People listen to music for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes they just need some background noise while they study or do housework. Other times they just want to let loose and dance to their favorite songs.
But then there are those times where music is more than just sound. Those times where you listen carefully to every lyric, and let the rhythm of the song fill every fiber of your being. Those times where your favorite artist says something so relatable that it feels like they are speaking directly to you through their music.
As young adults who are still trying to find ourselves and understand the crazy feelings that fill our heads on a daily basis, there is nothing more comforting than finding a sufficient way to cope with the stress that those things bring us. For me personally, music has been one of the most helpful ways to deal with the intense emotions that come with being human.
With us being teenagers, it is often hard for us to communicate our emotions to our parents. I mean, how are you supposed to explain to your mom and dad that going through life is like trying to hold on to an ice cube: it’s right there in front of you but you can’t quite control it. We fear that they won’t understand.
Through all of this, all we want is for someone to understand. So we put on our headphones and turn the volume all the way up. We let the music fill our ears and feel our problems fade away. And when we listen to songs like “Falling Away,” by Korn and hear them say “life’s falling away from me,” we know that someone understands.
If you’re anything like me, then you’ve had times where you feel like you’ve messed up so badly that you can’t possibly be forgiven. And it’s times like those that my favorite band, Linkin Park, saves the day. In their song “Fighting Myself,” Mike Shinoda has a lyric where he says “but every time I think I got everything put back together, I end up making more regrets.” Listening to this song is comforting, because it’s validating to know that I’m not the only person who feels like they make too many mistakes.
I always follow that song up with “What I’ve Done,” also by Linkin Park. In the song Chester Bennington says “I’ll face myself to cross out what I’ve become, erase myself, and let go of what I’ve done.” While it does feel good to know that everyone makes mistakes, this song reminds me that it’s also important not to hold on to those mistakes. No matter how bad they may seem, you have to let go and move on with your life.
Now let’s talk about love. Love is the most complex emotion there is, and here we are as teenagers who can barely understand algebra, trying to figure out how it works.
Sometimes love hurts. You can give your heart to somebody, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to take good care of it. So when Sam Smith says in his song “Too Good at Goodbyes,” “but everytime you hurt me, the less that I cry, and everytime you leave me the quicker these tears dry,” I know that I’m not the only person who’s been hurt by love.
But love is also beautiful. Frank Ocean embodies this in his song “Pink +White” when he says “just the same way you showed me, you showed me love.” This lyric, along with the light hearted melody of the song, remind me of all the people in my life that have shown me what it feels like to love and be loved. It reminds me that while love can be painful at times, it is also tender and comforting.
There are also times when it feels like you’re drowning in the stress of school work, relationships with friends and family, and preparing for life after graduation. A metaphor that has helped me comprehend this feeling is when rapper NF compares his burdens to balloons in his song “Leave Me Alone.” In it he says “hold up my balloons and cover up my face. I can feel them weighing on me everyday. I should let ‘em go and watch them float away, but I’m scared if I do then I’ll be more afraid.” This has helped me put the anxiety I get from worrying about all those things in perspective; my problems aren’t a deep ocean that I’m drowning in, but rather a bunch of balloons that I can let go of one at a time.
Singer Charli XCX’s song “Red Balloon” also compares life’s problems to balloons, but in a different, more upbeat manner, with her saying “if you got troubles let ‘em go. Let ‘em soar so high, high into the sky just like a red balloon.” This is comforting to listen to, because she makes it seem so easy to just release all my problems. All I have to do is let go.
No matter how you’re feeling, there really is a song for every emotion. Music is more than just words and a beat. Music embodies the essence of human emotion. It comforts us and lets us know that someone out there understands what we are going through.
In his song “JUST LIKE YOU,” NF conveys that perfectly when he says “I want you to know when you’re alone or you feel afraid, you’re not the only person in the world that isn’t okay. There’s millions of us just like you.”
There have never been truer lyrics spoken.