Music Stories Project

Blog dedicated to sharing the stories behind songs, as told by those who experience them. ~Submit your own or ask~

[vanpogh]

Sunday by Kayleigh 

this song needs some work still but i really like it…i wrote it over spring break on a sunday and i can’t wait until next weekend when i’m done with school and i can write more songs on my piano

this is part of the chorus

also iPhone microphones are top notch recording equipment obvi

[musicstoriesproject]

When I was 13 years old my dad turned 40 and my mom threw him this huge surprise birthday party with a band and everything. At that time I had been taking drum lessons for a few months. My instructor was actually the drummer in the band that was playing at my dad’s party. So as another surprise to my dad who was always really excited about my drumming, I played this song with the band at his party. 

Anyone that knows me as a musician knows I have probably the worst performance anxiety on the planet, like my legs actually shook an entire piano hard enough once my foot slipped off a pedal. So of course I didn’t eat the entire day I was so nervous to play with a real band and I hadn’t been playing drums for that long so I still was pretty new at the whole drumming thing.

I don’t actually remember a whole lot about the performance because it was 7 years ago and I’m pretty sure I did my whole weird performance defense mechanism that I do where I basically go into autistic shutdown [i’m autistic btw] and my body takes over by muscle memory. Everyone was pretty psyched though afterwards so I’m like ok, my grandpa came up and hugged me for some reason? So I think it went well I guess.

Anyways hearing this song brings back a pretty good memory and a really memorable night. I also remember having really bad shin splints that night from standing for hours and hours, and I also have really bad shin splints right now from running, so that’s a funny coincidence. Anyways, you probably don’t care about that but yes, The Go-Go’s and Our Lips Are Sealed. Holy nostalgia.

[musicstoriesproject]

So I heard this song today in a grocery store and it had been a really stressful morning at school, like I have two huge projects due this week and of course you know how group projects work, no one ever does what they’re supposed to. I have a midterm this week in my hardest class and finals in two weeks. I just finished writing an 8 page lab report that I was only given a week to do and I felt so stressed and overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do and its only my first year in college, like, how am I supposed to be able to do this again for at least another 3 years??

Anyway, I walked into a grocery store and this song immediately started playing so of course I recognized it and was like “oh I like this song” and then I started listening to the lyrics and I got super emotional but in a good way because I really needed to hear that I was going to be alright, that I’m just in the middle of it all and it’s gonna take some time, but I’ll be alright. 

So I’d like to express my thanks to the band for making this song, you really did make me feel better after I had been crying and panicking for 3 hours about everything I was not currently doing. I've always felt like I could relate to this song and so I’m just glad it exists, because I don’t always have the words to express my concerns or feelings, and so there are just certain songs that some days are really relatable. 

[musicstoriesproject]

So today i'm gonna throw it back to like 6th grade for me when this song was the shit and I remember me and my best friend just sitting in front of the computer singing along to it over and over again. I remember trying really hard to sound good and my friend just didn't care and was very off key but it didn't even matter because it was just us two and it was summer and we had fun that day and it's just a nice memory. 

Then there's also this song, which I think I first got obsessed with around 6th grade and then in 8th grade all over again when I remembered I was obsessed with this song. It was the first song that ever blew out a pair of my headphones and probably slightly damaged my hearing because I seriously went to a football game but just sat in the grass and listened to this song over and over with the volume turned all the way up to block out the rest of the noise. (I wish I could tell you that's the only time I did that either.) 

I think these two songs are good examples of the start of my obsession with music and certain songs, and even though the songs change like ever other day it's still a big part of my life and when I listen to them like 7 years later I can still feel that excitement and utter joy that I got from those songs as a kid. It's something really special about music I think.

[musicstoriesproject]

Gobbledigook by Sigur Ros is a song that will always hold a special place in my heart.

I was first introduced to this song about 2 years ago during my contemporary/modern dance class. (I no longer take dance but I do have very fond memories of it. Very nostalgic if you ask me.) At first, we had just done a simple combination to it, but it was later announced that our recital piece for the year would be done using this song.

And, since the song is very upbeat and cheery, the theme of our piece was a sleepover party. The dance was challenging but in the end everything pulled together. The great part was that as long as we looked like we were having the time of our lives- which we were- little mistakes and slip ups would look natural. (This was especially comforting considering I fell flat on my butt during the actual show.)

