10. Who You Are - Jessie J
I chose this song because it has such an important message to ladies (and guys) across the world. Her voice is strung with so much passion and hurt I don't know how it couldn't effect someone. "It's okay not to be okay" is something so many of us, including myself, have a hard time accepting. "Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising" is another one of my favorite lines. This song is so empowering in a genuine way. It inspire me to be myself and not to be so hard on myself. We all have hard times, but that doesn't have to mean that we're not wonderful people. Sometimes I feel like people mix up feeling bad with being a bad person. And this song just speaks to me in so many ways. Although it came out in 2010 I am convinced it will speak to me my entire life.
9. Skinny Love - Birdy
This song is simply flawless. Although it is also slightly more modern from 2011 (but first in 2007 by Bon Iver) I believe it is one of those songs I can have on repeat and never stop listening. Her voice is gorgeous and without a single imperfection. She puts so much emotional into her voice it's as if I can see her tears throughout the song. Although the song does not have a message of self worth it has an entirely different meaning most likely about a relationship. But what I love about it, is it's one of those songs you can make your own and it can mean something slightly different to every person. This is why it's rated higher than Jessie J's tune. This song has clever word plays and is almost eery in ways I didn't know possible.
8. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
*Sigh* I believe this is an unforgettable number in a lot of peoples opinions. Again the singers voice just holds so much emotion, enough to make everyone else in the room cry as well. Whether or not they are in a circumstance to sing this song, it MAKES you feel it. And that is a simply beautiful thing. This is why she beat "Skinny Love." You can hear how broken she is, but for the good of the other person she's going to leave. Which is one of the most difficult and beautiful things you can do. Is give up what you want, and what you love for the sake of that something you love. She hits every note with precision and in such a way it paints a flawless picture in your mind of what she's feeling. Only truly talented singers can do that.
7. I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz
Jason Mraz has some wonderful music out there in the pop world. In my opinion, although the rest is great, nothing compares to this masterpiece of music. This particular song was released 2 years ago and it's still going strong in my books. I really enjoy the message this song has to tell. While Whitney Houston's was telling us we need to let what we love go, this is telling us about loyalty. And I think both of these are very important in a relationship. You just have to find a balance. At the beginning Jason let's out a wonderful first verse telling of how wonderful this person he's singing about is. It's breathtaking really and then he goes into the chorus. Let's talk about this for a minute. His chorus states, "I'm giving you all my love, I'm still looking up." Seem pretty mainstream? Yeah, no. Not when you listen to it in context. He's really giving her all of his love with his voice, everything he has he's pouring into her. And he's still looking up. That's so inspiring, he's still being positive through it all, he still see's her beautifully through all their struggles. The song goes on the talk how he will give her space and wait for her. This song is absolutely gorgeous and you have to listen to it to really understand. The lyrics are some of the best ever written and the tune is brilliant. I am in love.
6. Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard
While this song lacks some of Whitney's extreme high notes, it is so valuable in the principle of simplicity. The lyrics are raw, as is his voice. The song was released in 2006 in the movie "Once". This song is absolutely amazing and can calm me down in almost any situation. It's so heart tearing and uplifting at the same time. Which is great when you're upset because it's like it feels your pain but it also makes you happier. "Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice," is one of my favorite lines in the song. It's like a reminder to me all the time that I have a choice, I just have to do something about it. Another simply beautiful lyric is, "You have suffered enough, and warred with yourself, it's time that you won." How can anything top that in making you realize while you're beating yourself up that you're allowed to be okay. It's a little assurance that you have hurt so much, but you can move on. You can get over it. You can win. And throughout the song his voice is so mellow in a terribly calming way. I'm so sure I'll be listening to this song to the day I die.
5. One - U2
This song is a little older, coming out in 1991. Oh my gosh though, such a brilliant song. It's again one of those song that can mean different things to different people. The lyrics though are so raw and not candy coated in the least. You just feel his pain and understand it. He's not covering anything up, he leaves himself vulnerable. I couldn't really tell you a personal favorite line because it all has to go together to string into each of the next lines to make a beautiful ballad. Again this is one of my lie-on-the-floor-and-cry songs. Because when you hear it you only know pain and struggle. You understand his point of view and you can relate to at least one line in the song at any point in your life. It's hard to describe this song because again the meaning can be different to every single person. So go ahead and take a listen and you'll (hopefully) understand what I mean when I say this song could be listened to a hundred times and be not fully understood, so you'd have to play it even more times. And simply learn to enjoy it's word plays.
4. Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Where to begin with this song. First I'd like to say it came out in 1998, so it's been around for a while now. I'm still not quite sure as to why it's called Iris as the name is never mentioned in the song but I suppose it doesn't have to be, it's just about a girl named Iris. Anyways that's not important. What is important is the immense amount of LOVE in this song. Not pain like the other but the way he is absolutely taken with this girl. So much so he claims he'd "give up forever to touch [her]) and that she's "the closest to heaven that [he'll] ever be". I mean that is a pretty bold statement by the guy but I can assure you that feeling is very real. I feel it all the time. When there's just that person that you would do absolutely anything for and they're so perfect in your eyes. The other part of this song that makes in number four as opposed to five, six, seven etc. is that in the chorus he says some pretty deep things like, "I don't want the world to see me, because I don't think that they'd understand." which I for one think is so true to many different people. They don't want to show anyone what they've done or how they feel because they don't think they'll understand them. The other thing he says is "When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am" how beautiful. It's so true in this world that everything in this world is meant to be destroyed and hurt. But through it all his only wish is that she knew him. When that person gets to know you the world becomes brighter and more important and precious and that's what he wants I think. That's my interpretation. Perfect song.
