Have you ever used a song to express yourself? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

CityOfAngels · 10-15-2004, 01:09 AM

Have you ever expressed yourself with a song? If so, tell us the song, the story, and if possible, provide us with some lyrics.

One of the many times I broke up with my ex, I wrote her a letter, explaining to her that we just aren't compatible, and included Lauren Hill's CD. The song, "Ex-Factor" said everything that I felt. Whenever I listened to it, I felt like it was talking directly to my ex about our relationship.

Here are the lyrics to the song, "Ex Factor" (Written by Lauren Hill):

"It could all be so simple
But you'd rather make it hard
Loving you is like a battle
And we both end up with scars
Tell me, who I have to be
To get some reciprocity
No one loves you more than me
And no one ever will

Is this just a silly game
That forces you to act this way
Forces you to scream my name
Then pretend that you can't stay
Tell me, who I have to be
To get some reciprocity
No one loves you more than me
And no one ever will

Hook:
No matter how I think we grow
You always seem to let me know
It ain't workin'
It ain't workin'
And when I try to walk away
You'd hurt yourself to make me stay
This is crazy
This is crazy

I keep letting you back in
How can I explain myself
As painful as this thing has been
I just can't be with no one else
See I know what we got to do
You let go and I'll let go too
'Cause no one's hurt me more than you
And no one ever will"

P.S. She got me back with the song, "Crazy" by Patsy Cline.

Glory's Sun · 10-15-2004, 05:39 AM

I use a song to describe my mood everyday (in my journals)

music is my therapy..

ooh Crazy by Patsy Cline..that's a classic

now for the story..which one should I pick? Well I'll just go with the "one who got away" story. Nothing much to say except for had a fiance..lost a fiance and this song helped me gain closure. Emo songs are so good for relationship problems. (they have to be good for something right?) Here's the song.. it's This Ruined Puzzle by Dashboard Confessional

This ruined puzzle is beige with the pieces all face down
so the placing goes slowly.
The picture's of anything other than it's mean to be.
But the hours they creep,
the patterns repeat.
Don't be concerned, you know I'll be fine on my own.
I never said "don't go."

I've hidden a note,
it's pressed between pages that you've marked to find your way back.
It says, "Does he ever get the girl?"
But what if the pages stay pressed,
the chapters unfinished,
the storied too dull to unfold?
Does he ever get the girl?

This basement's a coffin.
I'm buried alive.
I'll die in here just to be safe.
I'll die in here just to be safe.
'Cause you're gone.
I get nothing
and you're off with barely a sigh.
I never said, "Goodbye."

but i've hidden a note,
it's pressed between pages that you've marked to find your way back.
It says, "Does he ever get the girl?"

but i've hidden a note,
it's pressed between pages that you'll read if you're so incline.
It says, "Does he ever get the girl?"

But the hours they creep,
the patterns repeat.
Don't be concerned, you know I'll be fine on my own.
I never said "don't go."

Does he ever get the girl?

quadro2000 · 10-15-2004, 07:30 AM

Almost every song on Swamp Ophelia by the Indigo Girls.

Specifically, "Fare Thee Well" helped me gain closure on an ended relationship.

fare thee well my bright star
i watched your taillights blaze into nothingness
but you were long gone before i ever got to you
before you blazed past this address

and now i think of having loved and having lost
but never know what it feels like to never love
who can say what's better when my heart's become the cost
a mere token of a brighter jewel sent from above

fare thee well my bright star
the vanity of youth the color of your eyes
and maybe if i'd fanned the blazing fire of your day-to-day
or if i'd been older i'd been wise

too thick the heat of those long summer evenings
for a cool evening i began to yearn
but you could only feed upon the things which feed a fire
waiting to see if i would burn

fare thee well my bright star
it was a brief brilliant miracle dive
that which i looked up to and i clung to for dear life
had to burn itself up just to make itself alive

and i caught you then in your moment of glory
your last dramatic scene against a night sky stage
with a moment so clear that it's as if you're still before me
my once in a lifetime star of an age

so fare thee well my bright star
last night the tongues of fire circled me around
and this strange season of pain will come to pass
when the healing hands of autumn cool me down

roachboy · 10-15-2004, 08:32 AM

loser's samba by martin mull.

you can play it yourself too

http://www.tabpower.com/s5105.html#

byesman · 10-15-2004, 04:59 PM

All the time, I use music lyrics in my speeches, (I make a lot of speeches in my job) and I like to quote a lot of songs. I also did my Master's Thesis on Gardners Theories of Multiple Intelligences, specifically music, and as part of it I had to create a program, so I created a program to educate youth in junior high on dating violence using popular music as the teaching tool. So yea, I like to incorporate lyrics a lot.

