Leela Misel's debut single. A defiant rock song about race,
identity and code-switching — growing up mixed race in suburban
Australia. Melbourne Semi-Finalist, Australian Songwriting Prize
(Listen Up Music). Honourable Mention. Released June 2022.
Illuminating the darkness through story-telling and catchy melodies, Switch explores themes of racial discrimination and code switching.
Leila wrote this song after hearing the term 'code switching' on a podcast. The song celebrates this as a skill, while also grieving at repressing "so much of what makes me who I am, just to keep others from treating me differently because of my race or heritage".
Genre: Rock, Alternative, Singer Songwriter, Female Vocalists, Australian Rock, Alternative Rock, Indie Rock
Lyrics
Can’t be myself around strangers
I hide, in plain sight
Like an agent, undercover
My cloak is my smile
Don’t chip away at my identity
Don’t trip out on my ancestry
Big hair, brown skin
Roots north, off the coast of Darwin
I got my super high highs
And my super low lows
I can switch, I can switch,
I can Tik Tok and Blow!
All the supervised lies
And the future don’t know
I can switch, I can switch,
I can, TikTok and Blow!
You! Can’t turn my volume down
No! I will not compromise
Rules! Rules are meant to be, broken
Broken like my eyes….
I got my super high highs
And my super low lows
I can switch, I can switch,
I can Tik Tok and Blow!
All the supervised lies
And the future don’t know
I can switch, I can switch,
I can, TikTok and Blow!
Turn me upside down
Turnin’ white from brown
No big, no bold
Stolen rivers of gold
I got my super high highs
And my super low lows
I can switch, I can switch,
I can Tik Tok and Blow!
All the supervised lies
And the future don’t know
I can switch, I can switch,
I can, TikTok and Blow!
I got my super high highs
And my super low lows
I can switch, I can switch,
I can Tik Tok and Blow!
All the supervised lies
And the future don’t know
I can switch, I can switch,
I can, TikTok and Blow!