“Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite.” -Thomas Carlyle

Music has a strange power of moving the soul, stirring emotions and bringing words to life and meaning to simple phrases. It has the power to make a strong, stable man cry because of beautifully profound melodies and lyrics. Most people have at least one particular song with some deep meaning to them, whether a memory was made or is recollected, or someone is thought of. Songs bring the past to life as well as those not physically present at the moment. A lot of the time, this creates melancholy and even tears, but there are those tears of happiness. There are songs from enjoyable or exciting events. I have numerous CD’s that contain song after song, each creating one of these emotional moments. As a music lover I have songs in which I simply admire the lyrics and artists’ talents. There are too many songs in my life with extreme meaning; I’ve lived a life not many other teens have. Songs reach me on a very personal level as I’ve dealt with things that others have only feared- just too many hardships and downfalls. Examples lie in the words of Simple Plan, Creed, and Christina Aguilera, to name a few. They deal with mainly three major things in my life today, my father, my boyfriend and my numerous hardships. There is one example, however, of how fun memories can adhere.

The first song that came to mind is Simple Plan’s “Perfect.” The punk rock band slows their usual tempo to show the intensity of the song. The band brings up the lost relationship between a father and son, or in my all too familiar case, my broken father-daughter bond. I can not listen to the song anymore for fear of crying in front of my peers. The lyrics touch deep into my heart, and are entirely applicable, every word: “And now I try hard to make it / I just want to make you proud / I’m never gonna be good / Enough for you / I can’t pretend that / I’m alright / And you can’t change me.” This song proves the poetry behind music and shows how much more power is formed when a lyric finds a tune. The song conveniently came out on radio right at the worst of my relationship’s downfall. Not only was I well into my teenage years, aged too old for a dad to comprehend and relate too, but I decided to end all four of my high school sports. Sports seem to be my dad’s reason for bearing children. It gives him something to brag about with his friends and coworkers, so if I wasn’t scoring goals or beating the 400 meter records, I was lazy and incompetent and altogether useless to him. Furthermore, we had nothing in common anymore, nothing to talk about, not that we talked in the first place, but small-talk was always about my sport of the season. The hardest part was the age; I wasn’t his little girl anymore to mold. Like in the song, “Did you know you used to be / My hero?” was all I could think about. Bob Carlisle’s “Butterfly Kisses” plays a similar part with my emotions. The song came out when I was around 8 years old, still his little princess. The song is a story in which a girl grows up through her father’s eyes, reaching milestones like sweet 16 and her wedding day. He’s so bewildered by his daughters love and admiration of him. I loved the song, the first verse was me, and I thought I would have the same relationship throughout the rest of my life and couldn’t wait until I was “one part women the other part girl” or ask him if my “wedding gown look[s] pretty” and “Daddy please don’t cry!” My mom and I even decided that I would play the song at my wedding reception for the father-daughter dance. Another song to cry to. The fact that I have to avoid being in the same room with my father leads me to believe I will have no such wedding. I even wonder who will walk me down the aisle when I hear either song. They are both amazing songs, musically nevertheless lyrically. They were both popular too. I would battle with my friends who loved the song to change the station, just to hear the next verse already underway on a rival station. Music, no, these artists and their talent to write and perform have an amazing affect on me. Mariah Carey does as well.

“Hero” was released well before I discovered my strange attraction to sharp objects, before I discovered that if you skip meals for days on end, you lose weight, and certainly before the effects of premarital sex. “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera, however, came out just in time. Both of these women are idolized by our society, so when you are at the end of your rope, you might look towards celebrities. They are both beautiful women, sex symbols even. If they say that I’m a hero and I’m beautiful in every way (and nothing no one else has said has worked), then I’ll at least listen. The songs are beautiful in themselves; they both have two of the best female voices in the industry, very strong and liberating. The lyrics were beauty as well. For some reason these songs touched me in my time of need. Not to say that they turned my life around, that would take a miracle, but they certainly helped to calm me down and give me the smallest bit of faith. “Look inside you and be strong…There will be tomorrow…In time / You’ll find the way.” These words from “Hero” helped me to be stronger as well as Christina telling me and all girls that she gets insecure, but no one can bring her down, no words can bring her down. “Wonderful” by Everclear gave me another confidant. I could listen to the song when I felt it was okay to hate everyone and everything because I’ve had a bad day, the worst day. The upbeat rock and roll gets me to warm up to my problems and face them the right way. The singer jumps up and down as he yell “Some days I hate everything / Everyone and everything / [so] Please don’t tell me everything is wonderful now.” He’s not afraid to tell youths the truth- that some times you can’t simply tell them that everything’s going to be okay. The women I’ve mentioned candidly tell me that it will all be okay in time, but Everclear avoids even implying it, it’s straightforward and that’s admirable to me in today’s music.

