A Second Soundtrack to Life

Hello Folks! It is the end of July and that means that it is that time once again. I can't believe how fast this last year went by, it blasted. It was another year filled with music, bands and artists of the month. It is another year of looking back at my musical obsessions and remembering each moment of my year of traveling in certain music. It is the soundtrack for 2006 and 2007. The soundtrack to my senior year and my first year of adulthood. I have to say that the bands are different, some new, some old favorites and another theme.


August 2006 – Cute Is What We Aim For: After the first year of music I already knew that after Falling Up and after July the month of August would belong to this band. That the first band of the new music year would go to this musical epiphany of sound and of lyrics. I loved their punk like sound, and I knew that because they closely followed the same sound as Panic and Academy I would love them. I still love them, and haven’t gotten sick of the songs even in this now being July 2007.

September 2006 – McFly and Hellogoodbye: Now because September is my birthday month and because I feel the most special things should happen in September I decided that two bands would be appropriate for this month of my 18th Birthday! So the first band McFly is an amazing British band. I had heard of them in March of 2006, but didn’t really notice their musical potential until about September when I saw the movie Just My Luck. I was obsessed with the song "Too Close for Comfort". I even remember my friend Amanda playing it on the Coldstone PA system while I had my birthday ice cream. The second band Hellogoodbye I had heard about during my days of Panic and Academy also, but getting the album for my birthday I listened to them more these days. On the way to school or just hanging out these two bands helped my transfer to adulthood fun and music filled.


October 2006 – Augustana: I LOVE THIS BAND! I saw the music video for Boston one early morning and just was captivated by its beautiful and hopeful lyrics I knew I would always love. This song filled me with a sense of independence when I was struggling with it during the new days of being eighteen. I did some research on them and saw that they toured with my favorite band Switchfoot. I was sold at this moment and they became a favorite band of mine. They will never surpass Switchfoot, but they could be very close. I love the songs and how they tell stories of girls or boys and just how they want to leave their boring and stifling worlds behind. "I think I’ll go to Boston" this song has me wanting to leave where I am and go live in Boston someday. It makes this town very alluring. Sunday Best is the sequel song and it tells a beautiful story. I totally recommend this band.

November 2006 – Red Jumpsuit Apparatus: Hearing and screaming at the top of my lungs to this harder rock band in July and August to Face Down I knew it was the perfect way to end the summer, but in November I heard a new softer song by them. It was a new sound that made me feel the new winter weather and fit perfectly. Your Guardian Angel is one of the most romantic and amazingly beautiful songs I have ever heard. I knew in November I had to hear more of this band, to let the music just hold me in its amazement. The softer song by RJA told of a guy that loved a girl so much, that he was willing to die for her. To give up his life for her, because he loved her. I have decided to add to the list of possible wedding songs for that someday.


December 2006 – Fall Out Boy: No, this isn’t a new band, and I have been listening to them for quite awhile now, but I realized that with their new CD coming out that I needed to dedicate my end of the year to them. They really are some talented guys; the bassist has produced a lot of the bands mentioned before and so I knew that they deserved to be my December band, my end of the year. I listened to the new stuff being leaked on the internet and itunes and the old stuff such as Under the Cork Tree and even went as vintage as the Space Camp album. I learned to really listen to a Fall Out Boy song cause I liked the lyrics, not because it was constantly on the radio.

January 2007 – KT Tunstall: January and a BRAND NEW YEAR! From the first moments of this new year I rang in the new year watching the typical music shows and I even though KT and black horse were well into my musical vocabulary I heard a song that really sent me towards a fresh year, "Suddenly I See." Suddenly I saw what I wanted to be. It was a very uplifting song that reminded me that I could be like the girl in the song and that I could be have "my face be a map of the world". I made a list of resolutions and I erased all the horrible things from my life. It was amazing and I am glad that this artist could help me with that.


