Let’s just imagine for a second your life is a television show. If so, what would be the theme song? For me, the theme song would have to change every so often (being that I’m 23). Realistically, no tv show lasts that long (unless of course you’re the Simpsons).
For every phase of my life or so, the themes songs would have to be different, and so I have compiled a list of “theme songs” that reflect my mood, attitude, and situation in life at that present moment in history.
1. The Elementary School Years
Being that my elementary days surrounding myself “pretend-fainting”, hitting my teacher’s car with a bike, getting beat up by Mexicans, and of course watching childhood television shows when FOX Kids was still around, I had to make due with what I had. Growing up rather poor I didn’t get the luxuries of really enjoying my childhood to the full extent. However, I did entertain myself with the wonders of television, which taught me of course wonderful life morals (from Adventures from the Book of Virtues), as well as the original mantra to “believe in myself”. Arthur helps to symbolize that precise moment in my life where my insecurities developed at a young age.
2. The Junior High Years
Before the days of having legal dial-up Internet, I had to rely on the rare music provided to me by the radio airwaves as well as heard on various television shows. The songs that stuck with me were the ones that profoundly resonated with me on a personal level. Something about Five for Fighting’s Superman reached me at a rather young age, maybe as I was on the road to self-discovery. “I’m just out to find… the better part of me.”
The O.C. heavily resonated with me as one of the first teenage soaps I got addicted to during these years. “California” just made sense as an anthem at that point because it was where I live. Even reflecting back now, I am rather nostalgic for California based on the memories I have made there (and because Las Vegas isn’t exactly an ideal place to live permanently, even if the cost of living and taxes are less here).
3. The High School Years
That brings me to the arguably most awkward phase of my life, the high school years – where of course I was at the most emotionally unstable and dependent part of my existence. The songs that got me through these years were both “Emo” so to speak, or inspiring me to enjoy life much more.
Something about the beat of Blink 182’s Dammit just hit me. Maybe it resonated with me always being friendzoned, or more specifically realizing this was all of a part of “growing up”.
And it’s happened once again
I’ll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
Sees through the master planBut everybody’s gone
And I’ve been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well I guess this is growing up
As the only artist on this list that struck me twice at the same time, Jimmy Eat World really hit me with of course their deeper songs. “Work” gave me some insight into why I really despised high school, mostly because of the conformity, but it became rather ironic as I eventually conformed into the system towards the end to year to get ahead. “Can we take a ride… get out of this place… while we still have time?”
It was of course “Kill” that just killed me…. not literally of course. But it did provide some insight as to why I was rather unhappy with my present situation, continually being led on. I blame myself now, but of course back then I did too much moping around about it. “I know what you want to say… I know it but can’t help feeling differently.”
I did have a small beacon of hope though. For every moment that I was sad, there was one song that always cheered me up. It reminded me to have a sense of where we are in the world, that I – “always forget how strange it is…. just to be alive at all.”
The “honeymoon phase” of my first relationship in high school was filled with such deep infatuation. In that present moment in life David Cook happened to be on American Idol, singing Mariah Carey’s epic hit “Always be my baby”. That song resonated with me so deeply, but maybe I applied to the wrong person.
That brings me to course, my first breakup anthem. “I think I’m moving but I go nowhere.” To be fair though I got over that relationship in a span of 2 days…. LOL.
High school ended with me actually being nostalgic for it. Of course, maintaining contact with my friends remained heavily difficult over the years. Although Graham Colton’s “Best Days” isn’t necessarily true… it was a great graduation anthem stuck in my head that year.
Part 4: The College Years
UCSD began with me being addicted to the song “Viva La Vida”, playing it non-stop the first weekend I entered Stewart Hall with my fellow Suite 400 homies. Though it didn’t have too much direct application to the present moment in my life, I see it as a coming of age song – paralleling my decision to make a fresh start on my own far away from home.
My first year of UCSD was pretty eventful having a blast with my suitemates and of course the suites next to us in Stewart Hall. No anthem really proved itself that memorable in the grand scheme of things. There were moments in my life (and there still are today), that sad songs happened to cheer me up, The Fray’s “Enough for Now” being one of them. I remember listening to this song on the way home from work at the Career Services Center nearly every day.
My sophomore started off rather shaky (mostly due to my rather desolate summer working 60 hours a week). Realistically though I had to move on, adapting two songs to my life that particular year. The first was of course Boy Like Girl’s “Go”, which kept me happy and making an effort to keep persevering despite various setbacks that year.
Get up and go
Take a chance and be strong
Or you could spend your whole life holding on
Don’t look back just go
Take a breathe, move along
Or you could spend your whole life holding on.
Owl City’s Fireflies also hit me DEEP that year. It was a combination of the nostalgic for my childhood the song brought, and the catchiness that rang it in my ears for the rest of that season. “I’d like to make myself believe… that planet earth turns slowly. It’s hard to stay that I’d rather stay awake when I’m asleep, cause everything is never as it seems”.
I’m rather surprised the first and only “female song” of this list doesn’t actually hit till the summer after my sophomore year of college, considering how much “girl” pop hits I have in my playlist. Jojo’s “Keep forgetting to forget about you” might sound rather simplistic based on the lyrics. However, it directly applied to my life and my present desire at the moment to get over certain persons.
I knew at the beginning of 2011 that the fostering of a new relationship was starting. Coinciding with this was of course The Script’s “For the First Time”. I began seeing someone whom I considered only a friend up until that point as something much more (“We just now got the feeling…. that we’re meeting… for the first time.”
When that relationship ended I couldn’t help but listen to sad music… over and over again. You can ask my roommate to vouch for that. One of those songs happened to be particularly popular on the radio, Gavin Degraw’s Not Over You. Though I eventually got over it, the song helped pushed me towards doing it sooner rather than later.
The sole Glee song to make my anthems list, this song resonated me as a graduation theme – mostly because it was time to move on and separate myself from the friends I made over the years at San Diego. “I gotta have roots before branches to know who I am before I know who I wanna be.”
Part 5: The Post-Bac Years
Working at the YMCA and simultaneously going to Cal State Fullerton brought me new experiences. One jam, which I keep hearing repeatedly in my days at the Y (due to a dance practice) also directly applied to my life, reminding me that I was a “shooting star”, metaphorically of course.
Though Circle K brought both positive and negative memories to my head, I can’t help thinking of the “Revolution” song from Les Miserables, not because I wanted to overthrow the government, but because I felt some sort of connection to the “team” bond we had. “When the beating of your hearts echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes.”
My next breakup coincided with Passenger’s “Let Her Go”, which struck a rather deep chord with me. Of course it was rather superficial due to that relationship only being negative one month long. It goes without saying though it perfectly demonstrates my error of falling too deep too soon. “Only know you love her when you let her go.”
Mind games hurt my head, especially at the start of 2014. Despite everything though, I wished for someone to just simply tell me she liked me. During the phase of thinking “What if”, this song heavily rung in my head for two months or so, before everything came to fruition. It would be a relationship I would attempt to never give up on though. “Cause I’m never going down. I’m never giving up. I’m never gonna leave so put your hands up. If you like me, then say you like me”.
Next up is American Author’s “Luck”, which illustrated how lucky I was at that stage in my life (although it can be argued “I made my own luck”).
That of course brings me to the present, where I believe the energy and connections I’ve made to the people back home in California will “never die” so to speak. I will eventually move back, but I will heavily weigh my options here in contemplation of how much I enjoy the rest of the year.
It’s too soon to say what the next anthem of my life will be, but let’s hope they will all be happy songs rather than somber ones. What are your life anthems?
