WELCOME TO MY LIFE

I have noticed on some people’s blogs that they will post lyrics from a song. While I don’t really think that it’s a complete cop out to use someone else’s ideas/inspirations in the absence of one’s own to fill blog space, it would be nice to see why they’ve posted the lyrics. Aside from just the fact that the words rhyme nicely. So, I think that I will post lyrics from time to time, along with commentary as to why I feel the lyrics are meaningful to me. As well, I will post the song in its entirety. This, at the very least, will give credit to the composers by not dissecting/butchering their original meaning.

When I first heard this song, it was the lyrics that stuck out the most. Absolutely, the music was catchy, albeit simple (typical 3 chord foundation with the odd cousin chord thrown in once in a while). Much to my surprise, I happen to notice that this song is one of the most requested this week. Apparently, the lyrics have also touched a lot of people who feel that they can relate.

SIMPLE PLAN: WELCOME TO MY LIFE
Do you ever feel like breaking down?
Do you ever feel out of place?
Like somehow you just don't belong and no one understands you [almost every day]
Do you ever wanna run away?
Do you lock yourself in your room with the radio on turned up so loud so that no one hears you screaming [in a way, I feel like I have run away, because living with my parents, I feel more like a temporary boarder than ‘at home’; music is constantly playing but at fairly reasonable levels; my parents are good – they don’t disturb me much except to tell me that there’s food in the kitchen; I honestly don’t think that there needs to be loud music present to hide the fact that I’m screaming]

[He playing on Archos]
no you don't know what its like when nothing feels alright
no you don't know what its like to be like me to be hurt to [many times I do feel like the pain that I’m going through is unique and that there’s no possible way that anyone else on this Earth can EVER understand what I’m going through]
to feel lost to be left out in the dark
to be kicked when you're down [I think I do most of the kicking, and I’m pretty good at it, especially when feelings of rejection and self-devaluation start cascading unfettered]
you feel like you've been pushed around to be
on the edge of breaking down and no one's there
to save you no you don't know what its like
welcome to my life [this really is just a rhetoric greeting, because I don’t really expect anyone to be remotely interested in getting involved – it’s messy, it’s confusing, and most people have their own challenges to deal with]

[Let It Flow playing on Archos]
Do you wanna be somebody else?
are you sick of feeling so left out? [all my life; and maybe this is something that is instinctual in everyone, I’ve always tried to fit in, socially, intellectually, spiritually; ironically, I don’t think that I’m any closer to normal conformity now than when I was really struggling with this in yesteryears]
are you desperate to find something more before your life is over? [for me, it’s more than just finding any ‘something’, but as more of my passionate purpose is revealed to me, it’s more about finding the path that leads me there]
Are you stuck inside a world you hate? [currently reading a book about The Taliban; not really sure why I picked it up; with recent media popularity of covering all things Middle Eastern and fundamentally Islam, I guess I wanted to find out more about this ‘declared’ enemy of my supposed lifestyle of freedom; as I read about the atrocities that the Taliban performed in the name of religious principles and purity, I grow less fond of this world and what we as human have done to it and to each other; the more I hear about all of the suffering in the world that is preventable, coupled with the suffering I face in my life everyday (again, preventable), I grow discouraged with trying to root myself here; hate is a strong word which promotes this decaying global society and I would like to help out those that are victimized; this seems paradoxical, to want to help a world that I don’t want to be part of; perhaps any small contribution I can offer may help to delay/counter the obvious destruction that this world is quickly disintegrating to; maybe…]
Are you sick of everyone around? with the big fake smiles and stupid lies
While deep inside your bleeding [kind of describes the way I feel about church right now]

[Trading My Sorrows playing on Archos]
no you don't know what its like when nothing feels alright
no you don't know what its like me to be hurt to
to feel lost to be left out in the dark
to be kicked when you're down
you feel like you've been pushed around to be
on the edge of breaking down and no one's there
to save you no you don't know what its like
welcome to my life [from a musical point of view, I think that the chorus is quite catchy!]

no one ever lied straight to your face
and no one ever stabbed you in the back [sometimes I think I’m quite clueless to these things, or maybe I just give people the benefit of the doubt]
You might think I'm happy but I'm not gonna be ok [I guess this is where I start to disagree with the ideas of the song; I KNOW that things are gonna be ok]
everybody always gave you what you wanted
never had to work it was always there [a very accurate commentary about this North American consumeristic/materialistic society; when we don’t get what we want we complain about it and we jealously criticize those that we feel have more; yet, when we have, our sense of balance get restored and blinds us to those who are obviously in need]

[A Little More playing on Archos]
you don't know what its like, what its like
to be hurt to feel lost to be left out in the dark
to be kicked when your down you feel like you've been pushed around
to be on the edge of breaking down and no one's there to save you
no you don't know what its like

to be hurt to be lost to be left out in the dark
to be kicked when you're down you feel like you've been pushed around
to be on the edge of breaking down and no one's there to save you
no you don't know what its like welcome to my life.

welcome to my life. welcome to my life

This song's popularity may be a reflection of the amount of pain that is happening, even in an affluent and wealthy society where we can afford the luxuries of a popular music subculture.

I think that the conveying of how one feels is heightened when it is woven into music and song. Likewise, I think that someone listening to music receives the embedded message intravenously. I remember many times of getting that spiritual “high” when an experience is capped off by a powerful and moving song. I think it’s inherent to human nature, and for me in particular. Music has been a faithful companion for most of my life. Always the willing and intent ear for my joys and sorrows, and always knowing exactly the right “words” to say back to me in any given situation. I remember many times, while growing up, that I would get frustrated for being able to hear in mind music polyphonically, but where I could only hum monophonically. I think that’s why I was so drawn to being able to the technology that would allow me to sequence music with different instrumental parts because, finally, there was an outlet whose output closely matched what was going on in my head.
[ironically, The Happy Song playing on Archos]