February 2007 – Hanson: Yes, I know you are thinking ‘are those the guys that sang mmbop and looked like girls?’ and you would be correct. With these guys I looked back and with my friend we really saw and heard how talented they were. They are more than those past songs are, and we heard more than just the popular radio tunes they shared with us in the 90’s. I was able to dissect and listen to the Hanson CDs I had. I remembered my past, I realized how smart the Hanson brothers were in their music. How much like other bands they were and that in some senses they were better. I saw the maturity with each album and was amazed at the honesty of the Hansons music. I heard my past and was able to feel the future.

March 2007 – Taylor Swift: March belonged to this seventeen year old soft spoken country girl. I was able to feel like a girl with roots in the ground. I loved how honestly she sang from crushes, to boyfriends, to breakups. Her music was fun to listen to. Picture to Burn made me laugh and say SO LONG to a stupid boy. Songs like Tim McGraw and Teardrops helped me remember that sometimes life is sad for all girls, that I was not alone. I saw her on a talk show and was inspired by her funny spirit. But out of all the songs in Taylor’s heart and on her album by far the best and my favorite is a song called Mary’s Song. Now those of you who know me would think this would be like Amy’s song by Switchfoot. It is not like that at all. It is a story about those old fashioned romances that every little girl dreams of. The one we all wish that we all could have, the lifelong romance with the older boy next door. That storybook romance.


April 2007 – Avril Lavigne: As her name says April is all about Avril. I loved listening to a more mature Avril and hearing the differences in her new music and the fun things I loved in her older stuff. I listened to Skater Boy and my other two Avril albums. I loved remembering all the stuff I loved about her songs. How she doesn’t care and that is fun to have an attitude sometimes. With a very angering and eye opening conversation I was able to understand every Avril song. From the first Complicated to When You’re Gone. Also the fun upbeat song called Girlfriend. I am not afraid to say I like Avril and I know she is not a punk poser. I am so happy for her marriage to Deryck and am glad in Everything Back there was a touch of Sum 41 in the song.

May 2007 – Graduation Songs: Now I couldn’t find a certain artist or band for this month because this month was such a life changing one. Even though I didn’t graduate until June I could feel with each passing day in May I needed to listen to those graduation songs in order to come to grips with the reality of this event in my life. I listened to the famous Graduation by Vitamin C, I Hope You Dance, Seasons from Rent. All the songs about transitioning into a new life and a new point of view, so instead of trying to find one band, I decided to just remember the theme of graduation. It is the first time I will do this, and the last time I will ever do it for High School. I loved those songs and they were fun to listen to, I finally understood what they all meant.


June 2007 – Cartel: Band In a Bubble I had heard of them, but really started to get interested during my days of June while drinking Dr. Pepper and watching on my computer the hilarious things that Cartel did in the bubble. So maybe I only listened to a few songs and not that often. I think this was more of a watching month for the artist. It still is an important part of me and this year of my life.

July 2007 – Lost Ocean: Now each year so far I have had a band that most people have heard nothing about, this is like one of those discovery bands that I love so much. It just so happens that this year ended with that band. After having one of the most amazing Sonshine festivals ever I met and talked to a piano driven rock band from California. Like Switchfoot and Augustana mixed, yeah of course I loved them. Their music is still ringing in my head, it is still being played in my CD player and on my computer as I write this blog. It is not on the radio anywhere here yet, but I know in the next two or three years it will be. They will be the next Switchfoot I am sure of it. I love the songs You Are and Mute and even as I write I am falling in love with new songs from them. I love the album and am hopeful for their success.


Ok, so this was the year in music review. I am glad that I have done this and have memories connected to these musicians. So maybe the Pink Spiders and Audition didn’t end up on the list, but I still listened to them. I had fun and found many fun things to listen to. A preview, I am think this August will go to Plain White T’s. Beyond that is a mystery, a future I am looking forward to. By this time next year I will be way into college. I can’t wait to share the new things with you then. As for this years soundtrack I have to say I love all the music. But the year in general has been much better than 2006.