3. Drops of Jupiter - Train
This is a song from 2001, so actually 13 years old. I must confess though I didn't know about it until about a year or 2 maybe 3 ago. When I first saw it I was searching through youtube and the title was simply stunning so I decided to take a listen. Oh my gosh, I was blown away. Not only was the piano part really nice but the words! The words are the most perfect thing ever! They're so exquisite and can be heard by 300 different people and not mean the same thing at all. Although I believe this song was written for his mother who passed (so cute) it can really be describing whatever you want it to be. I myself have heard the song in many different ways. "She acts like summer and walks like rain" how cool is that? Although to some people it might not make sense, to me it makes perfect sense. This song you can't just hear. You have to really listen to it for what it is. However if you think too hard you'll overthink it and wreck it, if you're unwilling to think at all it'll frustrate you. So stop trying and just open your ears and mind, be blank. Let it mean what it wants to for you, you don't need to know what he was thinking when he wrote it. The words will take you to places you didn't know existed. Try it.
2. Chasing Cars -Snow Patrol
While Drop of Jupiter is astonishingly well written, this song is as well. However the two are nearly opposites. Where Drops is complicated, this is simple. Where Drops was longing, this is simply stated. Not to say that this is so much better, I clearly love Train, in my opinion simplicity is something that no amount of exquisiteness can win out. This guys voice is perfect to start off with but the lyrics... well actually if you write them out on paper, they're not as good as Drops of Jupiter. But when you hear Snow Patrol sing this song it is as if time has literally stopped. You just want to think everything you've ever done through again and look deeper into every decision you've made even though the lyrics are so simple. You suddenly realize that life is a beautiful thing and it is the little moment that count. The song begins with a song "We'll do it all... everything... on our own". It doesn't appear to be much but the way he portrays these lyrics puts a whole other spin on it. Clearly this man is so deeply in love all he wants to do is lie with this girl and forget everything else. He doesn't care about anyone else in his world. His whole life is consumed by this one perfect being and that's all he sees. But he doesn't complicate her, no. He takes her in simply. He knows he loves her, and is content to just peacefully BE with her. He doesn't need anything more. And that is so beautiful, I can't think of anything more stunning.
1. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
I believe that video is live, I haven't actually watched it so hopefully it's alright. That being said, this song is the oldest of them all, coming out in 1987. To this day, I have yet to find a song that is this powerful. When I hear it, it puts all the other songs to shame, don't get me wrong the other songs are great but this... this is the ultimate. The song begins of him telling of all the things he's done to be with 'you' but he still hasn't found what he's looking for. How true is this on so many levels? When you try so hard to get something and you think that once you have it, you will be complete. Then when you have to you feel an emptiness. The lyrics are ones that I believe everybody feels, and it's the mystery of life. Why are we never fully pleased? Why can't we just be content? It's like we spend our entire time searching. We're just searching for SOMETHING that will ease our pain, calm our fears and soothe our souls but we can't find it. And this song represents all of that. This song recognizes the pain we all feel so often and the hole inside of us that no thing we can find will fill. I don't know if we'll ever know what it is. But this song is pretty damn close to filling that hole quite honestly. It's like recognizing that empty spot and singing about it, fills it just a little bit. And this song is the most beautiful thing, honestly. It makes me want to cry because no other single person has voiced this hurt in this way and this song will stay with me forever and ever. It will continue to comfort me in my darkest nights until the day I die. Because in it, I find peace.
OKAY SO I HAVE A PROBLEM. SERIOUSLY. I was so content with my choices and then I realized I missed one of my favorites. So I'm just going to do a little write up here about it. The song would be placed probably 3rd or 4th. Here you go:
Fix You - Coldplay
This song was released in 2005 by a very talented band. This is a beautiful song with so many lovely words. There are too many phrases I absolutey adore to quote them all. But just for a few, "And the tears come streaming down your face, when you lose something you can't replace." how awful is that? Isn't that one of the worst kinds of pain, and this doesn't even necessarily refer to a boy, because while a boy can't really be replaced he can be painted over. This in my mind refers to something deeper. I could mean anything from your happiness to your virginity (which obviously isn't always a bad thing but it can be). And you know that nothing you can do will ever undo what has happened. You know that there is no going back and you will never be what you used to be. Is there anything more hopeless in this terrible world? "If you never try, you'll never know just what you're worth" this is too true. This follows a line about being too in love to let it go, well maybe sometimes you have to. Not always but sometimes you've got to do something just for you. You have to branch off and find self worth and happiness and understand your boundaries and just how much you can or can't do before you can settle down. You have to try things. If you don't try it will drive you crazy. It will drive you nuts not knowing how far you could have gone. And of course the last line of the chorus and the song "And I will try to fix you." .................. that always needs a moment of silence after it. His voice is so gentle and genuine I am in awe of it. I have no words for this because you just have to hear it. Hear it and you just understand why it is so beautiful and heart breaking. I will try to fix you.
Songs That Almost Made the Cut: Without You - David Guetta, Heaven - Bryan Adams, Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton, I Dreamed A Dream - Les Miserables, Impossible - Shontelle, Breathe (2am) - Anna Nalick, The Scientist - Coldplay.
U2 is the best :D
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