Musicbump

Music touches us emotionally, where words don't

[undocumentedlives]

How has being here (in the U.S.) changed your life?

My life has changed completely here in the United States. I am a better version of myself: an educated woman, an independent woman, and a head of household woman. I was born in a small town in Mexico. I entered the United States illegally as a child. I was fortunate to benefit from the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Once I obtained my legalization, the sky was the limit. My journey of transformation has led me to question whether or not I could be who I am today in Mexico. The answer is no. Poverty, gender inequality, and gender roles in the small community where I was born would have prevented me from achieving what is known as the “American Dream”. I am proud of my humble beginnings but I am grateful this country gave me the opportunity and resources to become who I am today.

[undocumentedlives]

My name is Jesus, I came to the U.S. at the age of three with my brother. My dad was here first. He came to the U.S. in search of a job to provide food, water, clothes, and shelter for us in Mexico. Later on my parents made the decision to send my brother and I to the U.S. to receive a better education and so we could live better off. We arrived by car during the summer. After we came, my dad told my mom to immigrate to the U.S with us. She came through the desert, where she got caught twice and almost lost her eye. After the third attempt she was able to come around December, which my brother and I consider our Christmas gift. Living here has changed my life. I always wonder, what would I be doing or who would I become if I would have stayed in Mexico. My parents probably could not have afforded school for my brother and I. My life has greatly changed since the moment I arrived to the U.S. and I am grateful for my parents decision.

[undocumentedlives]

Coming to the U.S five years ago was the best thing that my parents could’ve done for me. Although it was tough learning English, I overcame that challenge. Even though it wasn’t my choice to be brought here, I thank my parents for it. My immigration status has affected me a lot because now my parents can’t afford a university and my alternative choice is going to a community college. I know I will overcome this challenge and I will graduate from a university.

[undocumentedlives]

My name is María Isabel Cruz Peréz. In the U.S. all my documents read ‘Maria Isabel Cruz’. Perhaps it’s a dumb concept; but it does feel weird “losing” one of your names the moment you move to a different country. I remember feeling like something was taken away from my identity. I go by ‘Isabel’, but many people call me ‘Maria’ . Which is also odd. Is it so weird to have two names ? When I was in the 4th grade my mom made the controversial decision of relocating our little family to the U.S. She wanted to make sure my sister and I were not under any risks. It took her about two years to organize everything, eventually, we moved to Orange when I was in the 6th grade. I remember how unfamiliar and green this place looked when we first moved here. It was not on my plans to move to a different country, it was not in my plans to even move schools. But mom did it for the best, something I did not comprehend when it happened. It is very difficult to change environments in such a critical stage of life as is puberty. It is complicated, so complicated. But not impossible. Up to last year I had the intentions of going back to my birthplace after high school. Now multiple factors have changed. I understand why my mother wanted a change. I truly thank her.

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Gone gone gone (Phillip Phillips)

“When enemies are at your door I'll carry you away from war”. I have a best friend that I know for a fact will always be there for me. I could be going through the toughest times in my life and I can count on him to be there for me. “Your hope dangling by a string I'll share in your suffering”. If my best friend is going through a tough time I will for a fact be there for him. I’ll do my best to understand what he is going through. He is my best friend and I’ve known him for a long time so this is why I’ll do this. I think we all have a had either a close friend or a best friend that’s been there for us when we need them the most, and we’ve been there for them when they need us the most. We should do the same not just for our friends but to anyone who is in need or going through a tough time.

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Warriors (Imagine Dragons)

“As a child you would wait and watch from far away but you always knew that you'd be the one that work while they all play”. Have you ever had to do a group project where you’re pretty much doing all the work and the rest of your group isn’t doing anything. They probably aren’t putting in effort because they don’t know how to do what they’re supposed to be doing. “We are the warriors that built this town”. You end up doing everything because you want to get a good grade on the project. “Farewell, I've gone, to take my throne above, don't weep for me cause this will be the labor of my love”. Eventually you are tested on what you did for that group project and as you’re confidently taking the test, your group is lost and of course they look at you for the answer. We all will encounter these sort of people in our life. Instead of us doing all the work we should motivate them to help us and guide them because we never know when the things you are learning will be useful in life.

