Music plays a massive role in my life. When I’m feeling down it helps me feel less alone, when I’m in a good mood it keeps it going. I listen to something every day and use whatever money I have to go to gigs. For me, it’s usually the lyrics that I connect with most so here are a few of my favourites:
What are some of your favourite lyrics? Share them with me below!
Here are the 5 songs I listened to most in September. Find monthly playlists from me on Spotify 🎶
Foo Fighters – These Days
Record: Wasting Light
Favourite Lyrics: ‘One of these days, the clocks will stop and time won’t mean a thing.’
The soft opening that contains my favourite lyrics of this song gives way to rhythmic guitar and belting vocals before coming to the hard finish that Foos are known for.
Paramore – Hard Times
Record: After Laughter
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Hard times gonna take you down and laugh when you cry and I still don’t know how I even survive.’
I love this song. The music and video are both quite upbeat and happy seeming. However, the lyrics tell a different story, one of struggle. I think the juxtaposition of both are quite an accurate portrayal of depression or mental health difficulties – we often show ourselves as happy and ‘fine’ when really, we’re not doing great. Hard Times, and After Laughter as a whole, have an 80’s vibe that somehow sounds current at the same time. It’s a new era for Paramore and far removed from their 2005 debut.
Imagine Dragons – Natural
Record: Origins (released 9th November 2018)
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Rather be the hunter than the prey and you’re standing on the edge, face up ’cause you’re a natural.’
The Grammy Award winning alternative rock group, Imagine Dragons, are back. Natural is angry and raw, maybe not surprising considering the difficulties Reynolds has faced in his personal life in the past year. Almost every Imagine Dragons song gets percussion heavy at some point which makes for great live performances. This one starts quiet, with a choral vocal but by the chorus we have the hard hitting drums we’re used to.
Pink – What About Us
Record: Beautiful Trauma
Favourite Lyrics: ‘We are searchlights, we can see in the dark, we are rockets, pointed up at the stars, we are billions of beautiful hearts.’
This one is emotional and fierce – a pretty good description of Alicia Moore, better known as Pink, too! A power balled, a call to stand up, a song about a failing relationship, a pop anthem, a critique of the political landscape in 2017 – this song is a lot of things at once but it stays authentic throughout.
Snow Patrol – This Isn’t Everything You Are
Record: Fallen Empires
Favourite Lyrics: ‘And in one little moment, it all implodes. This isn’t everything you are.
Breathe deeply in the silence, no sudden moves. This isn’t everything you are.’
Probably my all time favourite Snow Patrol song. This one has the sound an emotional depth that you’d expect from Lightbody & Co. As an album, Fallen Empires has a little more electronica than previous SP albums, which is by no means a bad thing, but this one is the somewhat downbeat yet anthemic sound any Snow Patrol fan would be familiar with. My love of this song has to do with the lyrics, I was tempted to put half the song as my favourite lyrics! It’s one I go back to whenever I’m feeling down.
Advance warning that most of my October favourites will likely be from Twenty One Pilots latest release, Trench – I’m so excited!
What songs, new or old, did you enjoy listening to last month? Share some with me below!
Here are the songs I listened to most in August. Find monthly playlists from me on Spotify
My Blood – Twenty One Pilots
Record: Trench (released October 5th 2018)
Favourite Lyrics: ‘When everyone you thought you knew dserts your fight, I’ll go with you.’
The Grammy winning duo are back with another single from the upcoming record Trench. My Blood is vastly different from their last release, Levitate. This one is definitely more pop and features Joseph’s falsetto along with a killer base line.
Lake Effect Kid – Fall Out Boy
Record: Lake Effect Kid EP
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Oh, I got the skyline in my veins.’
Not gonna lie, this one made me emotional. Listening to this brought me back to being 14/15 right between Under The Cork Tree and Infinity On High.
Choke – I Don’t Know How But They Found Me
Record: Released as a single.
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Oh, you clever little things, the sycophantic teens, what a precious basket case.’
Dallon Weekes is back doing his own thing after 8 years with Panic! at the Disco. Choke features a cool key change along with a guitar lick that will get stuck in your head!
Kamikaze- Walk The Moon
Record: What If Nothing
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Going down with my wings on fire, guess I’ll see you in another life.’