Like Usher’s latest CD entitled Confessions, what could be more appealing then a successful, idolized man’s confessions? One of the songs entitled “Confessions Pt. II” is a popular and catchy tune, of course, but more than that, it’s a man able to confess to his girlfriend that he impregnated a woman he barely even knows, mention he cried, and furthermore publicize it in a most judging society. Mainly, since Usher is male, it is much more commendable to hear his secrets throughout the CD. Creed also shows this in his song “Arms Wide Open” which he wrote in news of a baby boy. The profound message is overall sensitive and noble. He too admits to tears, (this time of joy), as a man declares that he will “show you love / show you everything”, ‘you’ being his coming son. He takes the news of a new baby as joyous, but in life, not all babies are welcome.

Kenny Chesney sings a soulful tune about teen pregnancy, and the title is the new father’s catchphrase, “There Goes My Life.” The thing I love most about this song is how the context of the phrase changes. At first, his life is gone, all his dreams crushed. But later, after the arrival and newfound love for his little girl, he watches her walk up the stairs and thinks “there goes my life, my everything” as he does when she’s grown and leaving for college. It’s an astonishing thing to be able to create a song with that kind of chorus line and a changing context. This is another profound song, with too close of a meaning, for it is every sexually active college students’ fear, and my worst nightmare, to hear this, or any song with the same storyline. Luckily for me, I have a boyfriend that I can trust to stick around.

He was there for me for everything I’ve ever been through, and always will be. A great thing about songs is they can become messages. They aid someone insightfully express something to another through music. The best CD’s I own were created by my boyfriend with solely me in mind. Numerous songs with messages of everlasting love and memories compiled on one CD make a CD my prized possession. They too have the power to make me cry, especially songs dealing with the teen pregnancy, or the ‘I-miss-you’ songs, since he attends a college out of state. Though through the magic of music, I can feel like he’s right next to me as soon as the melody reaches my ears. Artists like Rascal Flatts, Lonestar and KC-n-JoJo have songs that reach our hearts. Not only are the lyrics amazing as usual, but the framework in which the songs were first heard is recreated with each listen. For example KC n JoJo’s song “All My Life” not only contains truth in its words, but also recreates the magical moment at Prom in which we were arm in arm, saying our “I love you’s” for the first time. Lonestar has the purest lyrics, with the most truth in literally every single word. As for Rascal Flatts, I had just started to enjoy the country genre when I received the CD for free. The trio has amazing harmonies and beats. They also keep it real while writing songs based on their fans. For example, the song “Shine On: came off a banner stating “Shine on Joe Don” (Joe Don is a member of the group.) They will have fans for life with the mindset that you’re loyalty pays off-- into one of their hit songs.

The last song that quickly comes to mind for meanings is the overplayed tune “Get Low” by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz. Although the lyrics hold no real relevance, the memories are overwhelming. This stood as our senior song. We chanted the chorus at every touch down, it played at all graduation parties, and we danced to it in our indoor sand pit we created for our senior prank. The song brought all cliques together and will remain a key element in remaining the class of 2004. The fresh style of the new rapper as well as the popularity of the song was reason for the phrases to stick in our minds, but the closeness of our class made the song last a year.

Songs have the power to recreate memories. They inspire the uninspired and reveal the secrets of admired artists. They create tears of pain, grief and joy. Music releases the soul and gives people something to relate to, dance to, and sing along with. Particular songs for each person give and receive messages that no one could create without the sense of a melody. Like Thomas Carlyle said years ago, “Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite.”