Life Soundtrack

Guns ‘N Roses, “November Rain”: Contrasting scenes introduce this video: a man popping Lexapro or Zoloft drugs and shots of alcohol in attempt to ease his pain, a large gathering for a Guns ‘N Roses show, an elegant wedding scene strung with smiling faces. In addition to these clips, a lone lighthouse stands as a symbol of guidance, but also conveys a sense of loneliness. Grey skies fill the sky above this lighthouse, symbolizing difficulty and anger. As I neared the end of my high school career, these feelings of frustration and anger seemed to cloud my head and being contained in my tiny school became more and more difficult. In a community where everyone seems to be enjoying themselves but oneself, feelings of aloneness abound and being around those others proves to be quite difficult. High school can be quite clique-y: girls in their Chanel and Burberry aren’t likely to accept cotton T-shirt girls who have academics on their mind more than having fun. Standing alone by the lockers, girls strutting by in their Jimmy Choos, a small teenage girl is likely to feel a lack of self-confidence. Loneliness is all too common for those girls who feel they don’t fit in with the crowd; who are all too impatient for change. Guns ‘N Roses’s lyric of “nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain” reminds those struggling that things will change; loneliness doesn’t last forever and there are better things to come. Here, loneliness stands as a seemingly object of barricade; a feeling of despair that seems as though it will never end.

Kenny Chesney, “Who You’d Be Today”: Boys joke with each other as they toss around a basketball in the introduction of the video, but the audience can tell something is not quite right by the look in the boys’ eyes; something seems to be missing from the scene. Clips of individuals suffering from loneliness, from missing someone, flash throughout the video. Candles and flame are also constant, representing an apparent fatal fire but also representing losing someone. Losing a friend may be one of the hardest things a teenager must suffer; my sophomore year of high school proved to test my strength with the loss of my teammate and friend. For a teenager already struggling through high school, losing a friend could only add to feelings of despair and loneliness. Candles representing loss and respect for the lost line the alter at a Catholic funeral, flickering strongly as a priest delivers the Introit and the Mass of Christian Burial. The strength of the candle’s flame suggests that life has not ended, but changed. Those candles burning brightly during the ceremony instill a sense of hope, a sense that through tragedy comes strength, and perhaps strength is what this loved one was intended to bring. The continued flicker from the flame suggests that life does go on, that this loved one’s spirit will never be forgotten and that, as Chesney concludes, they will be seen again someday.

No Doubt, “Running”: “Running” shows clips from Gwen Stephani’s youth, inviting us into the fun she experienced and the persistence she used to “hold on” during these years. At one point, a high school locker room is presented with a teenager modeling an 80’s cheer or dance costume. In the background, others scurry around the locker room, readying themselves for their One Act plays or pre-track meet practice. During my own high school years, many hours were spent and memories made in our shabby locker room. Tacky painted lockers collected inches of dust, a poor paint job spelled out “Bulldogs” across the wall. The locker room served as a gathering point for teammates as they headed out to practice; volleyball girls pulled on their knee-pads and elbow guards while the runners bundled up in their moisture-wicking dry-fits. The locker room provided a place for closest friends to gather, catch up on the gossip of the day, and lend a shoulder for those having a bad day. It stood as a source of motivation: with friends that care by your side, who are ready to continue bonding on a lactate-threshold workout, everything seems to look up. The locker room in the video seems to hold friends goofing around together, simply trying to enjoy themselves – and No Doubt’s lyrics about “running” and “making it” parallel those ideas of friends gathering. Anticipation of gathering with teammates and friends at the end of a hard day is enough to get a struggling teenager through that day with hope.

Sugarland, “Already Gone”: The first scene the audience sees in “Already Gone” is Jennifer Nettles rising above a group of cars, and then a young teenage girl in the driver’s seat of a car. As the lyrics suggest, this teenager is preparing to move on to a new chapter in her life, taking note of her mother’s advice as she leaves. As I prepared for my own departure to experience another stage of life, I too listened to my mother’s saddened voice as she provided words of encouragement and support. In the driver’s seat of my own ’96 Jeep Cherokee, I was ready to take on this new adventure.

