nineteen

"I feel you in my heart, and I don't even know you."

- Tegan and Sara

this place is a prison

"I know there's a big world out there like the one I saw on the screen."

- The Postal Service

I have just been feeling this song lately. Not the words so much as the sound. I will never forget the first time I heard it, playing over dancers dressed in black, and how they made it something different. If you see a really good dance to a certain song, it'll change that song forever. So thank you to Gerald Espinosa, a choreographer I could never live up to.

less cute

"He's like a Wal-Mart version of you,
but he'll have to do"

- Say Anything

northern downpour

"I know the world's a broken bone,
but melt your headaches, call it home."

- Panic at the Disco



Thank you, Katie.

walking far from home

"I was walking far from home,
but I carried your letters all the while.
I saw lovers in a window
whisper, 'Want me like time, want me like time.'"

- Iron & Wine

The images in this song are strange and beautiful (another favorite song of mine), and I find myself wanting to be there with the singer. I was introduced to this song by-- big surprise-- Cory Saul. So I thank him for another hipster gem.

all i wanted

"I could follow you to the beginning
just to relive the start.
Maybe then we'd remember to slow down
at all of our favorite parts."

- Paramore

Makes me want to watch Eternal Sunshine.

what sarah said

"And I rationed my breaths as I said to myself
that I'd already taken too much today,
as each descending beep on the LCD
took you a little farther away from me"

- Death Cab for Cutie

I actually love all the lyrics of this song, so give it a real listen on a rainy day. But I chose this line because I like the idea of rationing breaths; how many do I have today while someone is running out?
I can't really write anything about this song that is as profound as the song itself, but I will say that it is a strange sensation to think of who would watch you die. And who you could watch.

crazy beautiful life

"I'm in love all right
with my crazy beautiful life"

- Ke$Ha

Short and sweet bubble gum words of wisdom. This song reminds me that love is about so much more than romance.

we get on

"Simply knowing you exist ain't good enough for me.
But asking for your telephone number seems highly inappropriate
seeing as I can't even say hi when you walk by..."

- Kate Nash

Actually, I really enjoy all the lyrics to this song. It still entertains me every time because it unravels like a story, even though I already know how it ends. I love that she is honest enough to admit her feelings for someone she hardly knows. I know I have felt this way before, and I think it's cool that Kate's not afraid to show her stalker side. I mean really, who doesn't imagine a workplace (or classroom) romance on occasion? She's just ballsy enough to sing about it. In a quirky '50s prom sort of melody. I can't get enough. Thank you to Kathy for showing me this one.

crazy for you

"I want to hit you, but then I'd kiss you.
Want to kill you, but then I'd miss you."

- Best Coast

I'm just addicted to this catchy song today.

true affection

"I love the place
where we shared our tiny grace
but just because it's real
don't mean it's gonna work"

- The Blow

One of my very favorites. And this lyric is one of those things that I learn over and over again in the process of growing up.

I'll always remember this as Josie's myspace song...

unlike me

"I love the way you live so intensely,
enjoying every minute of life
with space to swing your arms around
laughing loudly"

- Kate Havnevik

the sound of settling

"I'll sit and wonder of every love that could have been
if I'd only thought of something charming to say..."

- Death Cab for Cutie

The internet connection here in Jersey is VERY spotty, so I may not blog for days at a time. But while I'm here I'd like to share this simple one that I think is very relatable. I love when you hear yourself in a song-- little things about you that you thought maybe made you weird or crazy-- and then you hear them from someone else's mouth and realize you're not alone at all.

both sides now

"Moons and Junes and ferris wheels
the dizzy dancing way you feel
as every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
you leave 'em laughing when you go
and if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
from give and take, and still somehow
it's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all"

- Joni Mitchell

This is one of my favorite songs, and I think Joni said it best so why commentate? Thank you, Katie, for introducing it to me last year.

grace

"Nothing comes easily
Fill this empty space
Nothing is like it was
Turn my grief to grace"

- Kate Havnevik

whistle for the choir

"So if you're crazy, I don't care. You amaze me."

- The Fratellis

I hope there are men in the world who really feel this way, or I am out of luck.

i won't be left

"I won't scream in my head and let it isolate me."

- Tegan and Sara

This is another one I have to remember all the time. I think I go back and forth between overanalyzing and thinking WAY too much, and being entirely carefree (/ a little clueless). Such is life. But I have noticed that the time I am the most in my head, I am the most lonely.
"For every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature in the dungeon of its own mind-- is, in the end, Hell..." - C.S. Lewis

behind the sea

"And we're all too small to talk to God.
Yes, we're all too smart to talk to God."