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Centuries (Fall out boy)

“Some legends are told some turn to dust some to gold”. In my years of going to school I’ve been assigned many projects, some of the projects that I’ve done have been really good and I would get an A+, but then there’s some that I don’t really try my best on and I end up getting a bad grade on it. “You will remember me”. We’ve all done great things that people can’t seem to forget about. Those things could be as little as landing that skateboard trick that none of your friends can do or taking your friends out in your dad’s car without his permission when you are just a freshman. These type of things, no matter how small, are the type of things that people don’t forget, and from time to time they mention it and you get that feeling of accomplishment. “And I can't stop 'til the whole world knows my name”. There’s also some things we do that we really want to do well on. For example, I like music and want to talk about how some songs relate to my life and what some of my experiences in life were, which is why I made this blog. If all goes well I might just change something in someone’s life.

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Home (American Authors)

Good evening, I hope you all are having a great day. Today I would like to talk about a song I recently heard and that song is called “Home” by American Authors. If you’ve read my previous posts, you can tell that I relate to all of the songs I talk about. I discuss my life experiences and what I’ve been through. This is sort of why I made this blog, I want to talk about my life because I feel as if I’m letting go of the emotions I experienced when I was going through bad situations in mylife. The song begins by saying “I've got these letters tattooed on my arm that remind me each second of where I come from”. I remember when I was a freshman and didn’t care about my grades, I thought school was a joke. In my first year of highschool I failed two of my classes and the following year I failed 2 classes once again. I didn’t care at all back then, but in my junior year I got a warning that said if I don’t get it together I will have to go to a credit recovery school. I really didn’t want to get sent to another school because I liked the classes I had. The song goes on by saying “It's a long hard road trying to get home”. I knew my junior year wasn’t going to be easy, I had to make up 20 credits and also had to maintain good grades in my current classes. Months went by and I recovered my credits and maintained good grades in my current classes. I will never forget where I was in my first two years of high school and what I did to fix those mistakes. If you made mistakes in your life and learned from them, never forget them because they are proof that you can pick yourself up from any situation..

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Do you feel alive (Raphael Lake & Ben Fisher)

Hello and good afternoon. This morning wasn’t so pleasant to me, for the most part because I was really unmotivated and didn’t feel like going to school. I went on with my typical morning routine and as I was going to put music on, I saw a song on my Youtube feed that caught my attention. The song was called “Do you feel alive” by Raphael Lake and Ben Fisher. I listen to new songs every day and there’s some that don’t get my attention so I just put another one on, but this one was very different. I liked this song from the moment I heard it. I admired the lyrics, the beat, and just everything about it. The song says “I sit here looking at the stars playing games and chasing cars”. As my second semester of senior year started I really had to start thinking about college and what my future career was going to be, but I still don’t give a lot of thought to it. I realize that I’m growing up and in about a week I am going to be 18, I have to start getting serious about my future because when I’m older and I’m in a tough situation I might not have the support I have right now. In addition, the song says “Cause it’s the time to fight and not the time to fall”. This part of the song really stood out to me because I can really relate to it. I am currently doing my senior project and I am having trouble with it. Normally when I have trouble with school projects I generally don’t give it my all and I tell myself “I’ll just wing it”. Most of the time I’ll get a low grade and it’s not a big deal to me, but this project is different. This project will determine if I graduate high school or not. I have to try my best on this project and I can’t give up right now especially when I am so close to graduating. I have to give it my best and keep going. For all the people going through a struggle, any type of struggle, give it your all and don’t fall in defeat, instead strive on to get through the situation. You have to face the clouds to find the silver lining.

