You can run on the fumes of being a teenager for as long as you want, but eventually life hits you real hard. - Haley Williams
It's 2013. Fade in to a chubby blonde girl and her tall skinny friend, sprawled out on the living room floor with white t-shirts and fabric paint. They refer to the sketches they made, bobbing their heads to the rhythm of AIn't it Fun, one of the newest tracks by the pop punk band Paramore. After a few hours, they are finished. The shirts dry overnight, crusty and colorful for the next November night. Mohegan Sun Area, the two climb all the way to the top of the arena where all the poor people sit. The stage crew runs around, the crowd chatters, and then darkness. Silence. Suddenly, there they are. Haley Williams and crew, live and loud. I unconsciously gasped.
Fast forward to April 19th, 2017. Somewhere in the world, a red headed college girl rose from her gentle slumber at about noon thirty. She rubbed her eyes and blindly fumbled for her iPhone, as she did every morning. Scrolling through the mindless Facebook feed, there it was. A new video by Fueled by Ramen. A video from Paramore. For their new song, Hard Times.
That girl was me, by the way.
After four years, Paramore is back at it with a beautiful battle cry for survival. Its somber lyrics combined with a bubbly, futuristic ringtone-esque rhythm creates this brand new sound for the alt band. The new song is so different from traditional Paramore, and I loved every second of it.
Personally, I'm a bubbly, colorful person. I've dyed my hair blue and red and purple, I wear bright colors, I always come to work and class with a smile on my face. I'm a generally happy person. The beautiful colors and happy tone to the song really reflects that outer experience of my personality.
But I also struggle with depression, and have for many years. So when I heard these lyrics, they spoke to me so much. Every lyric was like my own downcast soul screaming to get through these hard times. Especially the second verse.
"Walking around with a little rain cloud hanging over my head, and it ain't comin' down. Where do I go? Gimme some sort of sign. Hit me with lightening! Maybe I'll come alive."
When I'm spiraling, and my chest is heavy and I don't know what the point of all of this is anymore and I barely feel alive or like continuing to live, these words perfectly summarize what I'm feeling.
Enough about me though. This is an anthem for anyone going through "Hard Times". For the days where "All that I want is to wake up fine." As college students, we just want everything to be okay, and all the struggling to be over. Often times, the hard times are "gonna make you wonder why you even try." But at the end of the day, you will get through this. "And I still don't know how I even survived hard times." So while you're killing yourself over these last few weeks of the semester, know that even if you have no clue how, you will survive hard times.
Now do yourself a favor and download Paramore's newest song Hard Times on iTunes. You're going to need it these next few weeks, little college student.
Me at said concert, plus friends. :)