- Panic at the Disco

Okay, I cannot pretend to understand this band's lyrics. And I realize that a large part of this song is them screaming, "waves of wooden legs," but I still think there is something there.
I love that these lines kind of contradict each other. On the one hand, who are we to talk to something as big as God? On the other hand, we tiny little creatures think we have everything figured out and we are way beyond consulting something divine. If I get anything out of this song and all its craziness, it's making fun of humans for ever thinking we have it figured out. Maybe the lyricist would make fun of me for thinking I've found meaning.
It's so tempting to live life as if I am in control, as if I'm too smart to talk to God. But in the end I know that my wisdom is only foolishness from an eternal perspective.





Or maybe whoever wrote this just took too many hits. Either way, I'd like to thank Katie Purcell for introducing me to this delightfully weird album.

best for last

"I'd like to hear the words roll out of your mouth finally,
say it's always been me"

- Adele

I like the simplicity of her words with that sugary voice. Yum. Also, I am just feeling this song today. Like I could get a gospel choir together and dance it out.

upward over the mountain

"May the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten"

- Iron & Wine

Lyrics submitted by Cory Saul; thank you very much for the hypnotic mellow songs. Hope you don't mind that the line that stood out to me in this one was the silver-lined one.

crooked teeth

"At night, the sun in retreat
made the skyline look like crooked teeth
in the mouth of a man who was devouring us both"

- Death Cab for Cutie

sort of

"My love's too big for you, my love."

- Ingrid Michaelson



Bonus lyric:

"Baby, you've got the sort of laugh that waters me
and makes me grow tall and strong and proud,
then flattens me."

missed the boat

"Looking toward the future,
we were begging for the past.
We knew we had the good things,
but those never seem to last.
Oh please, just last."

- Modest Mouse

This song is one of my favorites. It's not really the lyrics, but that spiral-y guitar and those shell-sounding shakers. They sound like one of those instruments you have to make at summer camp and your parents have to pretend they like. Anyway, this song reminds me of gray days at the beach. It's not quite that sunny thing you signed up for, but it's beautiful (maybe even more so?) in its bleakness.

lost in the world

"You're my lies, you're my truth
you're my war, you're my truce
you're my questions, you're my proof
you're my stress and you're my masseuse"

- Kanye West



Thanks, Cory!

hiding my heart

"I wish I could lay down beside you when the day is done
and wake up to your face against the morning sun.
But like everything I've ever known, you'll disappear one day.
So I spend my whole life hiding my heart away."

- Adele

hotel song

"Cigarettes and lies,
I am a child. It's too soon."

- Regina Spektor

Sorry I have been a terrible blogger lately. Things are gonna change around here. Eh, probably. At least until I go on another computer fast. I believe this song is another classic from Josie Biteng. The typography on this video is pretty cool too.
And about the lyric, I'm not feeling deep enough to analyze at the moment. Actually it's pretty self explanatory...p.s. it took me like three minutes to remember the phrase "self explanatory," and it still sounds weird to me. Don't you love when your brain stops functioning?

i can change

"Love is a murderer,
but if she calls you tonight
everything is all right"

- LCD Soundsystem

I like a lot of the lyrics in this song, even though I hate them. It's pretty stupid trying to change to fit another person, to beg someone to want you. But I know I have felt that way before and probably most humans have. Thanks to Cory Saul for introducing me to this one.

the world you love

"I fall asleep with my friends around me.
Only place I know, I feel safe.
I'm gonna call this home."

- Jimmy Eat World

headfirst slide into cooperstown on a bad bet

"I don't just want to be a footnote in someone else's happiness"

- Fall Out Boy

This one is for my wonderful roomies (and quasi-roomies) at Loma. I will never forget the day Katie introduced us to this epic song with her intense lip synching routine. From that moment, it was irresistible. Every time I hear the opening of this song, I get a little giddy. It's the kind of song that makes me feel like Christmas is coming.
And for the Fall Out Boy haterz: learn the lyrics, take a drive playing this song at top volume, and attempt Patrick Stump's vocal gymnastics. If you're still not impressed, I guess you're a lost cause.

grow a pear

"If I am honest,
I'm just not hooked on your phonics"

- Ke$Ha

And the many other wise words contained in this song.

be mine

"There's a moment to seize every time that we meet,
but you always keep passing me by
'cause you never were and you never will be mine"

- Robyn

Okay I confess these aren't the most powerful lyrics I've ever heard, but the song is so damn catchy. Plus I think we have all felt that basic unrequited love pain. Lindsey first introduced me to the Ellie Goulding acoustic cover, which is amazing, and now that I've heard both versions I feel like they're the yin and the yang of sad love songs- sometimes you need to wallow, sometimes you need to get your dance on.

breakeven

"While I'm wide awake, she has no trouble sleeping
'cause when the heart breaks, it don't break even"

- The Script

Where do I begin to explain my love of this song? Maybe it's the fact that it feels like a slightly more grown up Backstreet Boys jam. Maybe it's the clever play on gambling terminology. But most likely, it's the belt-ability in a car in the rain with good people. I will be forever grateful to Josie Biteng's February Fun mix (a couple Februarys ago) for this one.

