So, here I am -- a sophomore in college, and Yellowcard has been a part of my life since I was in the second grade. That was when I was seven years old, and now I’m 20 -- that’s 13 years of Yellowcard and I still listen to them like they are new. I’m talking every day.
Everyone has music they listen to and love, but Yellowcard is not just a band to me. They are not just music I listen to when I want to relax or have nothing to do. No, I make time in my day to just sit down quietly, pop in one of their albums, and soak it all in. I wanted to put this in a much more original way, but I can simply say that Yellowcard’s music is such a significant part of my life, and being able to put how their music makes me feel into words is so hard, but I’m going to try it anyway.
As I was saying, 13 years is a huge chunk of a person’s life. For me that was elementary school, middle school, high school, and now almost half of college. I can honestly say that everything I’ve ever gone through can be, and has been, described in a Yellowcard song before. Whether it's a section of lyrics or an entire song, they have helped me through everything. I am familiar with every Yellowcard song there is to know on each of their albums from “Ocean Avenue” all the way to “Lift a Sail,” and continue to focus on their first album featuring Ryan Key, “One for the Kids,” to get to know that one better.
The thing about Yellowcard is in a generation where lyrics and messages have flown out the window, their music features everything that music has lyrically lost. Their upbeat songs, they never fail to serious pump me up and add to my excitement or happiness I am feeling at the time. Songs like “Afraid,” “Hide,” “Miles Apart,” “Date Line (I Am Gone)" and “Awakening,” are some of my go-to songs for that, and so many others I can’t even count.
The thing about Yellowcard is their sound is so incredibly distinct; they have three types of songs. They have their guitar-driven upbeat rock songs, then they have their, what I like to call, medium songs, which usually feature the most hard-hitting lyrics and intense feelings, to me at least. For you Yellowcard fans out there, when I say this I’m talking about songs like “Bombers,” “Keeper,” “Sleep in the Snow,” “You and Me and One Spotlight,” and “Shadows and Regrets.” You know, those kinds of songs.
Then, they have their ballads and slow songs that are some of my favorite slow songs ever written. Again, there are way too many to count, but some of my personal favorites are “Dear Bobbie,” “Sing for Me,” “How I Go,” “Hang You Up,” “One Year Six Months,” and “Ten.”
These medium and slow songs are some of the songs that have gotten me through the most. If I’m dealing with changes I go to “Empty Apartment” and "Shadows and Regrets.” If I’m feeling angry, “Date Line (I Am Gone),” “Crash the Gates,” and “Way Away,” it is (I know it makes no sense, but those are the ones I go to). If I want to move on from something I go to “Awakening,” “Paper Walls,” and “The Sound of You and Me.” Then there are times when the lyrics of “Hang You Up,” “Keeper,” and even “One Year Six Months” were there for obvious reasons at the times when I needed them most. For every other emotion I have ever felt, I could name you at least one Yellowcard song where the lyrics can describe that.
Not just the songs and lyrics, but Yellowcard is so incredibly special to me because it's one common ground that I have with my brother and sister. Not to sound too cliché, but they literally bring us all together. We can all talk about them together for hours. Talking about our favorite songs, their lyrics, the distinct sounds of select songs, and just how much we love them, most of all. I mean, what are the odds of finding three siblings (two girls and one boy) who all have the exact same favorite band? That’s how you know Yellowcard has something that other bands don’t quite have. We’re siblings, so we may fight, get on each other’s nerves, and have different interests, but when Yellowcard starts playing or is mentioned, all three of us can come together. Having a good bond with my siblings is really important to me as well, so the fact that Yellowcard is able to do this for us makes me appreciate them much more.
As weird as it may sound to some, Yellowcard’s songs embody everything I am, whether it be from the sound of their songs or how they sing those incredible lyrics. Anyone who knows me is aware that pop/punk or rock/alternative music is who I am, so just the tone of Yellowcard’s music (especially in albums such as “Ocean Avenue” and “Lights and Sounds”) is me in a nutshell. However with albums like “Paper Walls,” “When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes,” “Southern Air,” and “Lift a Sail,” their poetic lyrics hit me so deeply that they are really a part of me. I know all of that may not make sense to some, but simply put, Yellowcard is me, everything I feel, like, and experience.
I listen to other bands and music to describe what I’m going through, or just for amazing pop/punk music I need at the time, but Yellowcard is always what I listen to last. Their music has given me advice I needed that nobody else could quite give me at the time. Sometimes, when I’m just listening to them, or songs I usually haven’t focused on lyrically before, I will be searching for the advice I need in their lyrics and what do you know, there it is. Not only are their lyrics relatable to situations I've experienced, but Ryan Key (the lead singer and songwriter) has such a beautiful and poetic way he phrases his feelings and ideas that I can’t help but lose myself in the images he creates through his words.
Yellowcard’s music has actually taught me a great deal about how to make it through just about anything, and has assured me that it’s normal and OK to feel however the way I’m feeling. Most of all, Yellowcard’s music has taught me that no matter how hard an experience may be, you’re going to learn from it and what you learn you have to take with you. This idea can be tacked onto a number of their songs, but it reminds me of their song “Awakening” where the lyrics read “Cause with the morning I can open my eyes, I want this to be my awakening.”
So, Yellowcard, you guys have done so much more for me than you will ever know, and I’m sure if I feel this way, there are other people out there who do as well. There aren’t even words to describe just how incredible your music is, because such strong words simply don’t exist. All in all, all I can say is thank you, Yellowcard. I couldn’t have carried on without you.
