"ALL I WANT" TOAD THE WET SPROCKET (1991)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 14

As I continue to highlight some of my favorite song lyrics this month, I feel inevitably drawn to songs that I often sing along to. Because they just might be the songs with the most powerful lyrics. In 1991, Toad The Wet Sprocket released Fear, an album where I wasn’t just a listener. I was invited in as a participant. The lyrics of “All I Want” are invigorating and liberating with every syllable from the first verse to the end chorus.

“Nothing's so loud as hearing when we lie. The truth is not kind. And you've said neither am I. But the air outside so soft is saying everything. Everything.”

"LOST CAUSE" BECK (2002)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 13

Sad, introspective songs aren’t usually the kind of songs that make you want to sing along. But that’s not the case for me with “Lost Cause” and many of the tracks on Sea Change. It’s easy to sing along to Beck’s personal and melancholy lyrics with these stripped-down, melodic songs. “Lost Cause” feels like a ride on a never-ending carousel. There’s a monotonous rhythm to the song that’s the perfect musical bed for some of Beck’s most personal songs.

“Your sorry eyes cut through the bone. They make it hard to leave you alone. Leave you here wearing your wounds. Waving your guns at somebody new.”

"ALIVE AND KICKING" SIMPLE MINDS (1985)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 12

This is one of the most uplifting songs of the era and one of my favorite Simple Minds anthems. It came on the heels of “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”, but this one was actually written by Kerr and his bandmates. There are quite a few gems on the entire Once Upon A Time album, including “All The Things She Said” and “Sanctify Yourself”, but this is the one that has had the most staying power. The height of the lyrics lies in the soulful transition between the verses and the chorus.

“What you gonna do when things go wrong? What you gonna do when it all cracks up? What you gonna do when the love burns down? What you gonna do when the flames go up? Who is gonna come and turn the tide? What's it gonna take to make a dream survive? Who's got the touch to calm the storm inside? Who's gonna save you?

"MOTHER" PINK FLOYD (1979)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 11

Of all the great Pink Floyd songs out there – and there are a lot – this is the one whose lyrics never fail to escape me. It had one-liners that had me in stitches, and it had some of The Wall’s most endearing moments. In 9th grade, I must’ve listened to The Wall and watched the movie a hundred times. I didn’t fully understand what the wall was, but the music was helping me to break down my own walls. “Mother” begins with a deep breath before settling in to a series of unforgettable questions and assurances.

“Mother should I build the wall? Mother should I run for President? Mother should I trust the government? Mother will they put me in the firing mine? Ooh ah, Is it just a waste of time?”

"TENUOUSNESS" ANDREW BIRD (2008)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 10

The whistling. The string instruments. The wit. There are many aspects to Andrew Bird’s music that draw me to the music, including his way with words. They can be complex and hard to decipher at times. Many of his songs include long, complicated words, like a modern-day “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. I rarely can repeat the words back, but my ears are glued every single time. “Tenuousness” is one of those classics where Bird started to really play with the sounds and flow of words, not just their meanings.

“From proto-Sanskrit Minoans to Porto-centric Lisboans. Greek Cypriots and harbor sorts who hang around in ports a lot, uh huh.”

"SPACE ODDITY" DAVID BOWIE (1969)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 9

It’s right up there with the most memorable rock & roll lyrics of all time. The thing that made it stand out was that the lyrics themselves defied the established norms of rock lyrics. “Space Oddity” was brilliant because it wasn’t merely a song, it was a story whose words made us imagine Major Tom floating in space. We could actually picture it. “Space Oddity” was more like a novel or movie than a rock song.

“Take your protein pills and put your helmet on. Ground Control to Major Tom (ten, nine, eight, seven, six). Commencing countdown, engines on (five, four, three). Check ignition and may God's love be with you (two, one, liftoff).”

"MR. BRIGHTSIDE" THE KILLERS (2004)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 8

When Hot Fuss came out in 2004, I felt like I was reliving the glory of 80’s new wave all over again. I was back in heaven with those shimmery synth riffs. And Brandon Flowers’ lyrics made for anecdotes that you could really sing along to. Everyone knows the opening guitar chords to the song, but once Flowers starts singing, that’s where the magic happens. Because we join in and sing along, too.

