Brave for You

Brave for You

The xx

“Brave for You” is the first time Romy Madley Croft has written a song about her parents' deaths. Her mother died when she was 11, and her father died while she was touring xx at 20. She considers the main theme in her post-Coexist songwriting coming to terms with their deaths after the band’s initial whirlwind of success.

The song is about Romy pushing herself out of her comfort zone. She feels that living as full of a life as possible is one way to honor their memory, even if it doesn’t come naturally to her. This extends to continuing her musical career, as her parents always supported that pursuit: this is part of the reason she continued touring the first album even when her father died during the tour.

Romy made a joking remark about how this means she’s now confident enough to order room service, but Oliver was more serious about how she’s grown as a person:

[Romy’s] the perfect example of, “If something scares me, I’m going to do it for the sake of growth.” I don’t think it’s in her nature to lean into discomfort, but she does it.