My Heart's A Stereo

If there is one thing most people don’t know about me, it’s that music plays a huge role in my life (or maybe that my nickname’s Birdie—but that’s another story). Most people don’t know that I play the guitar, but that isn’t a surprise seeing as I can’t play much. And by that I mean I know how to play Amazing Grace, When the Saints Go Marching In, and the beginning of the song The Middle by Jimmy Eat World… But I am currently working on learning I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. (At the rate I’m going I’ll have it down by the time I’m thirty.)

Music has always been such a big part of my life because it is the one thing that keeps me sane through all of the hard times. Whether I am sad or angry or stressed, music has been the one thing that has always been there for me. When everything sucks and I feel completely let down, music builds me back up and shows me I’m not alone. It never leaves me or lies to me or breaks my trust. I can rely on music night or day to guide me and make me feel better. It has helped me through every tough situation in my life by either making me forget about my troubles or giving me lyrics that fit exactly what I’m feeling. I think the song that has been the most influential is Keepin’ It Real by Shaggy. It is a song about being happy with what you have because there is always someone who has it worse. So whenever I feel things are as bad as they can be, I turn on Shaggy and he helps me through it. The song Someday by Elliott Yamin helped me deal with the loss of my cousin in September. It reminded me that this isn’t goodbye; it’s more like see you Someday.

My favorite part about music is that it gives you words to the feelings that you never knew how to describe before. I hate to admit it, but even Taylor Swift has helped me put words to what I’m thinking. I feel like the majority of her songs are either whining about guys or sharing how crazy she is about some guy. But what teenage girl doesn’t relate to something she’s saying at some point? It’s kind of this unavoidable evil (Like secretly not hating Bieber—everyone wants to say they hate him, but let’s be real guys, at one time or another you’ve hummed along to Baby when you think no one’s listening too). I see it as a common bond between all teenage girls, because it shows we all have the same boy frustrations at some point. But I like Colbie Calliat songs the best when it comes to those kinds of things. She has such an incredible voice, and everything she says is completely true. Like What I Wanted To Say, this song is genius. Pure genius.

The biggest reason music plays such a large role in my life is I am just completely and utterly madly in love with it. It is like chocolate chip cookies, seat heaters, 80’s movies, and corvettes all wrapped into one.  I get this warm fuzzy feeling, and I Like How It Feels. I listen to music every chance I get: in the car, in the shower, while I’m getting ready, while I’m getting my homework out, right now…Most of the time I can’t concentrate on homework when I’m listening to music, but I have no problem dividing polynomial functions and belting out This Love (Maroon 5 of course—my favorite band on the planet) simultaneously. So math homework is slightly more entertaining. Speaking of Maroon 5, I have now seen them twice in the past year. And that is not enough. I Can’t Lie, Adam Levine is pretty much one of my favorite people in the world, and I don’t even know him. His voice makes me melt.

Like I said, I’m in love with music. Music from the decades before I was born is my favorite: the Eagles, Bon Jovi, Boston, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Lynard Skynard (the guitar solo in Free Bird is my favorite thing in the world), the Bee Gees, Billy Joel, the list goes on. These artists help build the soundtrack of my life. They have shaped me as a person, and continue to affect me in my everyday life, because as the title mentions, My Heart’s a Stereo.

Adam Levine at The State Fair Concert 9/5/11