"And you can tell everybody this is your song"

Today in class Dr. Coyne asked us to think about what our favorite song was and why. At first, it was hard for me to think of only ONE song that could describe myself. Instead of choosing one song, I'm going to choose a time in my life when music meant the most to me. It was the weird and odd stage of middle school when I first heard Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er Boi." Since that moment I started listening to her first album, "Let Go." However, it wasn't until I experience depression for the first time as my dad lost his job, my brother came home early from his mission and it just seemed like my life was falling apart. To ease the pain and sadness I felt, my sister Megan bought me my first CD: Avril Lavigne's "New" album "Under My Skin."

I listened to it all the time and soon knew every song, lyric and order of the track list. Haha, I eventually dressed somewhat like Avril (capri cargo pants, black t-shirts, vans shoes, long/straight hair, some eye-makeup, etc...) Haha, everyone knew me at school as the Avril lookalike. I definitely didn't act like Avril (no swearing, etc...), but I felt that her music spoke my story...my pain. In fact, when I go back to listen to that album not only is it amazing that I still know every word to her songs, BUT I realize how dark a few of her songs are-- in that she gets into how it feels to be sad, angry or lonely. This personal experience from years ago has shown me that music can indeed give us an identity to fall under or help us see the likes and dislikes we have for the world around us. For me, I was a girl who had many guy friends (more than girls), I didn't care too much about how I looked, I searched to lift up those who were misunderstood (who outwardly didn't live the perfect Mormon life), I would strive to be a little out of the ordinary (a little rebellious), and I looked to my emotions to help me find meaning in my life. In many ways, I'm still that person-- and it made me happy and still makes me happy to say I can identify with some music, because I share the same perspectives---it speaks to me. Thank you to SKA, punk-rock and rock music for allowing me to experience those feelings that were at one time bottled up inside of me! Also, a shout out to my older sisters McCall and Megan for giving me opportunities to find myself through Avril concerts, albums and rock-out sessions :)

 PS. I hope you enjoy some Avril music on the blog playlist!