Bridge – Queensrÿche

Album – Promised Land

Release year – 1994

Writer – Christopher Degarmo

You called me up on the phone today

Struggling with the right words to say.

Time can change a thing or two.

Time has changed the lives of me and you,

But you know it could have been different dad.

This verse first made me think of how I’ve wanted my biological father to contact me, to search me out. At the time of this song’s release I hadn’t spoken with or seen my bio dad since I was a toddler.

The word brings back a sweet memory.

I’m sitting on a bluff on a broken tree,

By my side a distinguished man

Giving me encouragement, telling me I can,

And you know you’re not there.

This here made me wish that he had found me so I could tell him that his lack of care had replaced him in my life with one of the greatest men anyone could call dad.

You say, “Son, let’s forget the past,

I want another chance, gonna make it last.”

You’re begging me for a brand new start,

Trying to mend a bridge that’s been blown apart,

But you know you never built it dad.

This now makes me remember how I reached out to him, how we went out to lunch, and I thought everything was going great. Exchanged an email or two, got a Christmas card… but once I told him I was pagan, he was gone again. Rejected not once but twice.

So I sit here through the night,

And I write myself to sleep,

And time keeps ticking

Time has made you finally realize

Your loneliness and your guilt inside.

You’re reaching for something you never had,

Turning around now you’re looking back,

And you know I’m not there.

You say, “Son, let’s forget the past.

I want another chance, gonna make it last.”

You’re begging me for a brand new start,

Trying to mend a bridge that’s been blown apart,

But you know you never built it dad.

I hope that some day he truly feels guilty for what he’s done. How does someone seriously walk away from their flesh and blood like that? I’ve cried too many tears when I think about what he’s done to me, even as I type this out.

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Thank you to Geoff Tate and Chris Degarmo, this song… its lyrics, really helped me when I was younger.

“Hold On” – Wilson Phillips

Hold on

Written by Carnie Wilson, Chynna Phillips, and Glen Ballard

Performed by Wilson Phillips

I know there’s pain

Why do you lock yourself up in these chains?

No one can change your life except for you

Don’t ever let anyone step all over you

Just open your heart and your mind

Is it really fair to feel this way inside?

Chorus:

Some day somebody’s gonna make you want to

Turn around and say goodbye

Until then baby are you going to let them

Hold you down and make you cry

Don’t you know?

Don’t you know things can change

Things’ll go your way

If you hold on for one more day

Can you hold on for one more day

Things’ll go your way

Hold on for one more day

You could sustain

Or are you comfortable with the pain?

You’ve got no one to blame for your unhappiness

You got yourself into your own mess

Lettin’ your worries pass you by

Don’t you think it’s worth your time

To change your mind?

Chorus:

I know that there is pain

But you hold on for one more day and

Break free the chains

Yeah I know that there is pain

But you hold on for one more day and you

Break free, break from the chains

Some day somebody’s gonna make you want to

Turn around and say goodbye

Until then baby are you going to let them

Hold you down and make you cry

Don’t you know?

Don’t you know things can change

Things’ll go your way

If you hold on for one more day yeah

If you hold on

Don’t you know things can change

Things’ll go your way

If you hold on for one more day

If you hold on

Can you hold on

Hold on baby

Won’t you tell me now

Hold on for one more day ’cause

It’s gonna go your way

Don’t you know things can change

Things’ll go your way

If you hold on for one more day

Can’t you change it this time

Make up your mind

Hold on

Hold on

Baby hold on

I used to feel that this song was about sticking with a relationship (when I was a kid).

As I got older, and interpreted it as not committing suicide.

I still feel that this song is supposed to be about not killing yourself, however the second verse is very counterproductive to that goal.

It’s suggesting that the depressed person is at fault for being depressed.

“You’ve got no one to blame for your unhappiness

You got yourself into your own mess”

It actually makes me a bit angry that they thought this verse was helpful to the message.

You’re picked on and bullied, told you’re dumb, ugly, and worthless and hearing it from most people around you for most of your life makes you believe that.

I don’t see this as the victims fault.

Is it the fault of the kidnapped person who develops Stockholm Syndrome?

Is it the fault of the young girl who was date raped and told that she asked for it because of the way she dressed?

No. There is not a single reason why anyone should fault a true victim.

Being bullied is very much like brain washing.

Think of the episode of ST TNG when Picard is taken and his captors are trying to break his mind to get him to say there are 3 lights instead of 4.

I’m in a stage of my therapy where I am trying to reverse that brainwashing.

I am not worthless

I am not ugly

I am not stupid

Saying it doesn’t necessarily mean I believe it yet, but if I tell myself often enough, I’ll negate the original brainwashing and learn to like and maybe love myself.

Spotify:

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What is this thing?

I am an audiophile, more specifically, a lyrics junky.

I have very eclectic tastes in music… if I can’t understand what’s being sung, I don’t bother. This means I don’t listen to death metal, screamo, rap, or opera (because most of it isn’t in English).

I like songs with the kind of lyrics that speak to ME personally, but that’s not all I listen to. I also like nonsensical lyrics with a great beat.

This journals purpose will be a look at lyrics that truly talk to me.

Each post will be about one song, and I will provide links to the song on YouTube and Spotify when applicable. The name of the song, artist name, and writer will be listed along with the lyrics. There will be notations of how this song has reached me on a personal and emotional level.

Hopefully some of you will take the time to read my posts, even though the point of a journal is personal and not really for public consumption. I really like this idea of sharing the music that I love and why I love it so much.