The lyrics of this song are very interesting to me. I feel like everyone can relate to this: in love, even in friendship, things always seem uneven. One person is more invested and more likely to get hurt. I don't know why we can't escape this, but it makes for good music.

timshel

"Death is at your doorstep
and it will steal your innocence,
but it will not steal your substance.
And you are not alone in this..."

- Mumford & Sons

Lyric submitted by AJ Friederich, with an amen from me.



Btdubs I hate cheesy youtube slideshows, especially when they get the band's name wrong. But I am too lazy and inept to make my own, so I really have no right to complain.

loss, strain and butterflies

"I can't sleep sometimes, but I've been told
it's a lonely condition called growing old"

- Tabitha's Secret / an archaic form of Matchbox Twenty?

I'd like to thank myspace music for showing me this one back when myspace still mattered.

white daisy passing

"All those evenings on the back deck of our first apartment,
they meant everything, but the wind just carried them off.
And you can't go back now, just a passing moment gone."

- Rocky Votolato

I just think this song is nice and kind of hypnotic. Thank you to Michelle my bell for this one.

did you get my message?

"Do you ever wonder what happens to the words that we send?
Do they bend, do they break, from the flight that they take
and come back together again with a whole new meaning..."

- Jason Mraz

rockin' the suburbs

"I'm pissed off but I'm too polite
with people breaking the McDonald's line..."

- Ben Folds

That line's for Miguel. Just felt like a fun summer jam today. I'd like to thank my stepmom, who is much cooler than me, for introducing this to me sometime around age 12. I love all of Ben's rants on this one; hope you enjoy.

cemetery

"And I'll face the one who made
my disgusting heart from a lump of clay.
Should he ask what got me through,
if he asks me it was you"

- Say Anything

rejazz

"Thought I'd cry for you forever,
but I couldn't. So I didn't."

- Regina Spektor

Sorry to go double-Regina on you, but this song is for my planter girls. Someone very dear to my heart is coming home today.

folding chair

"I've got a perfect body
but sometimes I forget
I've got a perfect body
'cause my eyelashes catch my sweat"

- Regina Spektor

Oh, Regina. So quirky. But I love this one, especially when I think about all the crazy crap that is going on inside our bodies all the time that we take for granted. Our eyelashes are keeping the sweat out of our eyes and our skin is protecting our insides and some mitochondria are making energy...or something along those lines. Nice to think about.

fix you

"Lights will guide you home
and ignite your bones
and I will try to fix you"

- Coldplay

I can't make this song have meaning for you, but for me it is incredible. Especially today.
Sometimes I feel beyond repair. And then days like today, I remember...everything. I remember grace. And healing. And fresh starts. "And I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life."

middle of nowhere

"Maybe there's a better me
waiting for a better you"

- Hot Hot Heat

sympathy

"What I chase won't set me free."

- The Goo Goo Dolls

This is another one I like to remind myself of. Wise words from the man with the straightened, highlighted hair.

feel it in my bones

"I take my heart out of my chest, I just don't need it anymore."

- Tiesto feat. Tegan and Sara (but really I think it should be the other way around)

I'm feeling Tiesto-y today!!

home

"Laugh until we think we'll die
barefoot on a summer night
never could be sweeter than with you"

- Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

So when my friend Lindsey first showed me this song, I thought it was too hipster to function. But after a few sunny car rides singing the contagious chorus over and over with good friends, I can't help but love it.

nothing better

Nerdy writer that I am, I have been keeping books of quotations since I started college. But I've noticed as I look back on them that 95% of the words I find inspiring are not from renowned authors or philosophers, but from popular songwriters. And this morning, mid-hair straightening, it dawned on me as if by divine mandate that I should share these lyrics on a blog.
So here it is: a virtual lyric book of other people's words, from me to you. I'm excited about this project and hope to post (almost) daily. Sometimes I'll offer you my thoughts, other times I'll just post a simple lyric. Please don't expect me to post only cool indie bands, lord knows iamnotcoolenough. But I will offer you quotes that I find beautiful or sad or funny ranging from Joni Mitchell to Ke$Ha. Enjoy.

For day 1, a classic:

"Your heart won't heal right if you keep tearing out the sutures"

- The Postal Service

I don't know how many times I have to remind myself of this. It brings to mind something a wise friend once told me: "Nostalgia is an ugly fat whore who doesn't leave your room long after you've paid her."
While it can be nice to spend our thoughts on past happiness, it blinds us to the present. We can't dwell on what used to be or what might have been; we have to live with what is.