Harry Cox · 10-15-2004, 06:07 PM

I'm with byesman. I do it all the time. It helps me keep my sanity and cope with everyday bullshit without going postal.

tspikes51 · 10-18-2004, 10:53 AM

I don't often use lyrics to express myself ( I did once, I'll list them below), but as far as using actual music to express myself, all the time. Constantly. I sit down with an instrument and just let my emotions go. It is the best therapy ever.

I used some Clapton to try and keep a girl and I together:

Do you wanna see me crawl across the floor to you?
Do you wanna hear me beg you to take me back?
I will gladly do it because
I don't wanna fade away.
Give me one more day please.
I don't wanna fade away.
In your heart I wanna stay.

That is Bell Bottom Blues, by the way. Almost worked too. I also used Layla.

Please don't say we'll never find a way.
Or tell me all my love's in vain.

Harry Cox · 10-18-2004, 11:02 AM

Great song. I think it would probably work better than Layla. That's overused.

Shpoop · 10-18-2004, 01:00 PM

I relate to music all the time, but have never expressed myself to someone else through it.

what i have done, however, is quoted a song to try to help a friend get through hard times and make their own choice...

So you just sit there, stuck, afraid to risk reality
Afraid to cause yourself more pain, to face insanity
But nothing ventured, nothing gained
You see... your fear's your cage
You beg for help but you're alone, stuck in a helpless rage

the song: Do you call my name, by Ra
as far as touching songs though, that ones pretty low on the list, because of the way they perform it...the lyrics are good though

Seandq · 10-18-2004, 01:02 PM

So many times. Music just expresses me, and be it Ani DiFranco to Norah Jones to Jay-Z, I can always find something that describes me

MexicanOnABike · 10-18-2004, 03:11 PM

edited for personal reasons.

TexanAvenger · 10-18-2004, 05:41 PM

Once, after an extremely painful breakup, I made a cd for the girl with songs that I felt were appropriate. I can't remember all the songs now, but some of them were:

Faith - George Michael
One More Try - George Michael
Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon
Low Places - Garth Brooks
Everlong (acoustic) - Foo Fighters
When You Really Love A Woman - Brian Adams
Nothing Else Matters - Metallica
She Hates Me - Puddle of Mudd
Love You Madly - Cake
World of Two - Cake
Pretty Pink Ribbon - Cake
What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

and I forget any others, though it was much longer. Obviously, it was something of a mixed batch of emotion

Unright · 10-21-2004, 04:21 AM

Wow.. nothing but breakup songs and situations.. Here's the opposite.

My girlfriend had complianed a few times that her relationships never lasted over 3 months. So near the 3 month mark I played this song for her to let her know that I was serious about wanting a relationship with her. By the end of the song she was crying she was so happy.

"The Luckiest" by Ben Folds

i don't get many things right the first time
in fact, i am told that a lot
now i know all the wrong times,
the stumbles and falls
brought me here
and where was i before the day
that i first saw your lovely face?
now i see it everyday, and i know...

that i am, i am
i am the luckiest

what if i'd been born 50 years before you
in a house on the street where you lived
maybe i'd be outside as you passed on your bike
would i know?
and in a wide sea of eyes
i see one pair that i recognize
and i know...

that i am, i am
i am the luckiest

i love you more than i have ever found a way to say to you

next door there's an old man,
who lived to his 90s and one day
passed away in his sleep
and his wife, she stayed for a couple of days
and passed away
i'm sorry i know that's a strange way to tell you that i know we belong
that i know...

that i am, i am
i am the luckiest

Later on she responded with Ben Harper's "Beloved One". That was 4 years ago. We're still together.

divagrrrl · 10-21-2004, 01:18 PM

I write songs to express myself. My lyrics are on my website, www.meliesa.com.

K-Wise · 10-22-2004, 02:59 AM

^ Ditto. I don't have a website though

Asta!!

monkeydriven · 11-04-2004, 08:08 AM

I hated my high school algebra teacher so much (and the feeling was mutual) that I gave up on the class...submitting every test sheet for the term with nothing but my name and the lyrics to Pink Floyd's "The Happiest Days of Our Lives"...the teacher was a woman, so I substituted the word wives with husbands...its was all kinda cliched and juvenile, but made me feel alot better...ended up with a D in the class, retook it with a 'REAL' teacher the next year and got a B+.

