There's a few that I want to share on this topic. The fact mainly being that music is basically my escape from the reality that we live in and just soak in the playlists I have created in order to distance myself from what's going on at work, at home, etc. because things have been getting rocky lately. Nonetheless, here are some of the songs that mean the most to me (with explanations of course):1. "Pictures" by Pay Money To My Pain - So to start things off, is the song "Pictures" by the Japanese band Pay Money To My Pain. The song itself really speaks out in volumes and it's another case of the lead vocalist (R.I.P Kei Goto) exploring the topics of depression and loneliness. The opening lines "I feel my heart is getting lost. Being myself is painful" really give off the vibe of what the song is going to be about before the beat really kicks in and listening to the song usually has me reflecting a lot on my past and what's transpired. Is anything going to come and bite me when I least expect it? Who's really going to stay in contact with me? Am I just going to be a loner? Stuff like that is what sticks to my mind when listening to this song but the steady tempo and drums mixed with the guitars really set the mood for it.
2. "Bullet Radio" by MY FIRST STORY - "Bullet Radio" has a more energetic vibe to it. Granted that the lyrics in a sense really don't seem to have any story to it, it's the chorus of the song that sells me with the rocking guitars that assist in the lyrical delivery. The one part of the song that probably sells me the most though is the final line of "It looks like no way but one day I'll make it" and really gets me thinking on the aspect of "Even though someone says something is impossible, doesn't mean that's true" because in actuality almost anything is possible in this world and the life that you are given. It really serves as a motivational line in my eyes and it always puts me into deep thought when the final instrumental bit plays the song out.
3. "Second Limit" by MY FIRST STORY - "Second Limit" was a bit more interesting in terms of analysis because originally I really didn't listen to the song for the lyrics and what the message was. I mainly just listened to this song because of the rhythm and tempo it has (the drums really do it justice) and overall I thought it was a great song with a catchy chorus. Diving into it more, I can see why this song puts me in a certain mood. It's about getting over old mistakes and pushing forward and living in the present and looking out toward the future (which would probably explain the title of "Second Limit") especially with the line of "Search for a brand new day!"
4. "In Florida" by A Day To Remember - This is a song where if you've followed the band for some time, you can somewhat understand right away what the song is about in relation to them. A Day To Remember formed in Ocala, Florida and given the song's title, this obviously has to deal with something in regards to Florida. Looking at the lyrics, it's about childhood memories and what it was like growing up in the sunny state of Florida and serves as a time of reflection and to see the amount of change that has happened since leaving one's hometown in order to pursue other goals. What really sells me on this and kind of gets me emotional is the chorus bit because it honestly speaks words of wisdom:
I feel the less you love, the less you feel alive
I feel, to understand, it starts from the inside
And I feel, that patience is a lesson learned in time
To be good with your own life's to be good with mine
5. "Silence" by Marshmello - This song I can relate to a lot because of the chorus that goes with it. There have been points where I've just held back on saying things in certain situations and instead opted to be the silent one in groups rather than vocalize my feelings and opinions. It just got to the point where I got used to being the quiet one in most groups and more or less synched myself with the whole "Silence" part. In a way, I could almost relate this to how I am at home. Things tend to become rocky during the latter half of the day and I just hole up in my room, drowning myself in music until it's time to retire for the night.
6. "Blood to Bleed" by Rise Against - "Blood to Bleed" is more hard-hitting for me because it simply gives me a musical representation of what life at home is like sometimes. My parents sometimes appear to be mad at one another (more often times than naught it's my father being pissed at mother over something I refuse to acknowledge half the time because I don't like being involved) and at times I do ask myself, "Despite being married, is there still love?". It's more of a personal song that I listen to when things appear to be reaching a near breaking point and tensions are high as hell at home sometimes.
7. "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" by Brand New - This song also hits me on a personal level because once again it's revolving around a relationship (hint hint) that appears to be on the near edge of fallout. As stated with "Blood to Bleed" my dad always seems agitated everytime he's home and really there are very few times I actually see him happy and even then it seems like a facade in my eyes. When I listen to this, I almost picture myself as being part of the chorus with the line "Gave up my body and bed all for an empty hotel, wasting words on lower cases and capitals" because sometimes I just feel like straight up walking out the door on them and spending the night at one of my friends' places because I find the heat too much to handle in the kitchen. The other kicker is the interlude where it goes "I lie for only you. And I lie well..." which to me represents me betraying how I really feel about the situation at home.
