Y is for Yellowcard

Rough Landing, Holly | Yellowcard

Even though Ocean Avenue is my favorite Yellowcard album, this song is pretty good. And a lot less painful to listen to since it's not connected to certain times, people, or events.

W is for The Wonder Years

This Party Sucks | The Wonder Years

This song pretty much sums up my feelings on the lifestyle a lot of my peers choose to live.

I can't believe I ended up here again,
watching a terrible band play songs I hate in the basement.
I can't believe that I got stuck here again,
while the kid with the dress tells me he's smarter on acid.
I can't believe I'm not running away,
so just say, say, say you'll stay.

V is for the Vitamin String Quartet

Smile Like You Mean It | The Killers

There are a few things that make this song special. First of all, my friend Melissa made me a mix CD one year in high school. On it, she put songs that reminded me of her. Among "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan and "Let Go" by Frou Frou was this song I'd never heard before. I've listened to The Killers' version maybe a thousand times because it's a great song. But here was this beautiful cover. I listened to it maybe twenty times in a row after I got the CD, just so I could memorize each note. Every time I hear it, I can't help but think of Melissa. She's been a great friend, though we've lost touch a bit since high school. I talked to her the other day though, and I realized just how much I miss her and our ridiculous antics. She is the Hobbes to my Calvin, really.
The other thing that makes this song special is just the general feel of it. I put so much stock in lyrics that sometimes I forget that just the feel of a piece can speak to me. This song has always felt soothing and nostalgic. There were many nights in high school (and college too) that I cried myself to sleep for one reason or another. But I could (and can) always play this song and just go to a place of rest. It may not always make me happy, but it will always make me peaceful.
Also, it's played entirely on strings. I love string instruments, specifically violin. They just have the most beautiful sound to me.

U is for The Used

All That I've Got | The Used

Kickin' it high school tonight.

T is for Third Eye Blind

Can't Get Away | Third Eye Blind

S is for Say Anything

Cemetary | Say Anything

There are too many songs by them that I want to post, but I'm just going to stop right here and save those for later.

R is for Red Hot Chili Peppers

I am so glad about their new album.

Soul To Squeeze | Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie | Red Hot Chili Peppers

R is for Rise Against

Yes, I know that I skipped Q. I wanted to do two R posts instead.

The Good Left Undone | Rise Against

Swing Life Away (Acoustic) | Rise Against

If there's any concern as to why I like this band, these two songs should clear it up. They write great songs.

P is for Pearl Jam

Black | Pearl Jam

I know someday you'll have a beautiful life.
I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
But why, why, why can't it be in mine?

O is for the Outfields

Your Love | The Outfields

N is for Neutral Milk Hotel

Two-Headed Boy / Two-Headed Boy Part 2 | Neutral Milk Hotel

So this band is a new find for me. Jesse Lacey, as it happens, is a huge fan of this band. He did a cover of 'Part 2' also. So I downloaded the two albums I could find. I haven't done an intense listening, except for these two songs, but I plan to look up the lyrics and do that soon.

M is for Manchester Orchestra

Where Have You Been? | Manchester Orchestra

This is the first Manchester Orchestra song I ever heard. I saw them in concert at the beginning of the summer and they didn't play it, but I was okay with that. They put on a great show, though I wish their set could have been longer. (I also wish Jesse Lacey would have appeared on stage spontaneously.)

L is for Ludo

Hum Along | Ludo

This song is important to me.

K is for The Killers

Couldn't decide which song I wanted to post so you're getting a double feature.

Read My Mind | The Killers

All These Things That I've Done | The Killers

J is for Jack's Mannequin

Bruised (Acoustic) | Jack's Mannequin

Every time I hear this song, I have to listen to it like 15 times in a row.

I is for Iron and Wine

Upward Over the Mountain | Iron & Wine

H is for the Hold Steady. (And also high school.)

Citrus | The Hold Steady

High school was a weird time for me. I had friends, and I suppose people liked me well enough, but I was not popular. Most of my circle of friends were worlds away from me, dabbling in drugs and sex and alcohol. I didn't touch any of it. I wasn't an outsider because of this, but I was the awkward appendage of the group. As much as I wanted to be accepted fully, I couldn't. I worked too much, my parents did not let me go out as often as I liked, I felt shy when it came to those things. But I wasn't perfect, of course, and this made me feel apart from my church friends. I didn't know where I fit.

The thing is, I still don't. I've carved out a little hole for myself in this group of church friends, simultaneously distancing myself from the few that stuck with me through high school. But the fit is awkward, like a pair of jeans that don't sit quite right.

I bring this up right now, under this song, because it reminds me of one of the few places I felt right in. But I guess it was not so much a place as a person and a time when we had no secrets from each other, when we could tell each other anything, talked every single day, without any pretense or awkwardness. It reminds me of when we laughed, back before we learned what the weight of the world really felt like, back when we were really just beginning to learn about ourselves.

G is for Green Day

She | Green Day
"She's figured out that all her doubts were someone else's point of view.
Waking up this time to smash the silence with the brick of self-control."

F is for Frou Frou

Let Go | Frou Frou
(Because I also love Garden State.)

E is for Everclear and Empire of the Sun

A double feature today because I couldn't make up my mind. (Also, my blog has suddenly become a music blog. Idk what's going on. I'll have to find some interesting material soon.)

I Will Buy You a New Life | Everclear


And now for something completely different...

Walking On a Dream | Empire of the Sun