2013 - My Year in Songs

For a couple weeks I've been trying to decide how best to reflect on 2013 and I keep coming back to the songs that got me through the year. Music is always a huge part of my day. During my hour-long car ride to work I listen to music to get things started on the right track and help me think through whatever is on my mind or what I am trying to plan for the day. As soon as I walk into my classroom my computer gets turned on and Pandora is blaring as loud as I like (the perks of being in the building for a good 60 minutes before anyone else). Every day my kids and I sing 1 or 2 songs during morning meeting, and we often sing other songs throughout the day or have music playing in the background as we work. Of course I end the day the same way it starts. Music to calm me, to keep me awake in traffic, or to help me get out whatever feelings I might need to unload from the day. I often find certain songs become a bit of an anthem or theme song for the things going on in my world, certain lyrics speaking to my situation or bringing me whatever I may need in those moments to process my thoughts and feelings. Music is an integral part of my classroom and my life, so it seemed fitting that I share some of the songs that made frequent appearances in 2013. (Thanks to my Shazam tags I was able to recall the songs I would have otherwise missed and to take a musical journey back through my year. I'm even being brave and keeping a couple of guilty pleasure songs in the list.)

There's a fork in the road in front of me,
At the crossroads of identity.
The Devil is standing to the left.
He says "Either way, they both lead to death."

And the high road's steady and steep,
And the low road's easy and deep.
Guess I'll follow, follow, follow my feet.
Guess I'll follow, follow, follow my feet.

I have a friend who loves humanity,
Braves bullets in war-torn countries.
He traded a life of wealth to help the poor and ill.
He says "If I don't do it, nobody will."

I don't know where,
I don't know where,
Where my path will lead, but I'll follow my feet and 
my beliefs will keep me on the ground and I'll keep walking to the sound

Hello my old heart
How have you been?
How is it being locked away?
Don't you worry, in there you're safe
And it's true, you'll never beat, but you'll never break

Nothing lasts forever
Some things aren't meant to be
But you'll never find the answers till you set your old heart free
Till you set your old heart free

Come on skinny love just last the year
Pour a little salt we were never here
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer

And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind
And in the morning I'll be with you
But it will be a different kind
And I'll be holding all the tickets 
And you'll be owning all the fines

And the walls kept tumbling down

In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

Feeling my way through the darkness

Guided by a beating heart
I can't tell where the journey will end
But I know where it starts

They tell me I'm too young to understand
They say I'm caught up in a dream
Well life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes
Well that's fine by me

So wake me up when it's all over
When I'm wiser and I'm older
All this time I was finding myself
And I didn't know I was lost

I tried carrying the weight of the world
But I only have two hands

  

Well you can tell everyone I'm a down disgrace 

Drag my name all over the place. 
I don't care anymore. 
You can tell everybody 'bout the state I'm in 
You won't catch me crying 'cause I just can't win
I don't care anymore I don't care anymore 

I don't care what you say 
I don't play the same games you play. 

'Cause I've been talking to the people that you call your friends 
And it seems to me there's a means to and end. 
They don't care anymore. 
And as for me I can sit here and bide my time 
I got nothing to lose if I speak my mind. 
I don't care anymore I don't care no more 

I don't care what you say 
We never played by the same rules anyway. 

I won't be there anymore 
Get out of my way 
Let me by 
I got better things to do with my time 
I don't care anymore I don't care anymore 
I don't care anymore I don't care anymore 

'Cause I remember all the times I tried so hard 
And you laughed in my face 'cause you held all the cards
I don't care anymore. 
And I really ain't bothered what you think of me 
'Cause all I want of you is just a let me be. 
I don't care anymore d'you hear? I don't care no more 

But you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go