“Jealousy, turning saints into the sea. Swimming through sick lullabies. Choking on your alibis. But it's just the price I pay. Destiny is calling me. Open up my eager eyes cause I'm Mr Brightside.”

"TIME HAS TOLD ME" NICK DRAKE (1969)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 7

For me, at least, the late blooming career of Nick Drake feels more like discovering hidden treasure on a long voyage than wondering and regretting while we didn’t reach shore earlier. His three-album catalog is a gift full of minor key melodies and wise-beyond-his-years lyrics – delivered in his rich, oaky baritone. “Time Has Told Me” is written like it came from an older, reflective man, but Nick was in his twenties when he penned it. They are words that remind us to never stop being content in the right relationship.

“Your tears they tell me there's really no way of ending your troubles with things you can say.

And time will tell you to stay by my side to keep on trying 'til there's no more to hide.”

"HEAVY METAL DRUMMER" WILCO (2002)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 6

That innocent, nostalgic and irresistible look back at a summer. Love. Music. And KISS covers. Lots and lots of KISS covers. What’s not to like? “Heavy Metal Drummer” is one of the more accessible tracks off the legendary Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but that’s not to diminish any of its merits. The lyrics, in particular, are superb. A story that puts you there on the boardwalk under the hot, scorching sun. I can picture it and I feel like I vicariously experienced it.

“Shiny, shiny pants and bleach-blond hair. A double kick drum by the river in the summer. She fell in love with the drummer. Another and another. She fell in love.”

"SYNCHRONICITY II" THE POLICE (1983)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 5

As a member of The Police, Sting was many things. A captivating frontman. An underrated bassist. And a sharp, witty lyricist. His lyrics were like poetry one moment, prose in another. The words he used in “Synchronicity II” are some of the most memorable lyrics in rock history. They have the power to make you laugh just as they’re able to keep you settled in awe.

“The secretaries pout and preen like cheap tarts in a red light street. But all he ever thinks to do is watch. But every single meeting with his so-called superior is a humiliating kick in the crotch.”

"CEMETRY GATES" THE SMITHS (1986)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 4

The Queen is Dead is one of my favorite albums of all time. The remarkable sequencing of the songs took me on a journey that I didn’t want to end. The songwriting was superb – featuring some of the best instrumentation from Marr, Joyce and Rourke – and, of course, the brilliant lyrics of Morrissey. There are so many great lines in every song, including the brilliant ode to literary greats and slam on plagiarism on “Cemetry Gates”.

“A dreaded sunny day. So let's go where we're wanted, and I meet you at the cemetry gates. Keats and Yeats are on your side. But you lose 'cause Wilde is on mine.”

"GOOD RIDDANCE (TIME OF YOUR LIFE)" GREEN DAY (1997)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 3

Billy Joe Armstrong doesn’t get the songwriting credit he deserves. I believe many music fans have written them off, mainly based off their simplistic punk-oriented instrumentation. But he’s written two rock opera albums as well as this ballad classic, demonstrating a knack for stringing the right words together.

“So take the photographs and still-frames in your mind. Hang it on a shelf and good health and good time.

Tattoo's of memories and dead skin on trial, go. For what it's worth it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life.”

"HURT" NINE INCH NAILS (1994)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 2

Trent Reznor wrote from a place of anguish and isolation. The words are, above all things, real and raw. The lyrics are so powerful, they even took on a different meaning when Johnny Cash famously covered the song, proving that “Hurt” is not just Reznor’s personal memoir, it’s a song that you can make your own.

“I hurt myself today. To see if I still feel. I focus on the pain. The only thing that's real.

The needle tears a hole. The old familiar sting. Try to kill it all away. But I remember everything.”

"SUMMER, HIGHLAND FALLS" BILLY JOEL (1976)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 1

Words worthy of sentimental yearbook write-ups and tearjerker slideshows. Turnstiles is my favorite Billy Joel album – and “Summer, Highland Falls” is one of the standouts from a lyrical and piano playing perspective.