A very different track to the smash hit that is Shut Up and Dance, Kamikaze gives us Walk The Moon 2.0. This song starts with soft vocals and mellow guitar and then changes in both tone and tempo in the latter half which really allows it to shine.
Savages – Marina and The Diamonds
Record: FROOT
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Humans aren’t gonna behave as we think we always should. Yeah, we can be bad as we can be good.’
An oldie but a goodie. Synth-pop with a message that still resonates three years after its release.
What have you been listening to this month? Let me know in the comments!
Here are the songs I listened to most in July. Find monthly playlists from me on Spotify. This month features two TOP songs because they were released at the same time and after waiting a year I just can’t get enough of either!
Jumpsuit – Twenty One Pilots
Record: Trench (set for release October 5th 2018)
Favourite Lyric: ‘I’ll be right there but you’ll have to grab my throat and lift me in the air
If you need anyone, I’ll stop my plans but you’ll have to tie me down and then break both my hands.’
Featuring a heavy bass riff right off the bat, Jumpsuit sounds a little different than what we’ve grown to expect from Tyler Joseph & Josh Dun, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing! The song moves to more familiar territory during bridge, stripped back with softer vocals before ratcheting up a few notches with a heavy burst of drums from Dun and Joseph’s screaming vocals reminiscent of Car Radio.
The video for Jumpsuit continues from where HeavyDirtySoul left off bringing us into the world of Clancy, Dema & The Bishops. There’s a whole cryptic backstory to this, check it out here.
Dying In LA – Panic! at the Disco
Record: Pray For The Wicked
Favourite Lyric: ‘Nights at the chateau trapped in your sunset bungalow, you couldn’t escape it. Drink of paradise, they told you to put your blood on ice, you’re not gonna make it.’
Standing out from the rest of Pray For The Wicked’s synthy and jazzy tracks, Dying In LA is a sombre piano-driven ballad. Written with Megan Kibby, the track is almost the flipside of LA Devotee from DOAB. For me, these are some of Urie’s best vocals on this record.
Everything Is Fine – All Time Low
Record: Released as a single June 2018
Favourite Lyric: ‘All I wanted was some options but my only choice is leaving, like time is not a crocodile.’
I’ve never known a band to create new music as often as All Time Low does! This new track is the energetic pop-punk that the band are known for, though it’s more in keeping with Future Hearts than their most recent record Last Young Renegade.
Queen – Radio GaGa
Record: The Works
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Let’s hope you never leave old friend, like all good things on you we depend. So stick around ’cause we might miss you when we grow tired of all this visual.’
I was lucky enough to see Queen + Adam Lambert live this month. I’m not any kind of Queen super fan but it was a really enjoyable gig and quite emotional. Lambert himself said that he would never replace Freddie, nobody could. I chose this live recording of Radio GaGa because I think it shows why that’s the case. Watch this one right to the end!
Nico And The Niners – Twnety One Pilots
Record: Trench (set for release October 5th 2018)
Favourite Lyrics: ‘East is up, I’m fearless when I hear this on the low. East is up, I’m careless when I wear my rebel clothes.’
Nico And The Niners sounds more familiar than Jumpsuit. It’s not a million miles away from the reggae/alternative/rock vibes of Lane Boy or Ride on 2015’s Blurryface. Lyrically this song tells us a little more about the world of Dema and offers an explanation to some of the clues in Clancy’s letters and photos.
This video shows us Dema, the Bishops and the rebel group, it’s almost like a short film. As good as the entire video is, I think the standout moment for long time fans will be at the 2:30 mark.
What have you been listening to this month? Let me know in the comments!
Here are the songs I listened to most in June. Find monthly playlists from me on Spotify
Youngblood – 5 Seconds of Summer
Record: Youngblood
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Takes one to know one, yeah, you beat me at my own damn game.’
There’s nothing of particular depth in this one. 5SOS seem to have shed their pop punk beginnings for an even more commercial sound and there’s nothing wrong with that. An easy, summer jam.
Hey Look Ma, I Made It – Panic! at the Disco
Record: Pray For The Wicked
Favourite Lyrics: ‘In the garden of evil I’m gonna be the greatest, in a golden cathedral
I’ll be praying for the faithless.’
