Sermon Illustrations
Grammy Winner Pleads, 'Anyone, Please Send Me Anyone'
Demi Lovato has been transparent about her battles with depression and addiction. At the 2020 Grammys, Demi Lovato gave her first performance in a year and a half. In July 2018, Lovato was treated for an apparent overdose after six years of sobriety. Just four days before her overdose, she wrote the words:
I tried to talk to my piano, I tried to talk to my guitar
Talk to my imagination, Confided into alcohol
I tried and tried and tried some more, Told secrets 'til my voice was sore
Tired of empty conversation, 'Cause no one hears me anymore
A hundred million stories, And a hundred million songs
I feel stupid when I sing, Nobody's listening to me
Nobody's listening, I talk to shooting stars
But they always get it wrong, I feel stupid when I pray
So, why am I praying anyway? If nobody's listening
Viscerally she cries into the microphone:
Anyone, please send me anyone, Lord, is there anyone?
I need someone, oh,
Anyone, please send me anyone
Lord, is there anyone?, I need someone
When Zane Lowe asked Lovato about these lyrics during her January 2020 Beats 1 interview, she said:
I definitely feel that you can use things to cope in life. And music has been a huge coping mechanism for me. It’s been very therapeutic for me. But there’s only so much that music can do before you have to take responsibility and you have to take the initiative to get the help that you need.
Source:
Kornhaber, Spencer, “Demi Lovato Makes a Powerful Confession at the Grammys,” The Atlantic (1-27-20)