Songprint Introduction

     Music has been a huge part of my life for several years, and no matter what my mood is or where I am, I love to listen to songs that I enjoy. Much of who I am and what I hold dear is reflected in my music library.

     "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World has several lyrics that I relate to on a personal level and that describe who I am. In high school I would often find myself outside of the social groups, but I stayed happy and optimistic despite this. I had heard "The Middle" when I was younger, but I did not really pay attention to the lyrics until I listened to it again as a senior in high school. I felt a much deeper connection to the lyrics and realized that a lot of who I perceive myself to be and my social situation is depicted within the song. I also found much strength in the lyrics "don't write yourself off yet" and "just be yourself/it doesn't matter if it's good enough for someone else," which were words that I had often told myself. It was nice to have these words reaffirmed by someone else in the form of a song. I see my own optimism for the future, which I believe is a big part of my personality, reflected in the line "everything will be just fine." I hope to improve my social skills in college, and I have already started to do this here at IFS.

     When describing where I am from, I might compare my town to feelings I get while listening to U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name." The little place from which I hail, Rushville, Indiana, is a town where the people seem to know everyone's business. It is very difficult to stay anonymous in Rushville, where no matter where someone goes: Kroger (our single major grocery store), Wal-Mart (and it is not even a Super Wal-Mart, just a plain old Wal-Mart), or the parks; he or she is going to see someone familiar. It can be somewhat daunting, especially when one is not in the mood to socialize. The first lyric of this song "I want to run, I want to hide," depicts my feelings on this matter quite well. Often, to have some privacy, I have found myself building metaphorical walls to keep some of my business to myself. While this is good for blending into the background, it is not the best way to make friends in my town, so the second lyric "I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside" also applies. While the streets in Rushville do have names, I have heard people give directions such as "turn left at the first stop sign after the park and go for three blocks," which makes the street names seem kind of pointless in a way. "Where the Streets Have No Name" also has a very nostalgic vibe, something else that I associate with Rushville because almost everyone seems to have nostalgia for by-gone days.

     My day-to-day life in Rushville is not terribly exciting, although I do enjoy it and the time I have there. However, since sometime in 2011 when I started learning about San Francisco (which I would visit the next year), a great deal of my time has been spent thinking about California and how I would like to end up there someday.  The Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'" describes the kind of life I lead quite well. Most of the time I am either thinking about California, trying to talk like someone from the East Bay by attempting to correctly use the word "hella," or listening to Californian bands (Green Day, Emily's Army, Fever Charm, Best Coast, etc.). I also have several friends that live in the Los Angeles area or near the San Francisco Bay Area that I talk to quite often, and the primary bond I share with these friends is music. "California Dreamin'" is certainly an accurate description of the life I have had the past three years.

    One of the things that I value above all others is mutual acceptance between people despite differences such as race, religion, nationality, gender, and sexuality. I think coming to an understanding that we are all people with similar base wants and needs is crucial to tolerance. Green Day emphasizes this point in the song "Road to Acceptance" off of their first album. It talks about the fact that "blind hatred" leads nowhere and that there is more that binds us together than sets us apart, highlighted in the lyric "if you'd stop awhile and maybe if you'd smile, you would realize that we're all the same." The song even brings up that people will go to great lengths to try to belong, even though they should not have to do this since we are all human. Respecting others for who they are is deeply important to me, and it distresses me to see hatred in any form. 

     These songs are varied across different genres and decades, but they all have one thing in common: they describe who I am and a part of my life.