Pink Floyd - Happiest Days of Our Lives Lyrics

Well, when we grew up and went to school,
There were certain teachers,
Who would hurt the children in any way they could,
By pouring their derision,
Upon anything we did,
Exposing every weakness,
However carefully hidden by the kids.

But in the town it was well known,
When they got home at night,
Their fat and psychopathic wives would thrash them,
Within inches of their lives.

WarriorBuddha · 11-07-2004, 03:39 AM

I use music quite frequently. There was a time a couple years ago when I was doing some real soul searching and the Staind song "Outside" (I'm pretty sure that's the name) really expressed how I felt about the situation.

I'm on the outside
I'm lookin' in
I can see through you
See to the real you
And inside you're ugly
Ugly like me
I can see through you
See to the real you

I can't even listen to that song without thinking of that particular time in my life anymore. Really painful.

MEAD · 11-07-2004, 03:55 PM

I use music all the time, thats my main method of getting emotions out and work the out and deal with them

tspikes51 · 11-07-2004, 09:13 PM

Whenever I'm feeling strong emotions, I usually play music, not listen to it. It is the most amazing outlet ever. I usually don't sing either, even though my chosen instrument in school is voice.

shred_head · 11-08-2004, 03:26 PM

I remember this one time I stood outside this chick's house holding a boombox over my head blaring a Peter Gabriel song. That went over really well.

optik_nerve · 11-10-2004, 04:28 PM

To me, music is an outlet for an emotion that words can't describe. Not necessarily in a bad way but in a good way too.

jonjon42 · 11-10-2004, 05:31 PM

John Lennon's imagine describes my feelings alot of the time...

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer, <--- these
but Im not the only one, <----two lines especially
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

Justsomeguy · 11-10-2004, 05:40 PM

One time my girlfriend asked me what I wanted to do that night. Somberly, I sat there with no reply. She asked me what was wrong. I replied by gently inserting my cassette tape into the cassette player.

The song was "Face Down Ass UP"

Songs can really help you express what you want without having to stumble over your own words to express them yourself.

10-15-2004, 05:39 AM	#2 (permalink)
Glory's Sun Registered User	I use a song to describe my mood everyday (in my journals) music is my therapy.. ooh Crazy by Patsy Cline..that's a classic now for the story..which one should I pick? Well I'll just go with the "one who got away" story. Nothing much to say except for had a fiance..lost a fiance and this song helped me gain closure. Emo songs are so good for relationship problems. (they have to be good for something right?) Here's the song.. it's This Ruined Puzzle by Dashboard Confessional This ruined puzzle is beige with the pieces all face down so the placing goes slowly. The picture's of anything other than it's mean to be. But the hours they creep, the patterns repeat. Don't be concerned, you know I'll be fine on my own. I never said "don't go." I've hidden a note, it's pressed between pages that you've marked to find your way back. It says, "Does he ever get the girl?" But what if the pages stay pressed, the chapters unfinished, the storied too dull to unfold? Does he ever get the girl? This basement's a coffin. I'm buried alive. I'll die in here just to be safe. I'll die in here just to be safe. 'Cause you're gone. I get nothing and you're off with barely a sigh. I never said, "Goodbye." but i've hidden a note, it's pressed between pages that you've marked to find your way back. It says, "Does he ever get the girl?" but i've hidden a note, it's pressed between pages that you'll read if you're so incline. It says, "Does he ever get the girl?" But the hours they creep, the patterns repeat. Don't be concerned, you know I'll be fine on my own. I never said "don't go." Does he ever get the girl? Last edited by Glory's Sun; 10-15-2004 at 07:54 AM..

10-15-2004, 07:30 AM	#3 (permalink)
quadro2000 All Possibility, Made Of Custard Location: New York, NY	Almost every song on Swamp Ophelia by the Indigo Girls. Specifically, "Fare Thee Well" helped me gain closure on an ended relationship. fare thee well my bright star i watched your taillights blaze into nothingness but you were long gone before i ever got to you before you blazed past this address and now i think of having loved and having lost but never know what it feels like to never love who can say what's better when my heart's become the cost a mere token of a brighter jewel sent from above fare thee well my bright star the vanity of youth the color of your eyes and maybe if i'd fanned the blazing fire of your day-to-day or if i'd been older i'd been wise too thick the heat of those long summer evenings for a cool evening i began to yearn but you could only feed upon the things which feed a fire waiting to see if i would burn fare thee well my bright star it was a brief brilliant miracle dive that which i looked up to and i clung to for dear life had to burn itself up just to make itself alive and i caught you then in your moment of glory your last dramatic scene against a night sky stage with a moment so clear that it's as if you're still before me my once in a lifetime star of an age so fare thee well my bright star last night the tongues of fire circled me around and this strange season of pain will come to pass when the healing hands of autumn cool me down __________________ You have to laugh at yourself...because you'd cry your eyes out if you didn't. - Emily Saliers

