Theme Song

This week’s journal entry:

If you were to pick a theme song that represents who you are or describes your life, what would that song be?

• Write down the title of the song.
• Write down the artist(s) that sing(s) it.
• Explain why you would pick that as your theme song.
• Are there specific lyrics within the song you relate directly to?
• Write out those lines and explain why they work for you.

**It could be more than one song, but try to narrow it down to just one.

By Laura Black

            I used to do this journal entry with my Composition I students and make them write a review essay based off their theme song. I love music, and it’s so easy for me to relate to music and the lyrics of so many different songs. Of course, it’s all about the words for me. When I listen to songs, I always focus on the lyrics first. I love to hear what they’re saying and try to see what the intended audience is, and does that audience include me? What’s the message, or how can I and others connect? However, I found that most of my students don’t think like me and view music and lyrics as I do, so I stopped doing this assignment. I found so many students struggling with this assignment and not being able to focus on a theme song at all, or they couldn’t focus on just one.

            I will have to say, now that I’m trying to write this journal entry, I am having a hard time thinking of one song that completely represents me. I guess I now understand why they may have struggled with it. I can think of many songs I would consider my theme songs; however, they are songs that either don’t fully represent me as a person, or they would only focus on a specific time or timeframe within my life depending on the current situation.

For example, when I was going through my divorce with my first husband, my theme song was “Skyscraper” by Demi Lovato. I connected to this song because I was going through the worst time in my life, and this song reminded me to pick myself back up and keep going. As the lyrics state, “You can take everything I have…You can break everything I am…Like I'm made of glass…Like I'm made of paper…Go on and try to tear me down…I will be rising from the ground…Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper.” That’s exactly what I did. I wasn’t letting this break me down and ruin my life. It was time to take it back and live life to the fullest.

            Another song I find myself connecting with is “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten. The lyrics, “This is my fight song...take back my life song…prove I’m alright song” tend to sum up how I feel whenever I’m down and out. It doesn’t really pertain to any particular time in my life; it’s just when I’m down and need that pick-me-up.

The song “Like It or Not” by Madonna is another favorite. These are my favorite lyrics from it: “This is who I am…You can like it or not…You can love me…Or leave me…'Cause I'm never gonna stop.” It basically states like me for who I am or don’t; it doesn’t matter to me. This is how I feel the older I get. I have reached a point in my life where I no longer care if someone likes me or not. If you do, awesome! If you don’t, oh well! I’m here to live my life, and no one person is going to view life the same. If you don’t like it, too bad. It’s not your life or your choice to make for me; it’s up to me and me alone.

 “Masterpiece” is another favorite that talks about how we mess up in life and we try to be perfect but we’re really not. My favorite lyrics from this song are: “I still fall on my face…sometimes and I…Can't color inside the lines 'cause…I'm perfectly incomplete…I'm still working on my masterpiece.” Yes, I’m not perfect, and I’ve made many mistakes. As anyone, though, I learn from my mistakes and move on. I have allowed my mistakes to help define me as a person and try to become a better version of me as time goes on; therefore, I’m still working on my masterpiece, and I will always be working to become a better person, a better me.

Those are all great songs, and they kind of represent me depending on what’s going on in my life at any given moment, but they would not be my overall theme song. For me, that song would be “F**kin' Perfect” by P!nk. This is one of my all-time favorite songs from one of my favorite artists, which is part of why I like it so much. This is one of the songs that helped me through my divorce. Actually, many of P!nk’s songs helped me through my divorce. That was such a dark time in my life, and one of the things that helped me through it was listening to music. The other was journaling daily.

As I mentioned before, my main connection to music is the lyrics alone. What “F**kin' Perfect” offered to me was the ability to see me as me and learn to love me as me. My ex-husband did not make me feel good about myself. He was never physically abuse, but his actions and verbal communication, or lack thereof, were not good or positive in any way. Well, at least that’s how it was for the last several years of our marriage.  

P!nk’s message in “F**kin' Perfect” resonated with me. I did not love myself anymore. In fact, I don’t even think I truly knew who I was as a person anymore. I became numb to the thought of “self” and what that truly meant. This song, however, made me see that even if you make bad decisions and wrong turns in life, you have to accept that and be okay with who you are. No matter what anyone says, you are perfect. You are perfect in your own unique way, and that’s okay. You should feel perfect to yourself and yourself alone. It shouldn’t matter what others think or say. In the end, it should be all about you.

This song helped me to refocus my efforts and get back to finding, or shall I say, discovering the true, real me. This entire song, word for word, I can relate to. That’s why “F**kin' Perfect” is my theme song. To me, this song is me singing it to my lowest self; the self I used to be. This old self still appears from time to time, but I push it back down with the new, real self with the help of this song.

As the lyrics state, “Pretty, pretty, please, don't you ever, ever feel…Like you're less than…f**kin' perfect…Pretty, pretty, please, if you ever, ever feel…Like you're nothing. You're f**kin' perfect to me…You're perfect, you're perfect…Pretty, pretty, please, if you ever, ever feel…Like you're nothing. You're f**kin' perfect to me.” I have accepted the true, real me, and no matter what anyone says or does, I am perfect for myself. And, that, my friends, is all that should ever matter.

            So, what’s your theme song? Do you have one, or do you have many?