Only Human
I'm only human. I'm not a super hero. When do things get easier? Do they ever get easier? I ask this of myself pretty often, and always have. Are some people born and just completely miss the chance of a somewhat peaceful/calm life? One thing you will never catch me saying is "Well things can't get worse".. because well, time after time... history has proven to me they do. I have had a few positive people in my life lately who basically drill optimism into my head. Thank you to those of you who have helped me have hopes there might be light at the end of this tunnel... I know I can't be the only person who listens to sad music when I'm feeling a little less than optimistic.
Why would I want to listen to sad music?
Music is one of the many ways that we feel things and, while happiness is a worthwhile endeavor, there is validity, purpose, and meaning in other states of emotion, as well. Sure, I like to tap my toes to a happy tune as much as the next person, but tapping into the deep stuff can also be an extremely worthwhile and cathartic endeavor.
Sadness, for example. There is much meaning that can be derived from melancholy. In fact, sad music does not merely evoke sadness. Researchers have discovered that sometimes, listening to sad music actually makes us feel happier, more romantic, and less doomed. Another study found that listeners felt less gloomy and miserable and more cheery, animated, and inclined to dance when they listened to sad music.
Although we possess an amazing ability to rise up from the ground and overcome what hurts us, there are times when we just have to take the time to be sad. (And rise up from the ground and overcome what hurts us after that.) So, in order to help with this uplifting/melancholic process, listening to sad music is something I've been doing. For a long time. (However, I also DO listen to lots of upbeat music)
I look forward to a time where the sad music isn't so raw.
Pompeii: A little background ~ Most people know how Pompeii was destroyed by clouds of toxic gas and hot volcanic ash in 79AD, but not as many know it was severely damaged by an earthquake in 62AD caused by the same local volcanic activity. If the people of Pompeii had taken the warning in 62AD and moved away, they would have been saved from the devastation of 79AD. But they didn’t, they rebuilt on the rubble of the same situation. Similarly, in our lives, we often don’t take the warnings of potential devastation from our ‘vices’ (our personality characteristics equivalent to the underlying volcanic activity of Pompeii) and build on the same rubble (staying in the same life situation) while continuing our potentially destructive behaviour (our ‘sins’). The way to save ourselves is to take the warnings and move away, sometimes in a metaphorical sense of changing our personality and way of life, and sometimes also in a physical sense of moving way from people who lead us astray and encourage our self-destructive behaviour.
It kind of matches with Pompeii because they could've avoided the disaster, but they ignored the earthquakes and paid the price. it was someone who couldn't get out of this downward spiral that they were in. The song mentions sins and vices a lot. And the song is telling the listener that you see your world collapsing around you, but if you close your eyes, this has been happening your whole life.We might suddenly see ourselves stuck, petrified in lava, our life taking a turn for the worse, but if we closed our eyed, we'd realize that we were always stuck, we were watching this enfold the entire time and did nothing about it.
Christina Perri "Human"
"I can hold my breath
I can bite my tongue
I can stay awake for days
If that’s what you want
Be your number one
I can fake a smile
I can force a laugh
I can dance and play the part
If that’s what you ask
Give you all I am
I can do it
I can do it
I can do it
But I’m only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I’m only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
'Cause I’m only human, yeah I can turn it on
Be a good machine
I can hold the weight of worlds
If that’s what you need
Be your everything
I can do it I can do it
I'll get through it
But I’m only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I’m only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
'Cause I’m only human, yeah
I’m only human
I’m only human
Just a little human
I can take so much
Until I’ve had enough
‘Cause I’m only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I’m only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
‘Cause I’m only human, yeah"
Frou Frou "Let Go"
"Drink up baby doll Mmm are you in or out Leave your things behind 'Cause it's all going off without you Excuse me, too busy oh, writing a tragedy These mishaps you bubble wrap when You've no idea what you're like (So let go) so let go And jump in Oh well whatcha waiting for It's all right 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown (So let go) yeah let go And just get in Oh it's so amazing here It's all right 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown It gains the more it give And it rises with the fall So hand me that remote Can't you see that all that stuff's a sideshow Such boundless pleasure We've no time for later now You can't await your own arrival You've twenty seconds to comply (So let go) so let go And jump in Oh well whatcha waiting for It's all right 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown (So let go) yeah let go And just get in Oh it's so amazing here It's all right 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown (So let go) And jump in Oh well whatcha waiting for It's all right 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown (So let go) yeah let go And just get in Oh it's so amazing here It's all right 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown Mmm the breakdown 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown Hey, the breakdown So amazing, yeah 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown"
