Hayley Williams is opening up about why her latest solo track takes direct aim at the South’s racial history and religious hypocrisy.
The Paramore frontwoman, 36, recently spoke on the New York Times’ Popcast about the meaning behind her new song “True Believer,” featured on her solo album Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party. The single marks a career milestone, becoming her first solo No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Alternative Digital Song Sales chart.
Williams explained that the song is deeply personal, pulling from her Southern Christian upbringing while addressing systemic racism still present in certain religious communities.
In “True Believer,” she confronts the contradictions she witnessed growing up, singing:
“They put up chain-link fences underneath the biggest bridges / They pose in Christmas cards with guns as big as all their children / They say that Jesus is the way, but then they gave him a white face / So they don’t have to pray to someone they deem lesser than them.”
The track also invokes painful historical context, referencing the horrors of slavery and Billie Holiday’s haunting 1939 protest song “Strange Fruit”:
“The South will not rise again / ’Til it’s paid for every sin / Strange fruit, hard bargain / Till the roots, Southern Gotham.”
For Williams, it was crucial to bring these issues into her music.
“I’m never not ready to scream at the top of my lungs about racial issues,” she said. “I don’t know why that became the thing that gets me the most angry. I think because it’s so intersectional that it overlaps with everything from climate change to L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ issues.”
Breaking Down Faith Through Music
Williams also used the Popcast interview to shed light on another song from Ego Death, “Discovery Channel,” which samples Bloodhound Gang’s 1999 hit “The Bad Touch.” For her, the track represents a continuation of her ongoing journey to deconstruct her religious background.
“While I was deconstructing my faith and my religious upbringing from around age 19, I really didn’t realize how much of Paramore for me was a religious experience, a God pillar in my life,” she said. “So songs like ‘Discovery Channel’ are really me kind of roaming the halls of whatever that structure is and just trying to take it apart more.”
Paramore, she added, has become “the backdrop to every conversation” in her life and career.
Speaking Out Beyond Music
Williams has long used her platform to advocate for marginalized communities. Earlier in 2024, Paramore made headlines when they rejected a Tennessee resolution meant to honor the band after their Grammy win. The move came after the state’s House of Representatives denied a similar resolution recognizing Black musician Allison Russell.
“For those that don’t know, Allison Russell is an incredibly talented musician and songwriter,” Williams said at the time. “Her music spans genres with strong ties to the Folk/Americana scenes. You might have seen her on the Grammy stage performing with the great Joni Mitchell. Oh, she is also Black. She’s a brilliant Black woman.”
She continued: “The blatant racism of our state leadership is embarrassing and cruel. Myself, as well as Paramore, will continue to encourage young people to show up to vote with equality in mind.”
With “True Believer,” Williams has once again proven that she’s unafraid to confront uncomfortable truths – fusing raw storytelling with her ongoing fight for justice and equality.
- The Reasons ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Could Be Taylor Swift’s Most Game-Changing Record - October 4, 2025
- Why Paramore’s Hayley Williams Confronted the South’s Racial Tensions on “True Believer” - October 4, 2025
- Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli Separate After Almost 28 Years Together - October 4, 2025
