When the Songs Got it Right

Elisa A. Escalante/ LMSW/ 8-13-2020

         To follow up after my blog: When the movies got it right, I now want to take us into various song quotes that represent mental anguish and emotional expression. Though songs may be simplified as a form of ‘art’ so to speak, there is no denying their power. Song lyrics can often remind people of a part of themselves that they do not know how to express. When people have a hard time verbalizing how they feel, it is not uncommon for them to use songs as the template of their mental pain. We may use songs to express how we felt about our upbringing, societal stressors, in addition to proclaiming our feelings in a loving and/ or painful relationship. We also use songs to express the anguish of daily life as well as the deep scars from many traumatic experiences, from historical events to current events. Also, at the other end of the spectrum, it can be an attraction toward lyrics that motivate us when nothing else can/ will. A song can fill the gap, it can be that expression that we may long to get out into the open. I apologize in advance as I know I am most likely leaving some epic lyrics out of this blog!  I do not know every amazing song in the world, but this is me trying my best! Here are some of the song lyrics, that truly got it right:

“Can’t you see that you’re smothering me? Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control, cause everything that you thought I would be, has fallen apart, right in front of you. Every step that I take is another mistake to you, and every second I waste is more than I can take.” -Numb, Linkin Park

 “Every time, when I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face getting clearer, the past is gone… it went by, like dusk to dawn. Isn’t that the way, everybody’s got their dues in life to pay” – Dream on, Aerosmith

“I’ll do whatever it takes, when I’m with you I get the shakes, my body aches when I aint with you, I have zero strength. There’s no limit on how far I would go, no boundaries, no lengths. Why do we say that until we get that person that we thinks gonna be that one, and then once we get em’ it’s never the same? You want them when they don’t want you, soon as they do, feelings change.” -Eminem, Spacebound

“I, feel something so right doing the wrong thing, I, feel something so wrong, doing the right thing. I could lie, could lie, could lie, everything that kills me, makes me feel alive” -Counting Stars, One republic

 “Broken heart again, another lesson learned, better know your friends, or else you will get burned. Gotta count on me, cause’ I can guarantee that I’ll be fine… no more pain. No more pain, no drama… no more drama in my life, no one’s gonna’ make me hurt again.” -Mary J Blige, No more Drama

“Don’t leave me I, Oh I will hate myself until I die.. My heart would break without you, might not awake without you. Been hurting low, from living high for so long. I’m sorry and I love you, sing with me, “bell bottom blue”, I’ll keep on searching for an answer, because I need you more than dope….” -Lady Gaga, Dope

“Another mother’s breaking heart is taking over. When the violence causes silence, we must be mistaken. It’s the same old theme, since nineteen-sixteen, in your head in your head, they’re still fighting. With their tanks, and their bombs, and their bombs, and their guns, in your head, in your head, they are dying.” -Zombie, The Cranberries

“Love can touch us one time, and last for, a lifetime, and never let go ‘til.. we’re gone.” -Celine Dion, My heart will go on

“It’s hard to deal with the pain of losing you, everywhere I go, but I’m doing it. It’s hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I’m alone. Still harder, gettin up, gettin dressed, living with, this regret, but I know, if I could do it over.. I would trade, give away all the words that I saved in my heart, that I left unspoken.” -Rascall Flatts, What hurts the most

“Vindicated, I am selfish, I am wrong, I am right, I swear I’m right. Swear I knew it all along and I am flawed.. but I am cleaning up so well. I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself.. so clear. -Vindicated, Dashboard Confessional

“Sun is up, I’m a mess, gotta get out now, gotta run from this, here comes the shame. Here comes the shame… I’m gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier. I’m gonna live, like tomorrow doesn’t exist, like it doesn’t exist. I’m gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry.. and I’m holding on for dear life, won’t look down won’t open my eyes, keep my glass full until morning light, cause I’m just holding on for tonight.” -Sia, Chandelier

“So many times, it happens too fast, you trade your passion for glory. Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of your past, you must fight just to keep them alive” -Eye of the Tiger, Survivor

“I used to wake up some days, and wish I’d stayed asleep. Because I went to bed on top of the world, today the worlds on top of me. Everybody’s got opinions, they share, they’ve been in my position, they don’t care, and it breaks my heart when I hear what they have to say about me.” -He still loves me, Beyonce & Walter Williams

“I used to crave the worlds attention, I think I cried too many times, I just need some more affection, anything to get me by. A hundred million stories and a hundred million songs I feel stupid when I sing, nobody’s listening to me, nobody’s listening. I talk to shooting stars, but they always get it wrong I feel stupid when I pray, why the fuck am I praying anyways? If nobody’s listening?! -Anyone, Demi Lovato

