This Is Me

This rousing song of self-acceptance was written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for the P.T. Barnum musical biopic The Greatest Showman. Pasek and Paul's resume also includes the music for the Oscar-winning film La La Land as well as the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen.

The defiant song is sung by Hawaii native Keala Settle who portrays the bearded lady, Lettie Lutz, in the biographical drama. The Lettie Lutz portrayed in The Greatest Showman was in real life Annie Jones Elliot (1865 –1902), an American bearded woman, who spent much of her career with P.T. Barnum in his "Greatest Show on Earth." Jones was known for her musical talents and gracious etiquette and acted as a spokesperson for Barnum's "Freaks."

"This Is Me" is a fight song for people who are not accepted by society. It is sung by Lettie Lutz after she and the rest of the circus troupe are barred by Barnum from an after party following Jenny Lind's performance. The bearded lady refuses to be cut down by the fact that the showman is embarrassed by them. "It was really inspired by the group of oddities in the film, and what they came to represent and what [director] Michael [Gracey] talked about them representing," Pasek told Billboard. "People who had lived in the shadows their whole lives and for the first time wanted to feel love and acceptance, and even when P.T. Barnum turns his back on them, they make a statement - not only to him, but to themselves - that they declare to love themselves for the first time."