Music is in Everything

I grew up in a household that listened to all kinds of music from Steely Dan to Rise Against. A wide range of music went through the house and most of it stuck with me. I love most genres of music and most of the songs that have made their way through my life have made a huge impact on me and my tastes today.

Here are some of the songs that have helped me through hard times, played during road trips, and just ones I play on repeat that will never get old.

To start of the list I have to start with something my brothers would jam out to in the car on the way to high school:

Entertainment by Rise Against

As a young girl with only brothers I was influenced with this kind of teen angst music at a young age. With bands like Sum 41, Dragon Force, Yellowcard, Green Day, etc. I grew to love the genre and all the music I could find was my type of music. This song in particular, stuck out to me because the beat was rockin’ and the way the singer hit all the notes was almost like a drug. I binged this song until I couldn’t stand it. Then a couple years ago I rediscovered the band and began to listen to all the old songs I listened too. This one popped up and I really began to understand the lyrics and really felt what they meant after living life a little more. Now the song has more depth to me that I wish understood as an adolescent.

A Horse with No Name by America and every other song by America and that genre

This song honestly has no deeper meaning other than that my mom and dad played it on every single road trip (which was like 10 times a year). They played music from Steely Dan, Seals and Croft, The Mama’s and the Papa’s, The Police, Earth, Wind, and Fire etc. all the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s bands you can think of they played in the car and on REPEAT! So I have memorized most of the those songs and I am proud of it. I jam to all those bands in my kitchen while my kids are eating breakfast and they tell me to stop. Oh no... I am becoming my mother.

Never Gunna Give You Up by Rick Astley

It wasn’t my intention to Rick Roll anybody, but this song has a hilarious meaning to me! My childhood sister I never had married a guy with the last name is Astle. Which is very close to Astley. So we Rick Roll each other every chance we get and some times we dono’t even realize were doing it! We send each other videos thinking it’s going to be something else and low and behold you hear those catchy tunes and it’s Rick Astley with his banger. The best is when it plays on the radio and you’re not expecting it. Just straight hilarious.

I Hope You’re Happy by Blue October

This song is now so cathartic for me because of the long history I have with the person who it reminds me of. When I graduated high school, I wanted to be the opposite of what my parents wanted. I wanted to be free, spirited, full of spirits, and just do whatever I wanted to do. I met this older boy (just a few years older) and he was an introverted silly kid (I am attracted to the introverts who sit by themselves). We bonded immediately and started a strange relationship full of loving times and toxic times.

We realized this relationship wasn’t going to last and we were better off friends, but the toxicity hit us and we left things on really bad terms. I met someone else and we have been happily married for a long time, but this song came out in 2018 when I started to think of him again and we left things.

I really wanted him to be happy after all we’d been through and this song was my way of hoping for him to be happy. We finally reconnected just last week and it has been so liberating to find out he has a family of his own, a house, and two cute dogs. So I don’t have to hope that he’s happy anymore. I know that he is and he knows that I am and we can move on and be the friends we were supposed to be initially.

Now these next songs are about my husband and I starting out our relationship. We don’t really listen to couple songs, but more songs that speak to us through the actually sounds of the instruments, the way the singer delivers the lyrics and the feeling of what the vibe brings. So that brings these next two songs;

Somebody Else by The 1975 and I Found by Amber Run

My husband and I were in bad relationships before we got together. We broke everything off with our pasts and spent months and months getting to know ourselves and the right paths we should go on. Then when the summer was coming to an end we finally met each other. We started talking to each other, getting to know the small quirks about each other and we found out we have a passion for music. He introduced me to The 1975 and the real energy they share about life and its ups and downs. We played the song Somebody Else in the car and we both just clicked. The notes hit the right spot and the singer just sang every note with ease.

I Found, was another song that had us just wrapped about its finger. Amber Run hit every note to keep us interested and want us wanting more.

The last song on the list, the one I’m listening to now that’s really hitting the notes is;

Burn Out by Imagine Dragons

I am a mom with two babies and one is not quite on the spectrum, but has some tendencies of Autism. My son is really hard to take care of and my patience is running thin. He’s a typical three year old, but he has anxiety more than an adult does, he can’t help his compulsions, and has to have certain things in certain ways or he can’t do whatever it is. I’ve read so many books and tried so many different methods and now we are seeing doctors and trying to get into occupational therapy. I am blessed we don’t have more struggles, but the struggles we do have are trying my patience and this song came out and really spoke to me. The intro sounds like a mediation session and then it starts off talking about feeling burnt out and how were all human. This song made me feel not alone.