8. "Heavy" by Linkin Park - Linkin Park is probably one of my all-time favorite bands and even though they switched over to more pop for the last album they released, they still never failed to follow through with exploring different emotional themes, especially the lead single "Heavy" from
One More Light. Mainly talking about stress, I find it relatable to a high level given that we all have things to worry about such as money, family, and even our own personal agenda as to what we want to do at some point but there's still the fear that we may never get to do it, leaving us with this heavy, weight to drag around with us.
9. "Easier To Run" by Linkin Park - This is probably a song that most can relate on a personal level. There's shit that's happened in the past and it's usually something that you don't want to confront because you're afraid of the backlash you'll face once you step up to face it head on. Needless to say I've had that feeling multiple times and I guess it's another that applies to home in recent years and probably even more since I graduated high school. Regardless, this is just a song that I think some can find relatable and the heavy tone of the song really gives off the emotional vibe that the song talks about.
10. "Saishuukai STORY" by MY FIRST STORY - This is a song I recently started listening to and immediately fell in love with it with just how the instruments compliment one another throughout the entirety of the song but the lyrics were of some interesting note once I started to try and figure out the message behind it and why I found it so relatable. To me, it's about finally chasing after your dreams after putting it on hold for so long and following through on said dreams in order to crush all the doubt and despair you originally had but the effort put into it has knocked away the darkness that tried to swallow you.
11. "Promises I Can't Keep" by Mike Shinoda - This is another song that I have another personal relation to but rather than my parents this time around, it's more focused around my cousin who's a partnered streamer on Twitch. For a time when I was part of this mod group at the time, everything was good and we were all about having fun and what not along with lots of laughs and solid friendships but after summer went by (I think a year ago) things just changed. Eventually, most of the original people I met just started to disappear from the stream and I really never saw them that match again. I only keep in touch with one of the old mods but it's just a damn shame that we couldn't follow through on some of the things we were hoping for in the future.
12. "Liberate" by Slipknot - This one is mainly reserved for when I'm extremely worked up and pissed off at the world. The lyrics themselves just speak all the anger and rage aimed at the world that I guess is a sense of "madness" and just wanting to be free from it and not have it cling onto you because no one wants to deal with the bad things in life and any other ridiculous shit that gets thrown your way. In a sense, this is pretty much my "Let loose" song when things are becoming extremely rough.
13. "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard - I just mainly threw this song on the list because it just reminds me of the high school days (even though they weren't that long ago) where we still didn't really have to worry about post-graduation life up until after Christmas break. Really this song just reminds me of the stupid shit that I did in school and also some of the stupid shit I saw happen in school with my friends.
14. "Holdin' It Down For The Underground" by A Day To Remember - Oh boy, this ADTR song. I put this one on my list because, since last year, I've been finding myself stuck with a lot of family issues. My parents, cousins fighting one with another over dumb shit, almost nothing seems united in any sense. No real sense of family and really the only ones that try to actively avoid issues like this are my grandmother, my cousin, and myself. In the song the line "This isn't what I remember, everyone's looking out for just themselves" really stands out to me in the present day given the circumstances and the chorus really drives the emotional nail in with "Let's go back, let's go back, to a time where I still felt I had a family". It really is just a mix of anger and sadness because it's something that I don't like seeing and this is perhaps one of the only songs that allows to me reflect on when times were brighter and not so dark.
15. "Make It Up As I Go" by Mike Shinoda - To end on a happier note, here's "Make It Up As I Go" by Mike Shinoda which is probably (and still) my favorite song of his
Post Traumatic album. The beat really gives off this energy and up-beat feeling and the lyrics delve into thinking you had everything figured out but it just sort of falls out place. The response? You just roll with it because you know you can still make something good out of it despite all the drawbacks. You got people around you who support you, cheer you on, are there to help and also people who are there when you need to vent (kind of like now I guess) and once all those frustrations are let out, you kind of just fall back into that content mood and smile.
Well, there's my list done. Apologies if it's a bit long but some of these really just held personal shit close to them that I wanted to get off my chest after having it pent up over the months.