During the brewery debacle in 2019, I started seeing a therapist who used music and art as forms of therapy. Often in our sessions, she would ask me to think of a song that represented how I felt. She (like Mihali) maintained that songs can be super powerful and helpful especially in the midst of depression, confusion, chaos, etc. One time I chose "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus because I was angry with life and imagined my dreams being destroyed with a wrecking ball. Another time I chose "Keep Breathing" by Ingrid Michaelson, which contains my absolute favorite line in a song "I want to change the world; instead I sleep" which speaks so much to me, my confusion with wtf I am doing with my life, and my perennial struggle between wanting to change the world and wanting to do nothing at all. I also like the meditative repetition of the lyric "all I can do is keep breathing", a reminder for times when I feel hopeless and powerless, at least I can breathe, and keep breathing. Another time I chose "Endless Night" from the Lion King Musical Soundtrack with these powerful lyrics "I know that the night must end, and that the sun will rise" that remind me to have hope in the midst of the darkness of my depression.
My therapist also recommended that I create a playlist of songs that tap into my feelings, my life's passion, my life's truth, and to listen to them when I started questioning my purpose in life. I created the playlist, but only ever added a few songs (one of them is a Five Iron Frenzy song, my favorite, called "Every New Day.") But after listening to Twiddle's album "Plump", I added two of theirs. One, a delightful song called "Every Soul". The song even uses words like truth and passion, and contains that "Endless Night" theme of just needing a little bit of light in the darkness. Here are some of my favorite lyrics:
Life's too short burning down by mediocrity
When life feels like it's too slow
And your daily dues are getting old
'Cause all we're taught's to fit the mold
There's so much more to every soul
Take a chance do a dance put your soul at ease
Look around hear the sounds of tranquility
Laugh out loud, smile proud and enjoy the scene
This is you, this is me, we must relax and dream
Just a little bit of light when the darkness sings
Just a little bit of joy when it's hard to think
When life feels like a dead end street
It's up to you to push on through on to better things
Find your place, find your faith in humanity
Being kind to your mind's the most important thing
Do your best, stop and test out your will to be
In a moments time you'll draw the line and embrace change
Love and action is the greatest truth
Light the passion, make your dreams come true
The other song that fits into my "Life's Passion and Truth" playlist is "Lost in the Cold" , speaking to me about my current feeling of being lost, not being able to see the future, losing all my energy, struggling and needing a change. The solution includes a line I find myself singing now when I wake in the morning: "I'm gonna dance in the rain, and lay out in the sunshine."
I'm lost
And I can't seem to find my way home
I've been burning up time
Burning out my mind
On an endless winding road
It's hard to see the future
When the present doesn't suit you
Every day feels like a blinding cold
There's a hole in my energy
It's blurring out my sanity
Eroding the thrill of getting old
I don't fit in with society
It's blinding my integrity
While undermining my goals
I've been struggling for way way too long
It's time for a change I'm ready to move on
And, yes, I'm scared to right all my wrongs
But I'll be okay, I'm stronger than I thought
I'm not gonna waste one minute of this life
I got a second chance to do what is right
I'm gonna dance in the rain, and lay out in the sunshine
Take all my pain, and turn it in into moonlight
Take all my pain, and melt it with the sunshine
Take all my pain, and turn it into white light
Take all my pain, and give myself a good life
Another song with powerful lyrics, "Polluted Beauty", is tragic with a tinge of hopefulness. It starts with this beautifully crafted picture of nature (which is so perfect since it just snowed here and there is literally a wondrous white glittering blanket on the ground right now), that unfortunately most of humanity is blinded to.
The leaves are bursting brightly slowly turning into flame
Soon they'll lose their strength shrivel up and turn to gray
The cold takes over little crystals from the sky
A wondrous white blanket covers all throughout the night
In the morning it's the sun sprinklin' glitter all around
The wind blows softly like a lullabye through town
And all this has happened while your mind's preoccupied
It's the ugly way of man that keeps us down and makes us blind
Then the song creates this beautiful narrative of the creation story, created by love and magic and tears.
One great tear splashes down upon the ground
Love paints the magic, created life to swim around
The sun burned hotter as the earth grew taller
It was beauty overwhelming all that life had to offer
They soared above the sky and they crawled upon the earth
Life was blooming sweetly as the world was giving birth
The necessities of life were pure and simple in their ways
To sustain and exist, things would love to live each day
And then comes the reality of how humanity is destroying it all, but also the solution to go back to the earth, to live in and love and appreciate nature.
We've been polluting all the beauty that surrounds our daily lives
Technology is killing me, it's bleeding me dry
Communication has no patience radiating inside
Our prophecy's no longer free one great eye in the sky
You wake up to the screams of the angry cars outside
Everybody's way too busy living in this modern life
Always texting driving tweeting into cyber overdrive
It's a hi-def fog blurrin' out the earth's pride
We're the lazy generation our question's answered with a click
Leave your house to seek out knowledge when it's all at your fingertips
If we just got back to basics put one seed into the earth
We could heal this epidemic save the world before it's cursed
Stop staring at the screens stop countin' on machines
Start livin' in the world that your eyes were meant to see
We've been polluting our own beauty forgettin' what was truly meant to
keep our bodies happy keep our souls from feelin' empty
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west
The stars are out at night and the moon it lies to the rest
All this is common knowledge which soon will be forgotten
Unless we take a second to let the beauty blossom
I love how these lyrics tell a story, paint a picture, name a truth, advocate for change. So deep and meaningful. They could sing about drugs or sex or abusing women or nonsense, but instead they sing about making a difference. It is quite delightful, and I highly recommend a listen.
Also, totally forgot to mention, these songs have HORNS! Any band that includes horn players automatically wins in my book. 🎷🎺🎵
With delight,
♥Jamie
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