Mary Mendoza: From Childhood Lyrics to Empowering Freedom with Her Album 'Bluebird'
As a young girl and adult woman Mary Mendoza has been a songbird to light up the lives of many – including myself.
“I have always been a writer. Growing up I would write lyrics for my mother and tape them on her mirror,” Mendoza explains. “For the longest time she thought that I was writing someone else’s lyrics but one day I told her the lyrics were mine. She couldn’t believe it.”
Mendoza smiles to herself at this sweet memory because she knew that writing has always been a part of her self-expression. This is just one small example of how she spreads her love and light through words. On a bigger scale, Mendoza has recently released an album called Bluebird, in collaboration with her band, Feel Good. The release party will be hosted on September 1st, 2023 at the Waiting Room in Omaha, NE.
The last song in the album is called Fly Away Bluebird and has a significant message that can resonate with everyone:
“ Could it be I do deserve
A taste of freedom, even sweeter
Than the rumors I had heard
Fly away bluebird
Could it be what really hurt
Is the cage that kept you
Like a burden
Now its broken
Fly away
Fly away
You know your cage is broken now
If you stay
You’ll never get to figure out how
The wind in your wings feel
Pinch yourself so you know that it’s real ”
When asking Mendoza if she was the bird in this song, her answer was, “I think so.” But, when I sat with these lyrics I realized we are all this bird. For how many of us are feeling trapped by our jobs, relationships, finances, or fears? The answer is too many of us…The first step in stepping out of this cage is to recognize who the gatekeeper in your life is, identify it, write it out, or speak it out so it can stop hosting a life inside of you.
Once you identify what’s holding you back you will ask yourself, “Now, what?” But, that is a question only you can answer. The power of this song is to help you release toxicity so there is space for newness to come.