“Surface Pressure” by Jessica Darrow

“Surface Pressure” was designed for a musical cartoon where the character who sings it actually possesses superhuman strength. Said film, Encanto, is set in early 20^th century Colombia and also, by the looks of things, in a rural environment. As such many of the heavy-lifting tasks that automobiles or other machines may be used for these days instead, within her ‘hood, fell on Luisa, i.e. the aforementioned character and narrator of this song.

And that is fundamentally what her gripe is about. Luisa, on top of being physically strong, also appears as the humble type, or shall we say someone who was socialized to do what loved ones request of her. 

So whenever anyone asks her to perform a task, she does so no matter “how hard the work is”. Due to her proven strength, she has developed a reputation as being “indestructible”. And yes, that may be true on the “surface”. But underneath she is very stressed out by the constant “pressure” people put on her.

Ultimately, it’s not like Luisa is entertaining the idea of turning her back on her people. Instead, it’s like the constant stress being put on her is so strong that she feels dehumanized. Luisa is now under the impression that if she were not able to do what people ask, then they would not really care about her. 

Moreover, she imagines that life would be more enjoyable if she could concentrate on her own happiness as opposed to pleasing others. But at the end of the day, she doesn’t expect those around her to all of a sudden leave her at her peace, thus granting this song a persistent sense of pessimism from beginning to end.

Takeaway

All of this sounds pretty deep for a cartoon, as if it were based on real life. A working single mother for instance may come to mind as a woman who is always up to task yet might be near the end of her rope internally. 

Also, at some points in the song Luisa comes off a lot like a celebrity who has grown weary of what she perceives as fake affection. But the actual person who served as the inspiration for this piece was songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda’s older sister.  

As explained, while growing up, he realized that the family, i.e. his parents, were putting a lot of pressure on his older sister. And apparently Miranda sympathized with her, judging by the lyrics of this song. Moreover it can also be put forth that he admired his sister for the sacrifices she made, as the vocalist of “Surface Pressure” is also presented as sort of a selfless hero.

Facts about “Surface Pressure”

This track came out on 19 November 2021, being part of Encanto (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Encanto is a Disney full-length animated feature which hit theaters that same month. And therein, actress Jessica Darrow portrays the role of a character named “Luisa Madrigal”, from whose perspective the lyrics of this song are being replayed. 

And to note Darrow turned 27 years old on 7 January 2022, i.e. the same day this post was published.

“Surface Pressure” was written by present-day Broadway icon Lin-Manual Miranda. And he also produced the track alongside mainstream music-industry vet Mike Elizondo.