“They say that these are not the best of times But they're the only times I've ever known. And I believe there is a time for meditation in cathedrals of our own.

Now I have seen that sad surrender in my lover's eyes And I can only stand apart and sympathize For we are always what our situations hand us It's either sadness or euphoria.”

"RUNNING UP THAT HILL" KATE BUSH (1985)

One of the most powerful things about music is that it is the soundtrack of our lives. Fellow music fanatic Sharon Hepworth started a music challenge on Twitter for the month of July. Each day, fans around the world will select a song from their life and describe what it means to us. These are my songs. #SoundtrackToYourLife

Day 31

I have to end with this song. The 80’s are the most meaningful era for me musically. It was the decade that I first fell in love with music. And many of the bands from that era are just as relevant to me today as they were back then. It’s my decade. And so there’s no better song to capture what the decade has meant to me than one of my favorite Kate Bush anthems: “Running Up That Hill”, a song that has experienced a resurgence through its appearance on Stranger Things. Because, for me, the 80’s are always ripe for a resurgence in my life.

There’s a delicate beauty to much of Kate Bush’s catalog. But “Running Up That Hill” showed a brasher, more assertive side. On one level, we can simply enjoy the song’s most memorable elements like its echoey drum roll, its unusual synth hook off a Fairlight CMI and Bush’s powerful lyrics and vocals. On another level, the song’s impact on the future of music is something to behold. It’s because of Kate Bush songs like “Running Up That Hill” that we have artists like Tori Amos, St. Vincent, Bjork, Florence and countless others.

“Let me steal this moment from you now.”

"SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW" KEANE (2004)

One of the most powerful things about music is that it is the soundtrack of our lives. Fellow music fanatic Sharon Hepworth started a music challenge on Twitter for the month of July. Each day, fans around the world will select a song from their life and describe what it means to us. These are my songs. #SoundtrackToYourLife

Day 30

Hopes and Fears brings me back. A group of friends and I instantly loved this album when it first came out. We heard nothing else like it before. It was a piano-driven form of alternative rock that ascended into ecstasy with these achingly beautiful melodies. What makes “Somewhere Only We Know” more special to me these days is the fact that my oldest son also now loves this song. I will catch him singing it randomly sometimes, ever since that night he and my daughter joined their classmates in singing a beautiful rendition of the song at their spring concert. Their performance brought me right back to that year we first discovered the album.

“Somewhere Only We Know” opens triumphantly and beckons the listener in with those majestic piano chords. The verses start delicately, become more resolute, and intensify further into the chorus. It’s a gorgeous mid-tempo track. I used to wonder why my son loves this song so much compared to many other songs I’ve exposed to him over the years. I think it’s the song’s sense of permanence. Over the last 18 years, the song’s beauty has never faded or become obsolete. If anything, as more generations get to experience it, it has only become more and more beautiful.

“I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.”

"MEDITATION" JULES MASSENET (1894)

One of the most powerful things about music is that it is the soundtrack of our lives. Fellow music fanatic Sharon Hepworth started a music challenge on Twitter for the month of July. Each day, fans around the world will select a song from their life and describe what it means to us. These are my songs. #SoundtrackToYourLife

Day 29

I grew up in a home full of music. My parents didn’t spin vinyl records, but my mom played piano and both my mom and dad sang in the church choir. My mom didn’t have the longest fingers, but she had tenacity. She would play the classics of the classical canons over and over again until she got it right. One of the pieces that I remember her playing was this one, a piece from the opera Thais by Massenet. When my mom passed away suddenly from pancreatic cancer six and a half years ago, my brother and nephew played “Meditation” together in memory of her at her wake. I was bawling. You see, this piece has given me both incredible joy and sadness.

“Meditation” is the only classical era piece to be featured in my #SoundtrackToYourLife series this month. Yet, classical music has played a significant role in my understanding of music. I studied piano for six years – which I believe eventually led to my love for synth-based music. I heard my mom play hundreds of classical pieces on the piano, but Massenet’s “Meditation”, along with Mozart’s “Moonlight Sonata” stood out for its beautiful melody and interludes. Just when I thought i heard the best part, another interlude would follow suit. It seemed to be a piece that was constantly outdoing itself movement by movement. The melody is both beautiful and somber, which, in addition to my memories of mom, might explain why I feel a wide range of emotions every time I hear it.

