Top 5 - Round 1

So, for my Music & Poetry class we have to pick our top-five lyrics every week, and I thought it'd be neat to list them here, too, since I have to do it for homework. I've still got a lot of blog topics I want to get to, but I'm kind of lacking the ambition to do full reviews right now.

Here's last week's Top 5 lyrics.

“The Suffering” - Coheed and Cambria
“We have lived as a child would care,
With this vial to drink I dare
(Oh, where have you been, oh where have you been?)
Only to cry all alone with your taste on tongue
(Oh, where have you been if it hurts to be forgiving? Bye...)

Should we try this again with hope? (Bye, bye)
Or is it lost, give up the ghost.
And should I die all alone as I knew I would...
(Then burn in hell young sinner!)
If it was up to me,
I would’ve figured you out
Way before the year clocked out
Oh, I hope you’re waiting
Oh, I hope you’re waiting.

Listen well, will you marry me?
(Not now, boy)
And are you well in the suffering?
(You’ve been…)
The most gracious of hosts,
I may be invited, girl,
But I’m not coming in.”

Coheed and Cambria is my all-time favorite band, and this is my favorite song by them. Despite its depressing-sounding title, I think “The Suffering” is one of the most inspiring songs I’ve ever heard. There is a lot of back-story surrounding the actual meaning of Co&Ca’s lyrics, because all the albums are based on graphic novels, but to me “The Suffering” is about losing the one you love, yet waiting for them anyway. At this point, the main character of the song is discouraged that he can’t get the girl he loves, and he has a lot of regrets, but he keeps trying for her and she’s rejecting him. But the hope and desperation in Claudio Sanchez’s voice kills me every time—I’ve heard this song at least three hundred times if I’ve heard it once and I’ll never stop being obsessed with it.

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“Constructive Summer” - The Hold Steady
“Me and my friends are like
Double whiskey, coke no ice
We drink along in double time
Might drink too much, but we feel fine!

We're gonna build something this summer
Summer, grant us all the power
To drink on top of the water towers,
With love and trust and shows all summer
(Get hammered!)
Let this be my annual reminder
That we can all be something bigger.”

“Constructive Summer” is really fun to drive to or just rock out to, and it’s my favorite song by The Hold Steady. It’s basically just about being with your friends and having a great time, even though a lot of other things tend to get in the way and get you down. This song is all about forgetting all that and just letting go and enjoying the little things.

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“Miami” - Taking Back Sunday
“Miami, Miami, Miami,
Well, every hour on the hour (every hour on the hour)
You have to, you just have to trust me
Whoever I was then,
I can't ever be again.

The faith you found, I never felt (never felt)
The terror held in wedding bells
And comfort in there’s no one else
The truth be told I'm never gonna know.”

“Miami” is another fast-paced, rocking-out song, also perfect for driving. “Whoever I was then / I can’t ever be again,” always hits me hard because it’s so true; there are always certain events in your life that change you permanently and are totally out of your control. The last stanza I included is my favorite, because it’s about a fear of commitment and how sometimes it feels safer to be alone. Sometimes you’re too hurt to trust anyone, even if you secretly want to be in love again.

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“Dark Blue” – Jack’s Mannequin
“We were boxing the stars
We were boxing (we were boxing)
You were swinging for Mars
And then the water reached the West Coast
And took the power lines (the power lines)
And it was me and you (this could last forever)
And the whole town under water
There was nothing we could do
It was dark blue.

Dark blue (dark blue)
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?
Well, I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning (burning) down
Dark blue,
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?
Well, I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning, now there’s nothing but dark blue.

If you’ve ever been alone,
You’ll know (dark blue)
If you've ever been alone,
You'll know (you'll know.)”

Aside from dark blue being (coincidentally) my favorite color, this is one of my all-time top-ten favorite songs because it reminds me of unforgettable nights in my past with unforgettable people, some of who stuck around and some who have slipped out of my life. To me, it’s about being totally lost in the moment of a perfect night.

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“Goodnight, Demon Slayer” – Voltaire
“Tell the harpies that land on your bed post
That at the count of five, you’ll roast them alive
Tell the devil it’s time you gave him his due
He should go back to hell, he should shake in his shoes
’Cause the mightiest, scariest, creature is you.

But I won’t tell you, there’s nothing beneath your bed
I won’t sell you, that it’s all in your head
This world of ours is not as it seems
The monsters are real but they're not in your dreams
Learn what you can from the beasts you defeat,
You’ll need it for some of the people you meet.

Goodnight, demon slayer, goodnight
Now it’s time to close your tired eyes
There are devils to slay and dragons to ride
If they see you coming, hell they better hide
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight
Goodnight, my little slayer, goodnight.”

The artist, Voltaire, wrote this song for his son to get over his bedtime fears of monsters and the dark. I love it because it’s humorous and cute to listen to as an adult, knowing that there are no such things as dragons and monsters. But the second stanza I included are my favorite because I sometimes I wish I was still young enough to believe in imaginary creatures, and innocent enough not to know about life’s real “monsters,” like all the people you can’t trust.

Happy Monday!
Emily Noel