Taking the stage at The Anthem recently to introduce her song “Never Said,” Liz Phair eloquently and poignantly told the packed music venue exactly why she was there to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her seminal album Exile in Guyville.

“You know, I was thinking about a lot of things when I got back into this album,” Liz told the crowd at The Anthem. “I really dug down into my past. And I thought about how hard you have to fight when you’re young to make your dreams come true.”

“And you struggle in darkness and in uncertainty and rejection. You go out every night to make yourself feel better and do crazy shit, looking for love. You live and die by the social scene. All you really got at that point is each other. Then, you move beyond it, and you find acceptance and security and everything you wanted, and you realize once you get there that the earlier time was a magical place and a liminal space between youth and adulthood. And some of the best times of your life.”