Unpopular Monster by Falling in Reverse

There comes a moment in healing when you realize that no matter how gentle you are, no matter how carefully you explain yourself, some people will always need you to be the villain in their story.

This song lives in that moment.

Unpopular Monster isn’t about becoming cruel.
It’s about becoming real.

It’s about the version of yourself that finally stops apologizing for surviving. The version that refuses to stay small just to make others comfortable. The version that people label as “too much,” “dramatic,” “difficult,” or “angry” the second you stop complying.

For a long time, I believed that being loved meant being agreeable. Quiet. Forgiving beyond reason. I learned to soften my edges, to absorb harm without reacting, to convince myself that endurance was the same thing as strength. And when I finally stopped doing that—when I started setting boundaries, speaking honestly, choosing myself—I didn’t become more understood.

I became unpopular.

And that’s where this song hits.

There is something deeply freeing about accepting that you will not be liked by everyone—especially by those who benefited from your silence. The “monster” they see isn’t evil. It’s inconvenient. It’s the part of you that won’t be controlled anymore. The part that says no without explaining. The part that doesn’t beg to be believed.

Healing isn’t always soft music and gentle mornings.
Sometimes it sounds like anger finding its voice.
Sometimes it sounds like reclaiming power that was taken piece by piece.

This song reminds me that I don’t need to correct the narrative others have created about me. I don’t need to chase understanding from people committed to misunderstanding me. I don’t need to perform goodness to earn safety.

I get to exist as I am—complex, flawed, strong, healing, human.

If being whole makes me the monster in someone else’s story, then so be it.

I would rather be real than remain small.
I would rather be honest than be liked.
I would rather be free than be quiet.

And maybe that’s what choosing yourself really sounds like.