The secrets we keep can destroy us, detonate our bones in the blink of an eye. “Strangers” finds Ryan Nealon breathing in and letting go of everything, all the pain and trauma and pressures to look and act a certain way. “Changing my body so all the wrong people could love me / Was always conditional,” sings Nealon. Despite adhering to preconceived ideas around body images, it didn’t work. Inside, he continued to rage against himself. He relays, “And I kept on feeling like even if I met all their expectations / It wouldn’t matter at all.”
Listen to “Strangers” below.