how old are you, sweetheart?

five years ago today i wrote this song called how old are you sweetheart. i remember it was the first time i just wrote a song without inspiration, i just sat with my guitar and pulled from what i knew. it started as just a train of thought. then, what i was mad about, and that was the entitlement of men to treat me the way they did, and how even when i spoke about it, i either wasn't believed, blamed for it, or they just didnt care. it was alot of anger to carry as a child, to see injustice, to experience it, and get met with "that's just life, you should've known better" at 14, 15, 16, 17. the title came from when i called poison control and the operator asked "how old are you sweetheart?" and it was the most care i had felt i had been met with in awhile. to be asked how old i was, to be honest with myself about how many years i spent having to live acting beyond that. it was a reminder of how young i truly was, when i was expected to have handled things with more grace and hated myself when i didnt. i still put it out this year despite it being an older song because i felt it was the first time i wrote a song that completely encapsulated everything i felt about a situation and it was important to me to honor that for my younger self <3