 “It’s just a cruel existence like there’s no point in hoping at all. Baby, baby, I feel crazy, up all night, all night and every day. Give me something, oh, but you say nothing. What is happening to me?! I don’t wanna live forever, cause I know I’ll be living in vain, and I don’t’ wanna fit, wherever, I just wanna keep calling your name, til you come back home.” -I don’t wanna live forever, Taylor swift and Zayn Malik

“I’ve been praying for somebody to save me, no one’s heroic, and my life don’t even matter, I know it, I know it. I know I’m hurting deep down, but can’t show it, I never had a place to call my own, I never had a home, aint nobody callin my phone. Where you been? Where you at? What’s on your mind? They say every life is precious but nobody care about mine.” -1-800-273-8255, Logic

“I see no changes; all I see is racist faces. Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races. We under, I wonder what it takes to make this, one better place, let’s erase the wasted. Take the evil out of people they’ll be acting right, cause both black and white, is smokin crack tonight. The only time we chill is when we kill each other, it takes skills to be real, time to heal each other.” -Changes, Tupac

“Heaven knows that I’ve been told, paid for the life that I chose, if I could I’d trade it all… trade it for a halo. And she said that she’ll pray for me, I said ‘it’s too late for me’, ‘cause I think it’s safe to say… this aint ordinary life.” -Ordinary Life, The Weeknd

“Piece by piece, he collected me up, off the ground, where you abandoned things. Piece by piece he filled the holes that you burned in me. Six years old and you know, he never walks away, he never asks for money, he takes care of me, ‘cause he loves me, piece by piece, he restored my faith that a man can be kind and a father could, stay.” -Piece by piece, Kelly Clarkson

 “And in the naked light I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening. People writing songs, that voices never share. And no one dared… disturb the sound, of silence.” -The sound of silence, Simon & Garfunkel

“She won’t touch me, I won’t touch her, we rarely even ever say a word, I really want to give her everything she deserves but the bad took away the good. She thinks that I’m full of it, arguments, always pissed, man I’m tired. Every kiss that I miss, girl you know I’m trying. You never believe when I say, and I never believe it when you say, I love you. And I shouldn’t complain about it, I should take it like a man and walk up out it, ‘cause we will never be the same. I’ve been standing in gas, and you have been the flame.” -Moving Mountains, Usher 

“Too late, my time has come, sends shivers down my spine, body’s aching all the time. Goodbye everybody, I’ve got to go. Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth. Mama, oooooh… I don’t want to die, I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all.” -Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen

“The time has come, to say fairs fair, to pay the rent, to pay our share. The time has come, a fact’s a fact, it belongs to them, let’s give it back. How can we dance when our earth is turning? how do we sleep while our beds are burning?” -Beds are burning, Midnight Oil

“All the youth in the world will not save you from growing older. And all the truth in the girl is too precious to be stolen from her. It’s just the way it is, maybe it’s never gonna change, but I got a mind to show my strength, and I got a right to speak my mind. And I’m gonna pay for this, they’re gonna burn me at the stake, but I got a fire in my veins. I wasn’t made to fall in line. -Fall in Line, Christina Aguilera

“So I took what’s mine, by eternal right, took your soul out into the night. It may be over but it won’t stop there, I am here for you if you’d only care. You touched my heart, you touched my soul, you changed my life and all my goals. And love is blind and that I knew when, my heart was blinded by you.” -Goodbye my Lover, James Blunt

“I’m never gonna let you close to me, even though you mean the most to me, ‘cause every time I open up, it hurts. So I’m never gonna get too close to you, even when I mean the most to you, in case you go and leave me in the dirt.” -Too Good at Goodbyes, Sam Smith

“Some days, things just take, way too much of my energy. I look up and the whole world’s spinning. You take my cares away, I can so overcomplicate, people tell me to medicate. Feel my blood runnin’, swear the sky’s fallin’. How do I know if this shit’s fabricated?” -Breathin, Ariana Grande

“And now, I’m glad I didn’t know, the way it all would end, the way it all would go. Our lives, are better left to chance, I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss… the dance. -The Dance, Garth Brooks

“I can wait another day, until I call you. You’ve only got my heart on a string and everything a-flutter. But another lonely night, might take forever. We’ve only got each other to blame, it’s all the same to me love. Cause I know, what I feel, to be right… No more lonely nights, no more lonely nights. You’re my guiding light, day or night I’m always there.” -No more lonely nights, Paul McCartney