Louder Than Fear (the title track for this EP)
Louder Than Fear is a song about resilience in its quietest, most stubborn form, about refusing to be reduced, rewritten, or made smaller. At its core is a simple chorus idea: nothing will dim my light. From there, the song moves through recognition, resistance, and transformation, being seen instead of overlooked, choosing joy instead of cruelty, and turning grief into something that moves forward instead of inward.
There’s a thread of light running through everything, embers carried through darkness, joy becoming dawn, wounds reshaped into seams of gold. It became less about survival and more about definition: you don’t get to define who I am, how I respond, or who I become.
While this song is rooted in my experience as a trans woman, I was so deep inside the writing of it that I think I lost some distance in the process. The final version is still deeply personal, and I know other trans, gay, and queer people will feel it immediately, but there are also universal threads here about recognition, dignity, and becoming that extend beyond any one identity.
This was one of the hardest songs I’ve written, and I would not have found my way through it without a close friend’s help in shaping it and the time I spent along the Grand River, which felt quietly restorative in a way I did not fully expect but deeply needed.
TR#5: Louder Than Fear
[Verse 1]
You looked at me
But never saw me
Like I was made
To disappear
Then someone said my name
And stopped the clock
No more midnight
No more fear
[Pre-Chorus]
You don’t get to tell me
Who I am
You don’t get to hold me
In your hands
[Chorus]
Nothing will dim my light
Nothing will dim my light
I carried the ember
Through the longest night
My joy became the dawn
My joy became the dawn
You can call it what you want
I’m louder than fear now
[Verse 2]
You wanted me smaller
Quieter, easier to break
Something you could swallow
Something you could take
But I won’t give you cruelty
I won’t let you take my grace
I’ll wear these scars like seams of gold
And still look you in the face
[Pre-Chorus]
You don’t get to tell me
How I heal
You don’t get to tell me
What is real
[Chorus]
Nothing will dim my light
Nothing will dim my light
I carried the ember
Through the longest night
My joy became the dawn
My joy became the dawn
You can call it what you want
I’m louder than fear now
[Bridge]
I know what it is
To live half-lit
To shrink yourself
So others fitI know what it costs
To stay that small
So if I choose joy now
It’s not naïve at all
It’s because I made it here
Still soft
Still bright
Still here
[Final Chorus]
Nothing will dim my light
Nothing will dim my light
I carried the ember
Through the longest nightMy joy became the dawn
My joy became the dawn
You don’t get to choose who I become
I’m louder than fear now
[Outro]
Nothing will dim my light.
Sabrina Constance 