Our costumes and entire ensemble was also amazing. We wore pajamas. Like actual pajamas, the teacher went out a bought us colorful and bright pajamas that were so fun and flashy. I still have mine and continue to wear them. We also brought our own stuffed animals and blankets on to the stage (it was a bit messy to clean up, especially in blackout. Some stuffed animals were left on the stage during other peoples performance!)

Probably the most unforgettable part was the bond I formed between me and the other dancers in the class. We were already close, but getting to have so much fun with each other brought us even closer, especially since we weren’t similar people. We put our differences aside and became great friends. Though none of my old dance friends from this class have barely kept in contact with me since, I still know that they are great people and that there’s no hard feelings, only time.

Years later, I’m still jamming out to this song. It’s in Swedish (don’t quote me on that) so I have no clue what the singer is saying, but the emotion behind his words is so passionate that I almost understand it without even knowing the words. Its so joyful and lively and I can’t help but smile- internally or externally- whenever it starts playing.

I hope you find the same excitement and joy that this song brought me!

[musicstoriesproject]

I played this song my senior year of high school for solo ensemble as my piano solo. The song became something really special to me because I had been playing piano for 10 years at that point in my life and I thought the piece was the most beautiful piano song I ever heard, so I wanted to save it for my last year of solo ensemble. 

If anybody knows me in real life, you would know that I am absolutely terrified of performing or doing anything in front of people. Like, my mind goes blank and I just shake and sweat and freak out. Part of that has to do with my autism but basically I just have crippling stage fright. 

So I was obviously really scared of performing this song, and I was mad because I really liked the song and it was so beautiful and I could play it, but I didn't want to do it injustice by totally screwing it up while performing. 

So by the time I got on stage, I was shaking. It didn't help that I was playing this fancy grand piano on a stage with really hot lights shining down on me in an auditorium with people watching me and my mom recording my last performance. It was just really nerve wracking and there was a lot of pressure to do well. So I was of course not okay. 

I got through the song pretty well, I mean I scored a 1st. I did end up shaking the entire instrument at one point in the song because my legs were shaking so bad on the pedals and because my legs kept shaking my foot slipped off the pedal and made this awful crashing sound, but besides that the actual song went better than I expected, so that was nice.

I still have a horrible fear of playing anything in front of people or just publicly speaking or doing basically anything, but hopefully I can get over that, because I want to be able to share my music with other people.

[musicstoriesproject]

I don't really have a story behind this song yet, I just really like it. I'm also not entirely sure what it means or what it's about but I like the video and the song and yeah I should probably look more into what it's about

[musicstoriesproject]

We always played this song in pep band, especially when I was a freshman. It was my favorite song, the percussion part was just so fun. It was difficult but not impossible and we drove it fast and played it loud. The percussion section was strongest my freshman year, and when we played it fast and loud, it just sounded so good and powerful and that was something I had never experienced in my middle school band (we just played concert pieces then). 

So this song reminds me most about how much fun I had in pep band, once I learned the pieces and was able to assert myself into the percussion section (which was hard being a freshman girl in a section full of junior and senior boys). It was a lot of fun to play and it was probably the first song I actually really learned in pep band.

Now that I'm in college I'm starting to really miss the music classes and opportunities I had in high school. Music instruction is something very important, and I definitely feel like I wouldn't be who I am today without my experiences being instructed in piano and percussion.

[sleepyfaceandsnark]

So there's this website that gives you every song that played in an episode (no matter how short a time it was playing)

It even gives you a description of the scene so you know when/where you heard it

Look!

you guys probably already knew about this but yeahh. I’m just really excited because I was wondering what that song was when Mickey walks into the club

But it’s here for future references

[musicstoriesproject]

My freshman year of high school I made the varsity volleyball team, and up until that point in my life I felt like I hadn't ever accomplished that much, so of course I was ecstatic and really proud of myself (mostly be I had lived up to people's expectations of me as an athlete and filling in my cousin's shoes).

I remember hearing this song on the radio on my way to the last day of tryouts, and I was like wow, this song is really happy and the happiness is contagious. It just gave me a really good feeling going into the last tryout, I don't even remember feeling nervous. 

So after making the team, we had this warm up CD that the team made every year for each new season and they put this song on it. I loved it, I made it my song and even danced to it during warm-ups and made an absolute fool out of myself sometimes but I don't know what it was about this song it just pulled some inner childish happiness that gave me pure joy.

