If you know me well, you know Jack Johnson is by far my favorite musician and I’ll listen to him at anytime, anywhere. I know his song lyrics like I should know the muscles of the body for anatomy class, but alas, that will have to wait. Jack Johnson’s lyrics in these ten songs speak to my life on so many levels and help me get through the good and the bad times of college!
"Mud football"
This is one of my favorites! Upbeat and a great song to get yourself cheered up! These are deep lyrics though. “We used to laugh a lot/ But only because we thought/ that everything good always would remain.” The harsh reality hits when those mudfootball games end and the new week comes. This is exactly how I feel about most Mondays after a fun weekend with friends. Plus how I feel about life after college. College is my mudfootball days and after college life is my bus-stop blues.
"Symbol in my driveway"
This one has a good beat, and I know the lyrics like the back of my hand. The “Got my plans in a zip-lock bag/ Let’s see how unproductive we can be/” speaks directly to me in the sense that I really don’t have any plans figured out, but the ones I do, I have in a zip-lock bag to keep them safe, but accessible when I need to use them after being unproductive. Ha! This is seriously college for me in a nutshell; I have all these great plans, but I have zero time to carry them out or store them super well, so a zip-lock bag will do for now.
"Go on"
There’s not much I can say about this song other than it brings two very specific people to mind for me and I usually listen to this song when I’m missing them the most. It’s a bit of a tear-jerker if you really listen to the lyrics.
"Hope"
Fun, upbeat with good vibes. There is a reason this one is named Hope. “It will defeat you then teach you to get back up.” You can’t go through life without the help of others, so you should always hope that you’re not alone.
"When I look Up"
The sounds of nature in this song and the harmonies are what really gets me. It just sounds so nice. This song speaks to those nights I just have to take a walk outside because homework or life is too overwhelming at that moment. The rain sounds and the image of walking and looking up at the clouds and the moon is exactly how it is here in Oregon.
"Home"
I feel like this encompasses how I want my life to be. Questioning life and trying to understand those hard things. How do I want my life to be like? How do I want my home life to be? Who do I want to be my “Home?” Plus this song exemplifies one of my biggest values in life and something I want in my home — love. One can only hope to be loved as much as you yourself loves another.
"Change"
This song always puts a smile on my face because of the fun instruments being used. It always speaks to how much my life has changed recently and how much it will change in the future. I love the part where it says, “Turning page after page after page/ It gets stranger day by day.” My life is so strange and I love it, and I love turning the pages in my book of life and seeing how strange it’s going to get.
"Washing Dishes"
I love this song, because it’s a cute little love song that speaks to how I want my future lifelong relationship to be. I want us to both work hard for success in life and in our relationship. I want us to be humble about our beginnings and then know that we can reach for the stars, because our potential is so high up there. I want to be “Singing from the bottom.”
"The News"
The News is just that, the news in a song. It takes what the news is and questions why the news is the way it is. Mama helps comfort her son and asks why newscasters never show a whole ton of emotion when they talk or read about people who die. I think this is so relevant to today’s news, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a newscaster visibly upset with an obvious tear in their eye. They just seem so removed from the stories.
"Cookie Jar"
Cookie Jar speaks more to the issues happening in our country with the increase of violence. Cookie Jar speaks to the throwing of blame that is happening in our country and how no one will just accept their mistakes nowadays. The media says they’re not to blame for this increase negativity across our nation, but they do choose what gets shown and what doesn’t when providing stories.
These songs and quite frankly all of his albums help get me through my days and bring a smile to my face. Long drive, lets listen to some Jack Johnson; happy day, lets listen to some Jack Johnson; any day in between, lets listen to some Jack Johnson. I guess you could say his music helps define who I am!
