Live It Up

Album: Gypsy Heart (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • Colbie Caillat wrote this song about her struggles to overcome stage fright, a fear that plagues her even after years of professionally performing.

    A thousand people stood in line
    To hear a couple words of mine
    Afraid I would miss a beat
    And everyone's watching me


    "Yeah, it's still a struggle," she told ABC News Radio. "Like, every time I do it, it gets a little easier and a little better and I watch back, I'm like, 'Oh, OK, it wasn't as bad as I thought in my mind.' But no, it's still there. I think it'll be there forever, and that's just something I'm learning to accept."
  • The topic of stage fright is something that Caillat previously visited on her 2007 Coco track "One Fine Wire." Also the title of her sophomore album Breakthrough, was inspired by the need to overcome her fears and learn to love touring.
  • Caillat generally uses fairly sparse instrumentation on her tunes, so this song is a big departure as it is filled with countless instruments and sounds. She told Billboard magazine: "We wanted it to sound really huge and loud and strong, then having the lyrics be more vulnerable. I wrote ['Live It Up'] about my stage fright and how I've struggled with that my entire life. To me, it was a really fun balance having a song that sounds so different but lyrics that are just honestly what I'm going through."

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