"Yeah, Cause It's The Story Of My Life..."-Soundtrack To Your Life W/O Feb 17 '02 (Updated Mar 21 '03)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1 by The Prodigy From $11 Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 The Bottom Line Sorry for the insane length. When cletta1201 mentioned a "soundtrack to your life" write off to me, I loved the idea (even if I'm pretty sure someone did it a while ago here), and agreed to participate. Soon, before I knew it, I was the co-host. The title should be pretty self explanatory but for those who don't get it, the idea is to create a soundtrack to your life, the ups and downs, and the ins and outs. A complete list of participants is at the bottom. I'm submitting early because of school work. Most of the other entries should be submitted tomorrow. Chapter 1: The Early Years, aka Little Matty, where our protagonist, The Matty, finds his place in the musical world. Bon Jovi, Livin on a Prayer: Slippery When Wet was the first tape I ever had, a Christmas present from my aunt when I was 5. I was completely oblivious as to who Bon Jovi was, but after listening to the tape, I knew I was addicted to rock and roll music. Livin on a Prayer was a song that I just absolutely loved (I loved that whole album really), and it wasn't long before Little Matty was grooving to Poison, KISS, and even Warrant. But nothing replaced Bon Jovi for a long time, not until about late 92 or 93, and I'm sure you know who I mean. U2, With or Without You and Where The Streets Have No Name: It's funny, but back when I was little I hated U2. I despised With or Without You, because every time I turned on MTV, there it was, it was like it never left the air. And then there was Streets; I liked the song, but I thought the video was retarded. I guess you could say I've progressed. Motley Crue, Dr.Feelgood: I was given weird looks for liking this back in 4th grade, but whatever. Everyone else was listening to New Kids on the Block. I just remember being 8 or 9 years old and literally just thinking this was the greatest tune ever written, banging my head and putting the devil's horns up in the air....ahhhhh to be young again. Twisted Sister, We're Not Gonna Take It: My punk rebellion kicked in at age 4 when I first saw the video for this song. To this day, it's my all time favorite video, and I still love the song. I dreamed of doing that stuff to my older brothers, making them Wile E Coyote in my own Road Runner cartoons. My brothers beat the hell out of me when I was little, physically and emotionally. I still don't think I've truly recovered. Chapter 2:The Early Teenage Matty aka The Depressed Matty, Where our protagonist delves into a world of darkness and depression, seeking to find a light, any light. Pearl Jam, Release: When Pearl Jam came onto the music scene in 1992, my favorite band was Bon Jovi and I had just bought the new Ugly Kid Joe record. Yeah, sad I know. I was in middle school, which were 2 of the 3 worst years of my life (freshman year of high school being the other), and I heard this song for the first time. I hated myself, I had no friends, and a girlfriend who said she would be by my side but yet I somehow knew better. My best friend of over 10 years had turned on me, suddenly and violently. Even worse, he lived just up the street and around the corner from me, a thirty second walk. He made sure to make my life a living hell. I was very much suicidal, I hated life, and just hearing the words "I'll hold the pain, release me" hit something deep inside my soul, to this day I couldn't even begin to describe it. My own interpretation of the song was so far away from what it was actually about and yet that song made me feel better. There was one night where I sat on my bed with a blade up against my wrist while I listened to that song until 4am, until I finally went to sleep. I'm still not sure I'd be alive today without that song. U2, Mysterious Ways: As a freshman in high school, I was still deeply depressed. My girlfriend mentioned above broke up with me and I was all alone, vulnerable. These two girls named Julie and Jackie started playing with my head. They flirted with me, called me cute, told me how much they both wanted me. I was such a f*cking idiot, but more than anything else I wanted friends, so I believed them, every word they said. They took my dignity and my pride and tossed it aside for their own fun. Mysterious Ways more than anything reminds me of the way they used to sway their hips to catch my attention. Green Day, Basket Case: If there's a song that describes exactly what was going on in my head from the time I was 13 til I was 15, this is it. Silverchair, FindAway: Silverchair's debut was large and loud, a decent album, especially considering they were 15 when they recorded it. Most people know about Tomorrow and Isreal's Son, but not many people know about the closing track, Findaway. It's punkish, popish, and I love it. "Don't give in, don't give in, we'll findaway", I don't know. It was kind of my hope anthem at the time. The Toadies, Possum Kingdom: At the end of ninth grade, I fell into friendships with some other guys, a couple of which I had known for years and years. Interestingly enough, one of them had been my biggest tormenter when I was younger. To this day, I consider him the most loyal of all my friends. Anyways, we started to get heavily into alcohol (they were worse than I ever was, they eventually got into heavier drugs), and night after night was spent with this song just on repeat while we drank beer and ate pizza and goofed off. Ironically, I wasn't very happy at this point because drinking never was my thing. But I went with it because it gave me a sense of belonging. Live, Lightning Crashes, UNPLUGGED Version: I always liked the song Lightning Crashes. It was the first song that more than anything gave me a sense of hope. Unlike Release, the song was instrumental in me gaining some self confidence back, while Release just made me feel better about things as they were. This is when I began to get into music that was a bit more fun and poppy. Sure, I still loved Pearl Jam and everything, but I wanted to be able to smile again, after not smiling enough for way too long. Chapter 3: The Hopeful and Happy Matty, Where our protagonist finds new friends, new music, and a new hope. The Who, Quadrophenia, but especially Sea and Sand: For those of you who haven't read my Quad review I'll keep it short: this is the definitive "lost" teenage record. Sea and Sand just kind of represented the place that I loved: Ogunquit Maine, and my desire to get back there and my hurt that I couldn't because I didn't have a license. This whole album reminded me of how much I love Ogunquit, the serenity of that town, the peacefulness, the quiet beauty. It also resonated with me in a deep emotional sense, and it gave me another sense of belonging, that maybe I wasn't so weird after all. Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Numbered Days: I had been a rabid Bosstone fan since 1992, but there seemed to be something missing in my connection with them. They were really the only "fun" band I listened to for a long time, and when Let's Face It came out in 1997, it went platinum. I thought the album sucked except for 4 or 5 songs. This one being numero uno. This was the ode to school bullies I never had in school, a giant "F*CK YOU" to those who get their jollies intimidating others. "Violence, when will they learn, time's running out and the tables will turn, the days have been numbered and your number's coming up." I still shout out the words to this song whenever I put it on, it makes me feel good. Pearl Jam, Given to Fly: I don't know if I've ever heard a song swell to the heights that this one does. This song makes you feel like you're flying, and the lyrics are somewhat combative ("f*ckers, he still stands"). It's just a big soaring anthem, and if a video had ever been made for it, it would've been their biggest hit to date. There might be no other song that makes my spirit soar like this one. This was a huge influence on me in 1998, it basically became my theme song whenever I was depressed. Reel Big Fish, Beer: The summer of 1998 consisted of me and my 3 best friends celebrating the end of high school, and no album was the soundtrack to that summer more than Turn the Radio Off by RBF. Beer became our anthem. "Dude, (insert name here), is depressed, turn on "Beer." Within seconds of those opening chords, everyone was on the same page again. No matter what we did, this CD was with us, and to this day, I still smile when I listen to it. Creed, What's This Life For: This may shock some of you, but I used to love Creed. I still love their first album. I just don't feel they've grown at all really from it. Anyways, What's This Life For is an amazing song, and the line "you see my wrist, I know your pain" has always resonated with me, especially given the fact that at one point, you could see my wrist and know my pain. Limp Bizkit, Counterfeit: I hate LB now, but back in 98, they were the best thing around for a while. Counterfeit summed up perfectly how I felt about people in high school, how fake everyone was, and I guess it kind of tapped into my emotions about Jackie and Julie as well. Godsmack, Whatever: Being from Boston, we were in the heart of Godsmack breaking out all over the place. All during 1998 we heard this song on the radio and me and my friend John hated it. We used to keep it on, just to sing along to the ridiculous lyrics and Sully's unbelievably stupid voice: I'm doin the best I ever did, I'm doin the best that I can, I'm doin the best I ever did, now (in fully retarded voice), GO AWAY! Chapter Four, The Matty Gets Shot Down Again, Where Our Protagonist Gets His Heart Broken Yet Again Goo Goo Dolls, Iris: In the spring and summer of 1998, I started to get seriously into hardcore music. Through this scene, I met a girl named Amy. We talked for hours online and on the phone, not believing the other was real. Finally, I drove out to her place (about 30 mins west of me) and we went out. All night long, she seemed cold, distant. I knew something was wrong. She didn't even hug me when she got out of my car. The next morning, she broke up with me. She then proceded to not talk to me for over a year. It turns out she was on drugs (like heavy ones) and was strung out the night she was with me. Eventually I got closure on the relationship. The depression I fell into was deep and long reaching. Iris was the big "ballad" of the moment, and the line "I just want you to know who I am" summed up everything I felt about what happened with Amy: I could deal with not being lovers, I just wanted her to accept me as a friend, to get to know me better, "know who I am" and talk to me. Chapter Five, The Mattyshank Redemption, Where Our Protagonist Battles His Past In Order To Live For the Future: Less Than Jake, We're All Dudes, and Smashmouth, All Star: Nothing represented the summer of 1999 better than these two songs. They were both fun in the sun catchy numbers, and all summer me and my friend Rich drove around, listening to a tape that started with these two songs. It was a bada*s mix tape of punk and ska that was just plain FUN. Pearl Jam, Present Tense: Whenever I feel myself getting depressed due to things that have happened in my past, I tend to turn to this song, with the refrain of "You can live your life alone, redigesting past regrets, or you can, come to terms, and realize, you're the only one...it makes much more sense to live, in the present tense." The Black Crowes, My Morning Song: This song just makes me FEEL every note, every word, it's completely soulful and gorgeous. It rocks and it rolls, and it makes me sway my head and be happy and free, it makes my soul sing and my heart feel liberated. If music got to free your mind Just let it go cause you never know, you never know If your rhythm ever falls out of time You can bring it to me and I will make it alright And if your soul is let go Oh you never know, no you never know And if your heart is beating free For the very first time it'll be alright The Beatles, Here Comes the Sun: I had never heard this song until just after George Harrison died back in the fall. Surprising, probably, but I'm not a HUGE Beatles fan. When I heard this song, it just made me smile, I thought it was a gorgeous ode to the beauty of a new day. And that's what I'm trying to make my life: a beautiful new day. The other participants:cletta1201, paulyoungotti, madtheory, Freak369, Aerocat, lambchops, kris-kochanski, saxguy, tigger500, Monnie1976, DavidK93, Arazim, DVON, jeff_wilder78, Lyrikal_BJ, roheblius, BigC55555, EZ013182, kcfoxy, Stairway2drew, xiphoid, lattechick, kuuleimomi, and elsa70

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