The Soundtrack of My Life

Bob Carlisle, “Butterfly Kisses”: This song is a classic father-daughter song. It has really powerful lyrics that can make almost anyone cry, even if you do not even have a kid. I see myself as the little girl through out the story in the lyrics. I used to be daddy’s little girl with “ribbons and curls“, too. As I started to grow up, I “switched them for “perfume and make up”. When he sings “walk beside the pony daddy, if you don’t mind…I know the cake looks funny daddy, but I sure tried”, I see those images from my childhood; I relive them in my mind. The chorus gets me the most emotional, because I remember when I was younger and my dad would read to me before bedtime, and then say goodnight. There is also the part in the song where it is “I hope you don’t mind, but I am only going to kiss you on the cheek this time”, because he is dropping her off with her friends and she is older and more “cool” now. However, now as I listen to it again, I now think of my sister at the wedding part of the song since her recent engagement. And now, I am “trying my wings out in this great big world” now, trying to discover who I am, and who I will become. I could see myself just “standing in the dressing room, just staring at her.” This song will always be an important song for me, and my whole family.

Swizzle Tree, “Marc’s Car”: This video is not the greatest. Since it is a live video, there is a lot of “crowd static” through out the whole video. Swizzletree actually does not have any music videos except for their one or two singles. This is because they are a local band from Omaha, Nebraska. But it does not matter that it does not have a music video, because I chose this song for its lyrics. “I will always be your friend…I will always be your friend, and I’ll be the one standing there, be the one that cares…..memories, memories that last forever”. I love these lyrics and the guitar solo that follows it; it is simply an amazing song, especially to hear it live when you are in a huge crowd of people like I was when I saw them at the first River Riot that was put on by 89.7 the River. This song is all about friendship, your core group of friends that spend all their time together or your true friends, the ones you can name on one hand that will always be there for you in thick and thin no matter what happens. These lyrics are great to sing with a best friend just driving around, because your friend and you both know you are singing it for them. You will never let them down, you will always have their back whenever they need you. This song can help bring friends closer together by making memories at a concert or simply sitting in a basement rocking out to this song like you are at the concert.

Sum 41, “Still Waiting”: Sum 41 is the first rock concert I ever went to…and the first concert I ever crowd surfed at…they are just a very important and meaningful band for me. And even though I could name off a bunch of different songs written by Sum 41, I chose “Still Waiting” to help describe me in my autobiography. I fell in love with this song the second I heard it, because I just felt a deep connection with its lyrics and the meaning behind it. The song starts off with “So am I still waiting, for this world to stop hating…”, which I say all the time because of all the problems and issues in the world like poverty, racism, and segregation. This could even have meaning for less major problems like cliques, rumors, and labels in high school. I simply see myself as a back up singer for them, if you will, wanting to just echo all the important lyrics in the song. “Can’t find a, good reason, can’t find hope to believe in” are the lyrics that follow the first line. It explains that people keep looking for reasons or excuses on why the world is the way it is, or maybe even why people never change. The beat of the music with the lyrics just make the entire song so powerful you want to just listen to it over and over again. This song is a great song to help someone, like me, show others how they feel and what exactly they want to say, even though they are not always sure how to express it.





Nickelback, “Far Away”: I have mixed feelings when it comes to this song. When it first came out, I thought it was just alright. Then it became one of those songs that a person listens to over and over again, because it fits exactly what is going on in your life right then and there. Unfortunately, I was going through a pretty bad time and so I started to despise this song with every fiber of my being. When it came on at work, I would automatically switch to a really bad mood, and no one could figure out why. This song just symbolizes a lot about what was going on in my life for over three years. “This time, this place, misused, mistake…” is the first line of the song. It starts off the story in the video of a man having to leave his girl to fight a forest fire, but in my case it was just about a guy becoming some one else, and leaving me behind. “Too long, too late, who was I to make you wait?” describes how I was feeling while all this was going on in my life. “I love you, I loved you, I miss you, from far away for far too long”-these lyrics were exactly what I was feeling back then. It is the words that you always what to get the courage to say to the other person,, but never can get up enough nerve to say them. “I want it, I need it, I need to hear you say...I love you, and I have loved you all along” is what I wanted him to say; I wanted him to realize how he really felt instead of denying the truth. But it took awhile, in fact, he still hasn’t. He did however, apologize, so we could move on like in the song: “I’ll forgive you, for being away for far too long”. I now look back on this song, and I no longer hate it. It actually helps me remember that things are better than they were back then.


Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance” :This song was one of my favorites as a kid, because I was a dancer for a good eight or nine years. My old dance teacher made us practice turns to this song while it was on repeat over and over again just because she loved it so much. But that is not why I love it; I love it for its lyrics. She just sings to her daughter in the music video, looking out for her. My sister and I have the same type of relationship, because we look out for each other. It is more than just being sisters. The lyrics are telling us “I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,……I hope you dance, I hope you dance…………I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean……when one door closes, I hold one more open…….give faith the fighting chance, so you when you get the chance to sit it out or dance….DANCE” These lyrics are partially about dancing, about not being one of those people that just sit at a table while others are dancing around and having fun, but that is not all what it is about. It is about living life. She hopes her daughter never loses her ambitions and passions in life. She doesn’t want them to just give up on life after one failure keep going on. Don’t give up on your dreams. Keep on dancing and living your life. Have no regrets.

Madina Lake, “Here I Stand”: This band is not very well known. Or at least they weren’t until they opened up for Linkin Park this past summer. I remember seeing them in May, before anyone even knew who they were at this little venue in Papillion, Nebraska, called the Rock. It was amazing. It was one of those concerts where there was only twenty other people if that, but you are still rocking out to it, because the music is so damn good. They came out after and gave all of us hugs, pictures, and autographs. It is just great feeling to know that you had a great night of live music with only twenty other people-that is it. “Here I stand, all alone, tonight,….I wish I was anyone but me.” These lyrics show independence, and growing up. It never came out of my CD player in my car for almost the entire month before graduation. It is just addictive, like the song “Island in the Sun” by Weezer. “I wish I was strong enough to breathe, without you, in my life….” explains about that one person that won’t get out of your head no matter what you do. It means they are meant to stay in your life, if you can’t get them out of your head. “There are others like us” is what they have written off and on through out the entire video. They do this to show that no matter how you are feeling or what you are thinking, there is someone else who is just like you. You are not alone.


Kelly Clarkson, “Never Again”: I think you all can figure out why I chose this music video for one of my autobiographical videos. It is about a guy cheating on a girl. She does not want him back, but she does not wish him well with the next girl he has either. She wants to make sure he knows that he made a mistake though, and it is something he will always regret. It is basically a power song for women just like “Man I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Train or Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats”. And even though those songs are great power songs too that I could have used, but I chose “Never Again”. The video just made the song even better. It shows how she was good to him, and he messed up anyway. Then it transitions into her messing with his mind. When he drives or is in the airport, she just will not get out of his head. He starts going crazy, like when he is kissing his new girl and opens his eyes it is Kelly again. “Never again will I hear you, never again will I miss you, Never again will I fall to you, Never…..and Never again will I kiss you, never again will I love you, Never!” She is feeling empowered and tells the cheater off, which is a great feeling to have. “Does it hurt to know I’ll never be there, bet it sucks to see my face everywhere, it was you who chose to end it like you did…” She gets to shove it back in his face for treating her so badly. I have done the same kind of thing with my personal experience. It is great to have closure.



Boys Like Girls, “The Great Escape”: I love this song, I always have and always will. It is just a great song to drive around to. Whether you are by yourself alone in the car rockin’ out to it and having a blast until you are at a red light and the other people at the light look at you. I find it funny, others are embarrassed for some reason. Then there are the times when you are with a group of people having a blast on a road trip or just simply driving around aimlessly just messing around being goofy and what not. “Throw it away, forget yesterday, we’ll make the great escape…” simply explains what I say when I just want to forget about something crappy going on in my life whether it is about a bad test or stupid friend, I just get out of it and drive around. “Tonight will change our lives…..we won’t give up the fight, we will scream out at the top of our lungs….” It just makes me happy. I look forward before going out with friends, because it becomes a night full of endless memories. I have screamed this song out at the top of my lungs a few times with friends. The first time I actually lost my voice, because of it. But it was worth it, because I will never forget that night. The first time my mom heard it on the radio she came running to my room to tell me to listen to it, because she thought of me when she heard it since she knows how much I like to drive around and just bop around to music either by myself or with a bunch of my friends.