That Jeep provided a means of escape from everything I had previously known. Given an open road filled with new opportunities, a shaky, not-always reliable Jeep seemed to offer excitement and anticipation of what was to come. The Jeep held many old memories of puddle-jumping through East City Park and “accidental” trips down the Cowboy trail, but the road ahead promised new memories with new friends. Sugarland sings of being “gone,” which is just what the Jeep accomplished: being gone, transitioning to a new world. Though anywhere life takes one will likely bring struggles and tough decisions, often change is inevitable and actually good. “Jeepy” served as a getaway; a chance to put the past completely in the past, and move ahead – to see, through the windshield, a new world of opportunity.

Keith Urban, “Everybody”: This video offers clips of apparent “loners,” each walking their own paths in attempt to get somewhere, though we do not know where at the beginning of the video. As the individuals begin to come together, however, it becomes clear that these people make up the band, a group of common men. Like these men, feelings of loneliness have been recurrent throughout my youth. Fear of never fitting in with the right “band” clouded my head for many years. In Urban's video, the men each walking alone appear to be experiencing similar feelings of loneliness. Indeed, the opening line of the song reads: “So here you are now, nowhere to turn… just the same old yesterday.” As they come together, though, they are no longer loners but members of a community: a group of men with similar interests who genuinely care about each other. This group represents just that – a truly unique band of friends who no longer feel alone when they come together. As Urban states, everybody does need somebody to lean on, to express emotions to. A band of friends needn’t always stay the same – in fact, it probably should change – but one does need that band for support. Reaching out for this support may be scary, but true friendship is so valuable, so vital to well-being, that reaching out for one’s own “band” is one of life’s greatest decisions.

Natasha Bedingfield: “Unwritten”: Central to “Unwritten” is the theme of books – “your” book, in particular. The video presents an enormous library with books of every kind – we see a “Gazette” and “Un Voyage Au Fond.” Most notable, though, are the books that come to life – books with legs, dancing around, portraying Bedingfield herself. These books represent the idea that no one knows what is ahead in life, and in your own “book” all you can do is seize the moment. My book of life, as I transitioned to college, remained widely unknown – ideas randomly strewn across the page but in no particular order, with no consistency or sequence. The point of the unwritten book, however, is that no one knows which direction life will go. Instead, we must take advantage of the present, and not be discouraged by the unknown. The unwritten book is one’s own life; no one but that person can write it. An unwritten book is a book filled with opportunity and change, unknown experiences that will one day make the author who they are.

Though the unwritten book is slightly intimidating, Bedingfield presents the idea in an exciting, optimistic manner – as authors of each of our own books, we may write them however we choose. A difficult past may play a role in the outcome of the book, but we may do as we choose with the present and future – we can turn the book around, create a happy ending.

Jordin Sparks, “One Step At A Time”: Feet of every size, shoes of every style are shown walking through different scenes of this video – feet “taking steps” in different directions. Old-school converses, Birkenstocks boots, Rocketdogs and sleek black oxfords show the variety in individuals in the video, but each is taking their own steps in life. Faith that what is supposed to happen will – taking one step at a time – has proven to be an important aspect of my life. Everyone faces difficult situations; everyone also experiences moments of complete happiness. Living in the past or future does little for fulfilling the present, and to fulfill the present we must simply take one step at a time. Our feet will lead us where we are to go in life; as individuals we need to have confidence in that. Feet can do whatever we want them to – walk through life, run through life, skip, dance, or drag. It is each individual’s decision to choose which path to take, but we must be confident in our paths. In order to be truly content, we mustn’t worry about yesterday or tomorrow. Taking one step at a time, one problem at a time, is vital to happiness and living worry-free. As Sparks states, “it will happen when it is supposed to happen” – whatever that may be.