10-15-2004, 08:32 AM	#4 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	loser's samba by martin mull. you can play it yourself too http://www.tabpower.com/s5105.html# __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite

10-15-2004, 04:59 PM	#5 (permalink)
byesman Crazy Location: Byesville	All the time, I use music lyrics in my speeches, (I make a lot of speeches in my job) and I like to quote a lot of songs. I also did my Master's Thesis on Gardners Theories of Multiple Intelligences, specifically music, and as part of it I had to create a program, so I created a program to educate youth in junior high on dating violence using popular music as the teaching tool. So yea, I like to incorporate lyrics a lot. __________________ If after I depart this vale you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner, and wink your eye at some homely girl. H.L. Mencken

10-18-2004, 10:53 AM	#7 (permalink)
tspikes51 Fuckin' A Location: Lex Vegas	I don't often use lyrics to express myself ( I did once, I'll list them below), but as far as using actual music to express myself, all the time. Constantly. I sit down with an instrument and just let my emotions go. It is the best therapy ever. I used some Clapton to try and keep a girl and I together: Do you wanna see me crawl across the floor to you? Do you wanna hear me beg you to take me back? I will gladly do it because I don't wanna fade away. Give me one more day please. I don't wanna fade away. In your heart I wanna stay. That is Bell Bottom Blues, by the way. Almost worked too. I also used Layla. Please don't say we'll never find a way. Or tell me all my love's in vain. __________________ "I'm telling you, we need to get rid of a few people or a million." -Maddox

10-15-2004, 06:07 PM	#6 (permalink)
Harry Cox Insane	I'm with byesman. I do it all the time. It helps me keep my sanity and cope with everyday bullshit without going postal.

10-18-2004, 11:02 AM	#8 (permalink)
Harry Cox Insane	Great song. I think it would probably work better than Layla. That's overused.

10-18-2004, 01:00 PM	#9 (permalink)
Shpoop Curious Location: NJ (but just for college)	I relate to music all the time, but have never expressed myself to someone else through it. what i have done, however, is quoted a song to try to help a friend get through hard times and make their own choice... So you just sit there, stuck, afraid to risk reality Afraid to cause yourself more pain, to face insanity But nothing ventured, nothing gained You see... your fear's your cage You beg for help but you're alone, stuck in a helpless rage the song: Do you call my name, by Ra as far as touching songs though, that ones pretty low on the list, because of the way they perform it...the lyrics are good though

10-18-2004, 01:02 PM	#10 (permalink)
Seandq Tilted Location: Orlando, FL	So many times. Music just expresses me, and be it Ani DiFranco to Norah Jones to Jay-Z, I can always find something that describes me

10-18-2004, 03:11 PM	#11 (permalink)
MexicanOnABike Location: up north	edited for personal reasons. __________________ - Movie Reviews - Ratings- Last edited by MexicanOnABike; 06-05-2005 at 07:48 PM..

10-18-2004, 05:41 PM	#12 (permalink)
TexanAvenger Born-Again New Guy Location: Unfound.	Once, after an extremely painful breakup, I made a cd for the girl with songs that I felt were appropriate. I can't remember all the songs now, but some of them were: Faith - George Michael One More Try - George Michael Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon Low Places - Garth Brooks Everlong (acoustic) - Foo Fighters When You Really Love A Woman - Brian Adams Nothing Else Matters - Metallica She Hates Me - Puddle of Mudd Love You Madly - Cake World of Two - Cake Pretty Pink Ribbon - Cake What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong and I forget any others, though it was much longer. Obviously, it was something of a mixed batch of emotion

10-21-2004, 04:21 AM	#13 (permalink)
Unright Crazy Location: Florida	Wow.. nothing but breakup songs and situations.. Here's the opposite. My girlfriend had complianed a few times that her relationships never lasted over 3 months. So near the 3 month mark I played this song for her to let her know that I was serious about wanting a relationship with her. By the end of the song she was crying she was so happy. "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds i don't get many things right the first time in fact, i am told that a lot now i know all the wrong times, the stumbles and falls brought me here and where was i before the day that i first saw your lovely face? now i see it everyday, and i know... that i am, i am i am the luckiest what if i'd been born 50 years before you in a house on the street where you lived maybe i'd be outside as you passed on your bike would i know? and in a wide sea of eyes i see one pair that i recognize and i know... that i am, i am i am the luckiest i love you more than i have ever found a way to say to you next door there's an old man, who lived to his 90s and one day passed away in his sleep and his wife, she stayed for a couple of days and passed away i'm sorry i know that's a strange way to tell you that i know we belong that i know... that i am, i am i am the luckiest Later on she responded with Ben Harper's "Beloved One". That was 4 years ago. We're still together.

