A Musical Explanation of My Life

Earlier in class, we learned a little bit about one another by offering personal information such as our favorite musical group, favorite color, and facts about our lives.  While that worked as a nice springboard, I feel as though this blog posting -- along with the many more to come -- will provide even more insight into our various backgrounds, lifestyles and/or morals.  I tend to be more introverted, and because of that I am not usually one to readily share personal stories or information about my life.  However, I will attempt to do that in a manner that many people connect to one another -- through music.

Being from a big city gave me quite a few options when deciding a song to describe where I grew up.  There's "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)" by Frank Sinatra, "Sweet Home Chicago", or something like "Chi-City" by Common.  However, these still seemed to vague and not the most indicative of where I live in the city.  So, instead of immediately thinking of a general song about Chicago, I chose the song "South Side Irish".

Despite a one year hiatus, the South Side Irish parade has occurred basically in my backyard for as long as I can remember.  The parade is widely known as the largest St. Patrick's Day celebration outside of Dublin and is considered a holiday in its own right in the Beverly area of Chicago, where I reside.  Each "Parade Day" (the Sunday before or on St. Patrick's Day), this song is played, at minimum, 500 times.  I consider "South Side Irish" to be the "It's a Small World" of my neighborhood.  While it can be extremely repetitive and annoying, I love it nonetheless.  Beverly has a storied culture of predominantly Irish-Catholic residents, and many references in the song apply to my life.  For example, the song references many Catholic parishes from the South Side, as seen below: 

"We come from Sabina, St. Kilian's and St. Gall

St. Leo, Visitation, Little Flower and the rest.

The South Side parishes are mighty-they're the best!"

Everyone from my neighborhood refers to exactly where they live based on what parish they are from.  I've gone to Catholic school my entire life, so attending a public university will definitely be somewhat of a change for me.  However, it will be a change that I will welcome with an open mind.

Additionally, I have chosen the song below as a representation of my favorite musical group and also for my understanding of the beautiful lyrics.  The Beatles are, arguably, the most influential band on pop culture that has managed to withstand the times and still remain supremely relevant.  These days, music on the radio comes and goes; however The Beatles have not only maintained popularity for the past 50 years or so but simultaneously served as inspiration for many musicians. 

The first few lines of the song reference a "Mother Mary".  This can either be interpreted in a religious manner or simply as a maternal figure in a person's life.  Although I am not deeply religious, I lead a faith-based life and truly believe that when a person is in need, spiritual guidance can work wonders.  Whenever I seek guidance I call on not only religious figures, but also important people in my life, such as my parents, cousins and friends.  The meaning of the phrase "Let It Be" is usually what my mentors articulate to me whenever I go to them for something.  I interpret the title of the song as a means of telling a person to relax and  to simply have faith that what will happen will be right for the situation at hand.  I could analyze this song all day because I love it so much, but essentially for me it serves as a good reminder to not fret over the small things in life and to stop and appreciate what I have been given.  

I first heard this next song about 5 months ago and it has greatly resonated with me since that time.  I am usually not a fan of country music, but "God Gave Me You" by Blake Shelton holds a great amount of meaning in my life.

In March of this past year, I attended a  4 day retreat with my school called Kairos.  The main purpose of the retreat is to allow people to understand that everyone has their own life story and to never prejudge someone because you have no idea what he/she may be going through.  Without getting into too many details, each retreat included 40 girls, five student leaders and five teacher leaders.  My best friend was on of the student leaders for my retreat and she chose this song as her "Kairos song", which is simply a song played before a speech that each leader gave about their life experiences.  This song was so immediately powerful that, to this day, I remember exactly what I was wearing, who I was sitting near and how I felt when I first heard it.  It is difficult to define in words, but  my experience on Kairos was immensely shaped through the music that each leader chose.  Whenever I hear a song from my Kairos playlist on the radio or my iPod, my memories from my experience flood my mind.

Furthermore, Mumford & Sons is another one of my favorite artists that plays very expressive and powerful music, with outstanding lyrics and stirring musical accompaniment.  I love just about every song that they produce, but  the song "Roll Away Your Stone"  holds great significance to me as I enter a new stage in my life.

The very first few lines of the song encourage, "Roll away your stone, I'll roll away mine/Together we can see what we will find".  I take these lyrics to heart.  If we all remove any fake or misleading facades, we can learn to appreciate one another for who we truly are.  I consider this to be an important moral value of my life- to always search for the truth and try to show others my true self.  Although difficult at times to either reinvent one's self or allow one's true persona to shine, as I begin a new chapter I hope to find the person I really am.  Everyone wishes to "fit in" and categorize themselves in a system, but I believe no one should force themselves into a mold that does not accomodate their personality.  As I mature and develop into a more well rounded and intellectual person, I am beginning to see how imperative it is to find my niche and not worry whether it is the social norm.  By no means would I categorize myself as "rebellious" or something similar to that, but at the same time I do not change the foundational aspects of myself to please another person or group.

This last song that I chose describes me just through its title alone.  Many people have deemed this to be my "theme song" and, interestingly enough, it has almost nothing to do with the lyrics.

"Free Fallin" has been long regarded as a love song infused with many references to an area in California, such as places like "Ventura Boulevard" and "Reseda".  However, the love song and geographical references are not the reasons my friends and family have said this is a song that describes my life.  Because of my extreme clumsiness (I'm convinced it is a medical issue) my loved ones laugh whenever they heard the song "Free Fallin" come on the radio.  The people in my life identify me with this song so intensely that they immediately call or text me whenever they hear it and simply say, "Lauren, I'm listening to your theme song".  I find it to be pretty humorous and also interesting that a piece of music can mean so many different things to different people.  For many, this song may be considered a "break up song" or a nostalgic song- but for me, it simply relates to my clumsiness and likelihood to fall over thin air.  This example demonstrates the versatility of a song, which is what makes certain songs so popular for so long.