Produced by Dillon Francis, who gets a cameo in this weird and funny video, Hey Look Ma is an upbeat and groovy track that’s in keeping with the rest of this modern jazzy/pop/rock/electro record.
All Time Low – Everything Is Fine
A single released in 2018
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Everything is fine and nothing matters, weather’s always nice inside my head.’
More of what we’re used to from All Time Low and that’s no bad thing. Punchy, energetic, pop punk.
Follow Your Fire – Kodaline
Record: Politics Of Living
Favourite Lyrics: ‘I always saw you reaching and catching stars.’
More synthy than what we usually get from Kodaline but they pull it off here.
Give Yourself A Try – The 1975
Record: A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
Favourite Lyrics: ‘When your vinyl and your coffee collection is a sign of the times
You’re getting spiritually enlightened at 29.’
Give Yourself A Try is the first offering from The 1975’s newest record. A departure from previous synthy, 80’s inspired tracks, this one has an oddly futuristic feel about it.
What have you been listening to this month? Let me know in the comments!
Here are the songs I listened to most in May. Find monthly playlists from me on Spotify
High Hopes – Panic! at the Disco
Record: Pray For The Wicked
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Shooting for the stars when I couldn’t make a killing, didn’t have a dime but I always had a vision.’
Urie steps up the jazzy vibes from DOAB on this new track – horns, strings and uplifting lyrics.
No official video for this one!
Nervous – Shawn Mendes
Record: Shawn Mendes
Favourite Lyrics: ‘You got me acting like I’ve never done this before, I promise I’ll be ready when I walk through the door.’
Every day images of coffee shops and walking in the rain conjured up by Mendes’ falsetto vocals.
FRIENDS – Marshmello & Anne-Marie
Record: Speak Your Mind
Favourite Lyrics: ‘You can’t be reasoned with, I’m done being polite
I’ve told you one, two, three, four, five, six thousand times…’
An electro-pop friendzone anthem full of sing along moments.
Shotgun – George Ezra
Record: Staying at Tamara’s
Favourite Lyrics: ‘There’s a mountaintop that I’m dreaming of, if you need me you know were I’ll be.’
Ezra’s unmistakable deep vocals accompanied by a funky beat. A Summer jam.
Hearts on Fire – Gavin James
Record: Hearts On Fire
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Down on these dirty streets I lost my soul’
A bit different to James’ previous offerings. Hearts On Fire is more uptempo than we’re used to getting from him, though the subject matter remains unchanged.
What have you been listening to this month? Let me know in the comments!
Here are the songs I listened to most in April. Find monthly playlists from me on Spotify
The Sky Is A Neighborhood – Foo Fighters
Record: Concrete and Gold
Favourite Lyrics: ‘The heart is a storybook, a star burned out.’
Undeniably Foo‘s, no bells or whistles – a grungy, anthemic, rock ballad.
God & Satan – Biffy Clyro
Record: Only Revolutions
Favourite Lyrics: ‘I talk to God as much as I talk to Satan cause I want to hear both sides.
Does that make me cynical? There are no miracles and this is no miraculous life.’
Initial pared back, softer vocals accompanied by guitar and strings, later joined by drums and bells. Extra vocals by Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody.
Mr. Brightside – The Killers
Record: Hot Fuss
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Jealousy, turning saints into the sea, swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis…’
Ah, nostalgia! Infectious, get stuck in your head, indie goodness. It’s noisy, it’s cheesy and you’ll definitely sing along.
In My Blood – Shawn Mendes
Record: Shawn Mendes
Favourite Lyrics: ‘I’m crawling in my skin, sometimes I feel like giving up but I just can’t, it isn’t in my blood.’
Pop rock that tackles the subject of anxiety – In My Blood is more raw than the rest of this record. It builds to a nice crescendo of drums, guitar and choral vocals.
Walk On Water – Thirty Seconds To Mars
Record: America
Favourite Lyrics: ‘A thin line, the whole truth, the far right, the left view. Breaking all those promises made. Times are changing.’
Synth – rock, not dissimilar to something we might hear from Imagine Dragons.
What have you been listening to this month? Let me know in the comments!
