It has always amazed me that music can carry such emotional power. The right song at the right time can take your thoughts and absolutely turn them around, solidly placing them on a new track. I sometimes joke that songs like this were taken off the soundtrack to my life–they seem to mold the moment in just the way a soundtrack would. Here are a few that I’ve noticed recently (they’re on the bottom of the post. Try listening to them and see if you catch the soundtrack feeling):
Guster – Either Way: As I drove down I-15 a few days ago and watched the parasailers slowly drifting through the sky, the song reached its climax (about 3:30 in the song. Seriously–listen to it!). For just a few moments, life felt like some sort of heroic but beautiful endeavor. What a feeling. Then about 30 seconds later I was just driving in my explorer to go do my laundry…
Yellowcard – Shadows and Regrets: I just happened to be sitting in my car and thinking about some of the fun times that I’ve had with my awesome group of friends this summer, and this song hit about the 1:50 mark. BAM! Life felt like one of those well-put-together slide shows that makes you feel a little misty and tell random people you love them. Amazing.
Goo Goo Dolls – Iris: My close friends will know that I call this song the theme to my life. I’ve never exactly known why… maybe it’s because I feel like I’ve got a little hidden side of me that I “don’t think that they’d understand.” I’ll just leave this one open to your interpretation for why it resonates so well in my mind.
Rascal Flatts – What Hurts the Most: Never listen to this song right after breaking up with a girl. I did that once several months ago. Actually, I played it on my guitar. In no time at all, I was flat on my back pondering the cruelty of the universe and my own helpless state. Wow. Now I just think it’s a neat song. Go team!
Straylight Run – Existentialism on Prom Night: I don’t care what you’re doing; You could be collecting garbage on the side of the road, but if you are listening to this song at about 1:55 into it, you will feel like the world just got a little bit more colorful, and like the present is a time that you’re going to look back on nostalgically some day. And you probably will. Because you’ll have a memory of how good this song was.
Lord of the Rings Soundtrack – Any of them (seriously): Try to listen to any one of these songs and not get some sort of feeling creeping up in the back of your head that you need to either visit the Shire or pull out your sword. On the one down below (Samwise the Brave), fast forward to the 40 second mark and see if you don’t feel like something dramatic is going to happen. And like you’re a hobbit.
Alright. Little did you know it, but by reading this blog, you have obligated yourself to do me a favor. Think back on a time that a song hit you in a powerful way–not just a time when you liked one, but a time when it hit you like a ton of bricks and felt like it really fit the moment. Leave a comment with your story and the song. Fun times!
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We’re So Far Away – Mae
Pretty much since that song came out (about 4 years ago) I have felt that I wasn’t going to be able to “really listen to it” until Nat and I were married, like the song was written for the occasion. So when we had our first dance to it, it was like the past had wrapped itself into a circle and connected to that point.
This is the song that I thought of when I read your post. It is Pollen and Salt by Daphne Loves Derby. It pretty much encapsulated the feelings I had when i missed Tyson so much on his mission I could hardly breathe. It helped me through. Some of you others may have felt this when you were homesick on a mish. Even though you knew where you were and what you were doing, it is still hard.I would just put a line or two, but I’m just going to put all the lyrics…
You’ve left me with such a silent world,
Where evenings are calm, but I’m restless
And my breath has become as thin as the wind.
Not even the mighty sky could fill the space you left behind
Not even when it rains.
No, nothing takes your place
Your emptiness too great to fill.
I have been holding my breath,
For too many nights in a row,
And somewhere on coastlines unknown to me
You paint your dreams,
With reds and blues and greens.
Yea you’re painting daffodils by the sea,
Without me.
Today in a breeze I sensed your perfume
But you were nowhere near.
And in reverie,
I felt you holding me.
And even in my dreams I shake from the fear
Of truth being swept away
By the rhythm of the waves I whisper in your ears.
I have been holding my breath,
For too many nights in a row,
And somewhere on coastlines unknown to me
You paint your dreams,
With reds and blues and greens.
Yea you’re painting daffodils by the sea,
Without me.
I would give away
My sweetest memories,
If I could just be with you again.
Be with you again.
I have been holding my breath,
For too many nights in a row,
And somewhere on coastlines unknown to me
You paint your dreams,
With reds and blues and greens.
Yea you’re painting daffodils growing by the sea,
Without me.
Last night I dreamt you were with me,
Finally I could breathe.
About two years ago I found out my Grandma had Cancer. Around that same time I was watching the “When You’re Gone” music video by Avril Lavigne, and I noticed there was an old man who was crying because of the loss of his beloved wife. At that point I burst into tears and all of my fears about my Granny came rushing back. To see the pain on the man’s face made me wonder what would happen to my grandpa if something did happen to Granny. It was a blessing that after treatment the cancer went into remission. Although there are still heartaches and hardships that come with old age, I am grateful to say that my Granny is still alive today.
Music has amazing power.