10-21-2004, 01:18 PM	#14 (permalink)
divagrrrl Crazy Location: SoCal	I write songs to express myself. My lyrics are on my website, www.meliesa.com.

10-22-2004, 02:59 AM	#15 (permalink)
K-Wise It's All About The Ass!! Location: In a pool of mayonnaise!!	^ Ditto. I don't have a website though Asta!! __________________ "I love music and it's my parents fault (closing statement)." - Me..quoting myself...from when I said that...On TFP..thats here...Tilted Forum Project *It ain't goodbye, it's see ya later! I'll miss you guys!* - Asta!!

11-04-2004, 08:08 AM	#16 (permalink)
monkeydriven Addict Location: Boston	I hated my high school algebra teacher so much (and the feeling was mutual) that I gave up on the class...submitting every test sheet for the term with nothing but my name and the lyrics to Pink Floyd's "The Happiest Days of Our Lives"...the teacher was a woman, so I substituted the word wives with husbands...its was all kinda cliched and juvenile, but made me feel alot better...ended up with a D in the class, retook it with a 'REAL' teacher the next year and got a B+. Pink Floyd - Happiest Days of Our Lives Lyrics Well, when we grew up and went to school, There were certain teachers, Who would hurt the children in any way they could, By pouring their derision, Upon anything we did, Exposing every weakness, However carefully hidden by the kids. But in the town it was well known, When they got home at night, Their fat and psychopathic wives would thrash them, Within inches of their lives. __________________ you think i got my eyes closed but i've been lookin' at you the whole f&ckin' time... ------------------------------------------------ Posting from the home of the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox Last edited by monkeydriven; 11-04-2004 at 08:10 AM..

11-07-2004, 03:39 AM	#17 (permalink)
WarriorBuddha Crazy Location: Japan	I use music quite frequently. There was a time a couple years ago when I was doing some real soul searching and the Staind song "Outside" (I'm pretty sure that's the name) really expressed how I felt about the situation. I'm on the outside I'm lookin' in I can see through you See to the real you And inside you're ugly Ugly like me I can see through you See to the real you I can't even listen to that song without thinking of that particular time in my life anymore. Really painful. __________________ Thockmorton knew if he were ever to break wind in the echo chamber, he would never hear the end of it.

11-07-2004, 03:55 PM	#18 (permalink)
MEAD Insane Location: South Florida	I use music all the time, thats my main method of getting emotions out and work the out and deal with them

11-07-2004, 09:13 PM	#19 (permalink)
tspikes51 Fuckin' A Location: Lex Vegas	Whenever I'm feeling strong emotions, I usually play music, not listen to it. It is the most amazing outlet ever. I usually don't sing either, even though my chosen instrument in school is voice. __________________ "I'm telling you, we need to get rid of a few people or a million." -Maddox

11-08-2004, 03:26 PM	#20 (permalink)
shred_head Psycho Location: Atlanta, GA	I remember this one time I stood outside this chick's house holding a boombox over my head blaring a Peter Gabriel song. That went over really well. __________________ "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" -- Albert Einstein "A clear indication of women's superiority over man is their refusal to play air guitar." --Frank Zappa

11-10-2004, 04:28 PM	#21 (permalink)
optik_nerve Psycho Location: Florida	To me, music is an outlet for an emotion that words can't describe. Not necessarily in a bad way but in a good way too.

11-10-2004, 05:31 PM	#22 (permalink)
jonjon42 Psycho Location: inside my own mind	John Lennon's imagine describes my feelings alot of the time... Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people living for today... Imagine there's no countries, It isnt hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, No religion too, Imagine all the people living life in peace... Imagine no possesions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You may say Im a dreamer, <--- these but Im not the only one, <----two lines especially I hope some day you'll join us, And the world will live as one. __________________ A damn dirty hippie without the dirty part....

11-10-2004, 05:40 PM	#23 (permalink)
Justsomeguy Insane	One time my girlfriend asked me what I wanted to do that night. Somberly, I sat there with no reply. She asked me what was wrong. I replied by gently inserting my cassette tape into the cassette player. The song was "Face Down Ass UP" Songs can really help you express what you want without having to stumble over your own words to express them yourself.