Bastille -"Pompeii" (Mahogany Sessions Version)
"I was left to my own devices Many days fell away with nothing to show And the walls kept tumbling down In the city that we love Grey clouds roll over the hills Bringing darkness from above But if you close your eyes Does it almost feel like Nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes Does it almost feel like You've been here before? But if you close your eyes Does it almost feel like Nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes Does it almost feel like You've been here before? Nothing changed at all Nothing changed at all We were caught up and lost in all of our vices In your pose as the dust settled around us And the walls kept tumbling down In the city that we love Grey clouds roll over the hills Bringing darkness from above But if you close your eyes Does it almost feel like Nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes Does it almost feel like You've been here before? Nothing changed at all Nothing changed at all Oh where do we begin? The rubble or our sins? Oh where do we begin? The rubble or our sins? But if you close your eyes Does it almost feel like Nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes Does it almost feel like You've been here before? Nothing changed at all Nothing changed at all"
Regina Spektor "Eet"
"It's like forgetting the words to your favorite song
You can't believe it
You were always singing along
It was so easy and the words so sweet
You can't remember
You try to feel the beat
Eet, eet, eet, eet
Eet, eet, eet, eet
You spent half of your life trying to fall behind
You're using your headphones to drown out your mind
It was so easy, and the words so sweet
You can't remember
You try to move your feet
Eet, eet, eet, eet
Eet, eet, eet, eet
Someone's deciding whether or not to steal
He opens the window just to feel the chill
He hears that outside a small boy just starting to cry
'Cause it's his turn but his brother won't let him try
It's like forgetting the words to your favorite song
You can't believe it
You were always singing along
It was so easy and the words so sweet
You can't remember
You try to move your feet
It was so easy and the words so sweet
You can't remember, you try to feel the beat"
Andrew Belle "In My Veins"
"Nothin' goes as planned.
Everything will break.
People say goodbye.
In their own special way.
All that you rely on
And all that you can fake
Will leave you in the morning
But find you in the day
Oh you're in my veins
And I cannot get you out
Oh you're all I taste
At night inside of my mouth
Oh you run away
Cause I am not what you found
Oh you're in my veins
And I cannot get you out.
Everything will change.
Nothin' stays the same.
And nobody here's perfect.
Oh but everyones to blame.
All that you rely on
And all that you can save
Will leave you in the morning
And find you in the day
Oh you're in my veins
And I cannot get you out
Oh you're all I taste
At night inside of my mouth
Oh you run away
Cause I am not what you found
Oh you're in my veins
And I cannot get you out.
No I cannot get you out.
No I cannot get you.
Everything is dark.
It's more than you can take.
But you catch a glimpse of sun light.
Shinin', Shinin' down on your face.
Oh you're in my veins
And I cannot get you out
Oh you're all I taste
At night inside of my mouth.
Oh you run away
Cause I am not what you found
Oh you're in my veins
And I cannot get you out.
No, I cannot get you out.
No, I cannot get you out.
Oh no, I cannot get you."
Ross Copperman "Holding On and Letting Go"
"Is anybody out there
Is anybody listening
Does anybody really know
If it's the end of the beginning
The cry, a rush, a one breath
Is all we waiting for
Sometimes the one we're taking
Changes every one before
It's everything you wanted
It's everything you don't
It's one door swinging open
And one door swinging closed
Some prayers find an answer
Some prayers never know
We're holding on and letting go
Sometimes we're holding angels
And we never even know
Don't know if we'll make it,
But we know we just can't let it show
It's everything you wanted
It's everything you don't
It's one door swinging open
And one door swinging closed
Some prayers find an answer
Some prayers never know
We're holding on and letting go
Yeah, we're letting go
It's everything you wanted
It's everything you don't
It's one door swinging open
And one door swinging closed
Some prayers find an answer
Some prayers never know
We're holding on and letting go [Long instrumental]
It's everything you wanted
It's everything you don't
It's one door swinging open
And one door swinging closed
Some prayers find an answer
Some prayers never know
We're holding on and letting go"