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It’s funny how music made for the most personal reasons can often resonate so universally. How small, seemingly silly songs can often become potent and poignant rallying cries. That has certainly been the case with Kyra Gordon’s latest single, “F U Cancer.”
Written, initially at least, as a way of injecting some humor into a friend’s life when they were undergoing chemotherapy, this occasional live song took on more relevance when Gordon herself received her own cancer diagnosis, and the song became her own support mechanism for her own ordeal.
So, this rough sketch of a song, which started life for the most innocent of reasons, became something that Gordon poured all her resilience and rage, fear and fire, honesty, and humor into. The result is a song that runs from a solo piano piece, a mere backdrop for her unrelenting and heartfelt words through Beatle-esque singalongs, and finally to anthemic crescendos in the form of majestic, hard-rock power ballad vibes, the perfect combination of rallying cry and rage.
And so this small song which was written merely to put a smile on a friend’s face at a time when there was little to smile at has become, or at least should become, the fist in the air and shoulder to cry on, a support mechanism and two-finger response to anyone going through such pain and difficulty.
Life can be tough, but never forget that you are not alone.
