'Songland' contestant's 'Sad Girls' is a mental health anthem for Julia Michaels and struggling women everywhere

“Julia Michaels is a magnificent writer, so we can’t try to beat her at what she does,” noted judge Ester Dean, when Michaels — whose credits, often with songwriting partner Justin Tranter, include hits for Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani — guested on Songland this week. As Dean’s fellow judge Ryan Tedder noted, Michaels “never takes outside songs” and is “the last person that needs help from anyone else” (her own “Issues” went triple-platinum and was a Song of the Year Grammy nominee). But this week, Michaels wanted to pay it forward to her “community of people,” a.k.a. other young, hungry songwriters. “We all came from this moment. This is you giving back,” Dean told Michaels.

Michaels definitely gave back when she bonded with Songland contestant Jenna Lotti, whose entry “Sad Girls” was perfectly timed for Mental Health Awareness Month. Michaels has been very open about her mental health issues, so to speak (the “Anxiety” songwriter was diagnosed with anxiety early in her career), and Lotti was diagnosed with depression at age 10.

“I started songwriting to kind of cope with my emotions and my feelings,” Lotti explained. “I wrote ‘Sad Girls’ for myself, but I also wanted it to be an anthem for people who are going through something. … I think this song aligns with Julia because she struggles with similar issues that I do.”

“Similar life path!” Michaels exclaimed. “Is this girl me? Is this a thing?”

“You’re twinning, and she’s excited,” Dean told Lotti with a chuckle.

As Lotti sang “Sad Girls” lines like “It's so hard to love myself/Always comparing to someone else/Why do I do that?/Why do I do that?/They say change your medication/But I've tried all combinations” and “Not gonna feel sorry for myself no more/Not gonna cry on the bathroom floor,” Michaels’s eyes absolutely lit up. But there was one line that resonated with Lotti’s fellow proud sad girl the most: “Maybe it's in my genetics/But tonight I'll just forget it.”

“That ‘genetics’ line is sitting with me so hard,” gushed Michaels. “The amount of time I’ve spent thinking about the nature-versus-nurture aspect of life is just, like, so deep. … I feel weirdly connected to you.”

Surprisingly, in the end Michaels decided to go with a different song, which she said sounded even more “like moi.” I would have thought contestant Dan Burke’s “Numb,” an also-timely wakeup call about becoming desensitized to social-media scrolling and the endless cycle of grim news, might have won, and I appreciated its lite-’80s-funk vibe (think the Outfield, Mr. Mister, or Thomas Dolby’s “Windpower”). But apparently Michaels was looking for something “raw and quirky but fun,” so she decided to record contestant Keegan Bost’s Maroon 5-ish “Glad You Came/“Give It to You” instead.

But in a way, Jenna Lotti still won. Not only did she share a special moment with Michaels (“The fact that she connected with my song that much means the world to me, because she does that for me with her music,” Lotti marveled), but she got her own voice and message out there — for any woman that needs to hear it, especially right now.

Check out Lotti’s official Spotify recording of “Sad Girls” below, along with the full lyrics.

This is for all the sad girls

Livin' lonely in their own world

We can't help what we feel like

But it's gonna be all right

I'm so sick of being sad

Always worrying about the things that passed

Yeah, I'm so good at that

Yeah, I'm so good at that

When everything is going right

I find the one thing that ruins the night

Why do I do that?

Why do I do that?

Maybe it's in my genetics

But tonight I'll forget it

This is for all of the sad girls

Livin' lonely in their own world

We can't help what we feel like

But it's gonna be all right, yeah

We can throw a little party

Keep it classy, keep it lo- key

We can't help what we feel like

But, tonight it's gone after midnight

It's so hard to love myself

Always comparing to someone else

Why do I do that?

Why do I do that?

They say change your medication

But I've tried all combinations

This is for all of the sad girls

Livin' lonely in their own world

We can't help what we feel like

But it's gonna be all right, yeah

We can throw a little party

Keep it classy, keep it low key

We can't help what we feel like

But, tonight it's gone after midnight

Not gonna feel sorry for myself no more

Not gonna cry on the bathroom floor

Not gonna feel sorry for myself no more, no more, no more

Not gonna feel sorry for myself no more

Not gonna cry on the bathroom floor

Not gonna feel sorry for myself no more, no more, no more

This is for all of the sad girls

Livin' lonely in their own world

We can't help what we feel like

But it's gonna be all right, yeah

We can throw a little party

Keep it classy, keep it low key

We can't help what we feel like

But, tonight it's gone after midnight

Read more on Yahoo Entertainment:

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• Hitmaker and GLAAD activist Justin Tranter talks inspiring Sam Smith, femmephobia, and why ‘the fight is still not over’

• Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds talks privilege, LGBTQ rights, mental health, and why ‘society is broken’

• How British singer-songwriter Sam Fender saved a suicidal fan's life: 'That's the one that stays with me'

• BMI Pop Awards’ Songwriter of the Year Justin Tranter: ‘Put pore LGBTQ people and women in your sessions!’

• Why Butch Walker's 'love story about hate' might be the rock opera America needs right now

• ‘American Idol’ genius Alejandro Aranda emerges from — and embraces — the darkness as Scarypoolparty

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