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Band of Horses (The Funeral)

Hi there, hope you all are having a great day. Today I will be talking about the song “The funeral” by Band of Horses. I believe this song has a strong message that has the ability to motivate us to stand up to a bully, a hypocrite, or someone being mean to another person in a verbal or physical way. I feel the word “hypocrite” is a strong word, and when I do use it I have a very good reason to call someone that. Sometimes those people look like they might be able to do something to me if I tell them something, so that’s why I stay quiet. This song starts off by saying “I'm coming up only to hold you under and coming up only to show you're wrong”. If I were to stand up to someone that is being a hypocrite, bully, or just being mean to someone in any kind of way, I will go up to them and stand up to them only for that reason. The song continues by saying “At every occasion I'll be ready for the funeral”. If I know I am doing the right thing by standing up to that person, I am prepared to get what’s coming to me. Whether this means getting jumped by that person’s friends or simply get fun off because I told that person something they didn't like. Overall, if you see someone bullying someone, being a hypocrite, or just simply being mean to someone in a verbal or physical way, don’t be afraid to stand up to that person. If I knew I was doing the right thing than I will get whatever comes to me.

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One Republic (Ordinary Human)

Good evening, today I would like to talk about a song that I've been listening to all day, I feel like this song really motivated me to get my work done during school today. We all have those days when we wake up and just not want to do anything, that was me this morning. That was me this morning, I thought to myself "Ughhh school today". I was really unmotivated and just you know tired of doing the same thing everyday. I went on with my morning by showering and brushing my teeth, as I was looking through my feed on youtube I saw a song that stood out to me. You guessed it, it was Ordinary Human by One republic. As soon as the song began, I thought to myself "I'm adding this song to my playlist". Not only did I think of this because it had a good beat. I thought of this because it gave me this feeling of motivation of doing things different, it turned out to be a great day and the verse that stood out for me the most was "I’m just an ordinary human but I don’t feel so ordinary today". This stood out to me because I have been doing the same thing everyday this year and without motivation. Today I remembered why I'm doing those things and the things I'm doing are for my benefit. So next time you're waking up in a mood where you feel like not going to work or school, think of why you're doing those things

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Coldplay (Viva la Vida)

Good afternoon, today I will be talking about the song “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay. This song is really meaningful to me and to be honest it’s one of my favorites. This song begins by saying “I used to rule the world”. I feel as we all have experienced a moment in our life where we are at our best. You feel like you are on top of the world and nobody or nothing can bring you down. This song goes on by saying “One minute I held the key next the walls were closed on me”. There’s been times in my life where out of nowhere the happiness is gone and I am down at my worst. I felt like just a minute ago I was on top of the world and now I’m down in the dumps. The song eventually says “It was a wicked and wild wind blew down the doors to let me in”. As I was down in the dumps I started listening to music and I found this song I am talking about which is Viva la Vida. While I heard this song I felt like I can recover from this situation that I’m going through. I started to do what I had to do to get out of this situation. As a final point, the song says “I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing roman cavalry choirs are singing”. As soon as I heard this part of the song I knew that no matter what situation I am going through, no matter how bad it is, I can get through it. I can do this by listening to music because there’s this unique feeling I get when I listen to a certain song when I’m going through a certain situation. We all can get through bad situations we just have to find the thing that can motivate us to pick ourselves up and strive to keep on going with our life.

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Young the Giant (Cough Syrup)

Hello, I hope you all are having a wonderful day. Today I will be speaking about the song called "Cough Syrup" by Young the Giant. The song starts off by saying, "Life's too short to even care at all". I've been in countless situations in which I simply give up and don't care at all. This is due to the circumstances of the situations I am going through. The song continues by saying,"The zombies in the park they're looking for my heart". In my life, I've been put down by other people due to the things they've said about me. I felt depressed of their comments towards me, and I think we've all been through this. The song goes on by saying, "So I run now to things they said could restore me restore life the way it should be". In situations where I'm at my worst, I seek music because I know that if I listen to a certain song my mood will be changed instantly. This is different for everybody, you might go to your friends or family when you are at your worst. Overall, we all have something or someone to rely on when we are at our worst. I would go to that someone or something because even though they might not cheer you up completely, I can guarantee that they will make your day a little bit better.

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Imagine Dragons (Ready aim fire)

If I truly and honestly desire something to change in my lilfe, and that something is unquestionably important for me then I know that it will not come trouble free (A man on a mission changing the vision). There will be obstacles, trials, and challenges along the way (Blood in the writing stuck in the fighting). Sacrifices will be made and those sacrifices will depend on what I wish for (Look through the rifle's sight).