Song Meaning
The lyrics paint a picture of profound personal transformation, contrasting a past self with the present reality of womanhood. The narrator recalls a time when she felt like "someone strange," burdened by a confusing mix of innocence, wisdom, and pain. This earlier self was characterized by a sense of searching, a feeling of being disconnected from her own desires or unable to reach a desired state. The past is presented as a distant, almost forgotten period, marked by an inability to find or obey her own heart.
This sense of being lost and disconnected is directly contrasted with the present state. The repeated phrase "Now that I'm a woman" acts as a pivot, signaling a shift in perception and experience. While the past was defined by searching and an inability to obey her heart, the present is characterized by a pervasive sense of strangeness and fundamental change. The repetition of "Everything has changed" underscores the magnitude of this internal evolution, suggesting that the transition into womanhood has irrevocably altered her world and her understanding of herself.
The most striking aspect of the writing is the deliberate ambiguity surrounding the nature of this change. The narrator states "Everything is strange" both in her past and in her present, suggesting that perhaps the strangeness is an inherent part of her experience, but its quality or her relationship to it has shifted. The lyrics don't specify whether this new strangeness is positive or negative, but the emphasis on "changed" implies a definitive, perhaps even disorienting, departure from who she once was. The simple, declarative statements create a powerful emotional resonance, hinting at a deep, internal recalibration that is both disquieting and definitive.