“With a Little Help from My Friends”-Preformed by Joe Cocker, Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQLtCoh5EaI&feature=fvst

In 1967, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote a song entitled “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Released on The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song is ranked as 304th in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1969, Joe Cocker interpreted the song in a different way then the Beatles had originally. Cocker slowed the tempo, changed the key, and added several instrumental sections to the song. Cocker’s version was used as the theme song to the television show The Wonder Years.

It was one this show that I first heard and fell in love with the song. As a kid, I felt sucked into the song. It starts in a slow instrumental introduction that pulled me into a trance, and was sort of mesmerized as the song progressed and the music built up. During the climax of the song, Cocker is no longer speaking softly, but instead is emotionally yelling, and there is more than just a bass guitar in the background. Now as I am older, the song still pulls me into the same sort of trance, but now I hear more than just the instruments. The lyrics of the song I find to be so true. The song talks of life’s struggles of love and life and how you “can get by with a little help from your friends.” The song is important to me because it represents how important, helpful, and present my friends are when I need them, and it represents the type of friend I hope I am.

“The Freshmen”-The Verve Pipe

Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hxe85iErew

The Verve Pipe is an alternative rock band from Michigan. The band first released the song on their 1992 album, I’ve Suffered a Head Injury.

The worst thing that happened to me was moving to North Carolina or so I thought until that winter day when we got the call. I answered the phone, and it was Diana, my mom's best friend. I gave the phone to my mom and went back to playing a board game with my little brother; however, I could hear my mom sobbing in her room. Diana’s son, Jarrod took his own life at age thirteen. All I could think about was how a month before Dianna drove my brothers, Jarrod, and I down to North Carolina to visit my parents who were on a house hunting trip, and Jarrod listened to the song “The Freshman” all the way there and all the way home. I was sitting in my room trying to realize what was happening all I could think about was that Jarrod was dead, and he was “merely a freshman.” The song is about how everyone at some point is “merely freshman” who thinks they know everything and hold deny all responsibility, when in actuality we don’t know anything. This song reminds me to not be judgmental or arrogant acting towards people because there is always so much more to their lives that I don’t know about. The song teaches me to be responsible for all of actions even those that seem insignificant because they may affect others in a ways I don’t know.

“Two Step”-Dave Matthews Band

Link to song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmi7CiqQq44:

“Two Step” is a single from the Dave Matthews Band album Crash in 1996. Dave Matthews Band (DMB) is a jam band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band makes summer tours through America and Europe every year, and this song is often used to end the concerts. DMB has won a Grammy Award and preformed at the 2010 Grammy Award.

I saw DMB last April, and Two Step was played to end the show like it does at many concerts. By April, my friends and I had all already decided on where we were going to school in the fall, and almost everyone was going to different universities. This song was important to us because we decided that instead of worrying about how we weren’t going to be together in the fall, we instead decided to follow the lyrics of the song, “celebrate we will/ because life is short/ but sweet for certain/we’re climbing two by two/to be sure these days continue/the things we cannot change.” The song reminds me of my friends, and the great summer we had before going our separate ways.

"Stay"- Jackson Browne

Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtuvXrTz8DY

My mom can always tell when I’m nervous because I stop talking. The car rides to dance auditions, college interviews, and scholarship banquets were always without conversion with the radio on quietly. But every now and again Jackson Browne’s song “Stay” would come on the radio. One of us would reach for the radio, turn it up, and then we would sing along to the song. The song is about being at a concert and the band is asking the audience to relax, listen to their music, and “stay just a little bit longer.” My mom swears that the song is good luck because although it is not a very popular song, it always seems to come on the radio exactly when I need it the most. I tend to stress out very easily and become tense, and the song reminds that its all going to be fine, and that I just need to relax and see where life takes me.

Jackson Browne is an American rock singer songwriter and musician. Many of Browne’s songs expressed his emotions towards politics and his personal life. “Stay” was not one of those songs, but instead one that was a send off to his fans and road crew. “Stay” was recorded and released on Jackson Browne’s album Running on Empty in 1977. Browne was conducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 to commemorate his career, and him and his music and how it was able to address the social, political, and cultural issues of the time.

“Let Love In”-Goo Goo Dolls

Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C31X4WkMNeQ

The Goo Goo Dolls are a garage band that originated from Buffalo, New York in 1986. The Goo Goo Dolls first five albums were punk rock, whereas their most recent albums are more alternative rock. The album Let Love In was released in 2006. Three singles were recorded from the album including “Let Love In.”

To me, this song is about letting go of what you can’t change, and enjoying what is going on in the present. I dwell and stress over what has already happened, and always seem to ask myself well what if this would have happened. This song helps me realize for myself that what’s done is done, and I have to move on. The lyrics that I think express this idea are “there’s nothing we can do about/ the lings we have to live without/ the only way to feel again/ is let love in.” This song states that your happiness is ultimately up to you, and your decision whether you are going to be thankful for what and whom you have in your life and “let love in.”

“You’re My Best Friend”- Queen

Link to Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaZpZQG2z10&feature=related

“The song was preformed by the British rock band Queen. The band’s bass guitar player, John Deacon, wrote the song for his wife. It was originally released on the 1975 album Night at the Opera, but was later released as a single.

The song was preformed as an electrical piano as the main instrument that gives the song a funky, techno sound, while the drums in the background keep the band’s style of rock music. The song is about being with someone who makes you completely happy. I love that the song never talks physical appearance or the physical side of the couple’s relationship like many love songs do, but instead focuses on the day-to-day activities that make Deacon’s wife his best friend. My boyfriend, Caleb, is my best friend, and every time I hear this song it makes me thankful and happy that I have someone that “makes me live” and be happy.

“Time”- Chantel Kreviazuk

Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF-3TUcva9M

Chantel Krevaizuk is a Canadian contemporary singer from Winnipeg, Manitoba. “Time” was released in 2002 on her third album titled What if it All Means Something.

The song is about a woman asking for more time in her life. The person in the song apologizes for throwing away so many days. She begs time for more moments because she says now the “world is getting clearer” and she wants to enjoy it. I danced to this song with the other senior dancers at the studio in the Senior Gala as our senior piece. The song is important to me because it reminds me that as I go through different stages of my life that its important to enjoy the ride. It’s easy for me to get focused on one goal and put blinders on until that goal is reached. This song makes me slow down and enjoy myself because I do not end up like the woman in the song who is begging for more time because she wasted her earlier time on things that in the grand scheme of things don’t matter.

“My Philosophy”- Holiday Parade

Link to song:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilKTqH-jBYY

Holiday Parade is a pop rock group from Atlanta, Georgia. “My Philosphy” was released on their first album This is My Year in 2007. They are a new band, and tour along the east coast.

The song is about a man whose philosophy for life is taking chances and not having any regrets. “If you think this could be what you want/then you just have to try” are the lyrics that prompt me to go after my dreams and not ask the question my decisions that I make.