"ABOUT TODAY" THE NATIONAL (2004)

One of the most powerful things about music is that it is the soundtrack of our lives. Fellow music fanatic Sharon Hepworth started a music challenge on Twitter for the month of July. Each day, fans around the world will select a song from their life and describe what it means to us. These are my songs. #SoundtrackToYourLife

Day 28

There are songs that wow us for a time, but then whither with age. And then there are songs that stay exceptional, ones that truly stand the test of time. That’s the case with “About Today”. One of The National’s earliest songs, it never even made it onto a full LP. But because of its tremendous staying power, it lives on today on many of their set lists. While Matt Berninger might crowd surf during “Mr. November”, he, the band and the audience take a far different approach to “About Today”. One characterized by a near stillness and quietness.

The song’s beauty is felt in every note. When I listen to it, I want to devour every note, I want to feel all of it. Bryan Devendorf’s tom hits are like heartbeats inside a lover’s chest. The acoustic guitar and string arrangements are like souls entwined yet strangely distant from one another. And Berninger’s lyrics are sung to his lover only and no one else. “About Today” is not just my favorite National song, it’s one of my favorite songs of all time. The song that I look forward to seeing most on the setlist. The song that hits me the most. The song I might not be able to live without.

“You just close your eyes and I just watch you slip away. How close am I to losing you?”

"MR. TAMBOURINE MAN" BOB DYLAN (1965)

One of the most powerful things about music is that it is the soundtrack of our lives. Fellow music fanatic Sharon Hepworth started a music challenge on Twitter for the month of July. Each day, fans around the world will select a song from their life and describe what it means to us. These are my songs. #SoundtrackToYourLife

Day 27

I wasn’t always a big fan of this song – and wouldn’t even consider myself a casual fan of Dylan. But I developed an affinity for “Mr. Tambourine Man” when I became a dad. From now on, this song will always remind me of the time when my daughter Sophia was just a few weeks old. To help her fall asleep I’d carry her in the bathroom with the fan on and I’d sing her this song. She would just stare at me with her wide eyes, barely blinking. Like the songwriter, she was exhausted, but couldn’t sleep. And it seemed all she was interested in was listening to a song.

Though “Mr. Tambourine Man” may be interpreted as a song about LSD, its musicality matches a lullaby through and through. The single note guitar picking, Dylan’s vocals and even the sashaying harmonica parts create a steady lulling effect. When I listen to “Mr. Tambourine Man” again today, I’m right back there on that bathroom floor, helping my baby girl get some shuteye while growing her deep, deep love for music.

“Hey! Mr. Tambourine man, play a song for me. I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.”

"HOW TO SAVE A LIFE" THE FRAY (2005)

One of the most powerful things about music is that it is the soundtrack of our lives. Fellow music fanatic Sharon Hepworth started a music challenge on Twitter for the month of July. Each day, fans around the world will select a song from their life and describe what it means to us. These are my songs. #SoundtrackToYourLife

Day 26

This song brings me back to a moment my wife and I had while lounging on Psarou Beach in Mykonos. We felt like we were on top of the world. We were on our honeymoon. And we had just discovered the Greek Isles, our new favorite place in the world. A few college kids were nearby, laughing, drinking, not a care in the world. They had one song playing out loud on repeat. That song was “How to Save a Life”, a song that many of us played endlessly back in 2006-07. I remember that day on Psarou Beach like it was yesterday.

The song itself feels like a window into a bygone era. In those early 2000s, a resurgence of piano-based rock was happening with bands like The Fray and Keane. Having grown up playing piano, these bands appealed to me. How they were able to make songs that rocked as well as ballads like “How To Save A Life” with the instrument. This track, in particular, was beautiful in its simplicity – leaning on the piano’s single note arpeggios to dot the landscape of the song, while Slade laments on and on about wasted efforts to save a troubled teen. It brings me back to Psarou Beach every single time.

“I would have stayed up with you all night had I known how to save a life.”