It was my song for the entire year pretty much, and I carried it with my into track season. The line "every time I touch that track it turns into gold" became a literal thing for me, because I turned out to be one of the best track athletes that school ever had, winning almost every race I ran. So I thought that line was pretty cool because it held a special meaning for me.

[musicstoriesproject]

My dad and brother would always play classic rock when I was a kid, so I grew up listening to bands like AC/DC. When I was a sophomore in high school, I went to the homecoming dance without a date. I was looking forward to getting all dressed up and having a fun night out with my friends, but I was also a little nervous because I'm really shy and kind of awkward about dances sometimes. We all had a lot of fun before the dance and it was great but then we got to the dance and I just felt myself retreat into myself. It was kind of awful and I was starting to feel bad about myself because I was tired and I just couldn't get into the music and dance like my friends were. Plus I was watching my crush dance with a bunch of other girls after hoping for weeks that maybe he'd ask me to dance. So by the time the dance was halfway in, I was feeling pretty low. My and my friend were off the dance floor just talking and taking a break. Then the DJ announced there'd been a request for some rock n' roll, and this song started playing. Me and my friend started freaking out and rushed on to the dance floor, going crazy because we both liked the song and it was such a refresher from all the regular kind of dance music the DJ was playing. In the 3 and 1/2  minutes this song was playing, I had forgotten everything that was making me sad and just living in the moment, and that was one of the very few times in my life that I've felt truly free. If you know what I'm talking about, it's a really special feeling. The feeling may not have lasted the rest of the night, but that didn't matter. For a while I felt ok, I felt happy, and I felt free. 

[musicstoriesproject]

I first heard this song in the library at school while I was stressed out doing homework and studying for exams not even really paying attention to what I was listening to. Within the first couple seconds of this song I stopped and just listened, and the lyrics just hit me. I was in a bad place, school was taking me way way down and I didn’t know how much I needed to hear this song. It constantly reminds me that it will get better, and I’m not the only one trying to believe it. 

[musicstoriesproject]

Double submission

To me the the song is above is about having a friendship with someone who you have meaningless sex with. And I wanted to make something serious out of it because I became so enchanted by the person involved, I  always expressed how I felt, but she never really did the same and she ended up getting a boyfriend while she knew I wanted to be hers when she was ready for a relationship. I was never given an explanation of why she decided to fuck me over and not say anything about it like it was nothing.

Again this is about an experience I had with someone who loved me. I was this person for two years and I cheated on her throughout the relationship mostly because she was just so far away (100 minutes of driving). I guess also since this was my first sexual partner, I wanted to see what having feeling with other people would be like. Not a smart move, I played the game and got caught, I realised what a piece of shit I had become. I played this song to them after we broke up because I regreted it heavily and wish i could go back to when it all started just so I could do it right. Alas, Que Sera Sera and I believe I have been punished for what I did. But yea that’s that.

[musicstoriesproject]

This song brings we way back to my childhood and reminds me of a lot of things. Not one big story but a lot of little meaningful things that make me happy.

One is sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my brother on a random saturday morning watching tv while my dad was making pancakes. This song came on and it just made me feel so happy and hopeful and it still kind of provides a comfort today with that memory.

Another is my best friend would randomly burst out singing songs and a lot of the time she would sing this one. It’s how I knew she was happy.

The last memory I have is right after I had moved to college, I was extremely lonely and sad and I missed my home. I heard some students playing this on the front porch of their house while I was riding past on my bike and the instant effect it had on my mood was incredible. Even if it only lasted for a short time, it really did make me feel a lot better and even give me some sense of hope, which is something I really needed at that time in my life. 

So there’s not one big story with this song but every time I hear it, I get a little bit of hope and happiness.

[musicstoriesproject]

Thnks fr th Mmrs by Fall Out Boy is the first Fall Out Boy song I ever heard. I was at a friend’s house and I was picking songs to play from her iPod. It was attached to an iHome that could be heard throughout the house. I picked this song because I thought the title was funny. Just 10 seconds into the song her mom came running up the stairs and yelled at my friend for playing this song because it was “sinful” and “promoted not believing in God” and “as good Christians we shouldn’t listen to that stuff” and my friend was no longer allowed to listen to that song. I knew from that point on I had to listen to this song and more from this band, and now 8 years later I’m still a fan. So thnks fr th mmrs Fall Out Boy, this one is a very special one.