“Brave” is the lead single of The Blessed Unrest. An upbeat pop song, it was co-written by Bareilles and Fun.’s Jack Antonoff. Bareilles has said that the song was meant to be a message to a friend who was struggling to come out as gay. In her memoir, Sounds Like Me, My Life (so far) in Song, she writes:

…[the song] became a love letter to a very dear friend of mine… she was struggling to come out with her evolving sexuality to friends and family and didn’t yet see a way to do it.

She goes on to discuss how it was a message she needed for herself, about how “we could try to be stronger than our weaknesses, and a shine a light on something better.”

Since its conception, the song has proved inspiring for a good many people. The University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital notably created a music video for the song.

Hillary Clinton also used the song frequently throughout her 2016 presidential campaign, a fact that Bareilles was clearly enthusiastic about.

The song is often compared to Katy Perry’s “Roar”. All parties are okay with that.