Sing For Me

So, on 10/13 I went the see Yellowcard at The Complex. It's been a five year stint with them MIA and finally they are back in town!

I hadn't yet purchased their newest album When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes so I was given the pleasure of hearing it for the first time live. I must say, there's nothing better than hearing the stories behind the songs before you've even heard them. It gives such a new feeling to the music all together. I went above loving their way of pulling me into every beat and lyric to becoming completely infatuated.

As far as I'm concerned, Yellowcard is one of the most underated bands I've known in my lifetime. With each album that comes out I feel that they've seen my soul, found the words I've been desperately searching for to define my life and they put them to music. This band has written the soundtrack to my life.

They sang a new song called Sing For Me. I was standing in the back of room (I'm so short I couldn't see when I tried to get up close - it was all sweaty heads and shoulder blades) and when Ryan Key told the story of his aunt Stephanie having brain cancer and being the driving force behind him making his dreams come true, my eyes filled with tears that started streaming down face when he said that the song was for everyone that's in or has been in the same situation.

He said that he wanted those that knew the song to sing it so loud that she could hear it, all the way in Florida. I didn't know the song yet - I bought the album at the show - but now that I do, I sing it for her everyday. I sing it for my dad everyday. I sing it for me ... everyday.

For those of you who don't know, my dad passed away almost 10 years ago after a short but valiant stint with stomach cancer. The pain never goes away and sometimes finding the words to say what you feel can be hard to find. With this song, Ryan Key mananged to do this with every single emotion I feel inside of me.

The beauty and the simplicity of the song are emaculate. The heart and pain comes soaring through the music like a hot knife cutting through butter. You can almost feel his heart breaking and the love that he and his aunt share. Never in my life have I seen a musician be so vulnerable to a crowd of 1,000+ people as I did that night. Five long years of being gone and having the ability to open up so whole heartedly was an inspiration.

The words come out like a long conversation of love and understanding. Sing For Me puts all the right words in all the right places - "Out of time, all out of fight. You are the only thing in life that I got right." A punk rock band making the hearts of everyone break from the most beautiful sound on the planet is undefinable.

Having struggled with the loss of my dad for so long and finally hearing the right words, I've decided to choreograph a dance as a tribute to not only my dad, but for Yellowcard and Ryan and his aunt Stephanie - as well as everyone else out there that has lost someone - the driving force behind who they are. Singing and playing music is the release for Yellowcard - dancing is mine. I will combine the two - music and movement will become one for the souls that we've lost, are losing, love and miss.

Until then ...

It's Been Awhile ...

I set out to make this a regular, weekly process and fell off the wagon after one post. Seriously ... that's ridic. After  a lovely night out with my friends, I realized that I need to keep going - there is no one in the world that can sit and listen to me talk for hours about a song, except maybe Derek but we both have lives to lead and money to make which prohibits us from living the life I desperately seek of listening to music and choreographing dances all day every day until the end. That being said, this is my release.

I've been given some songs to listen to that I have yet to hear -"Awake My Soul" by Mumford and Sons, "14 Days (Acoustic)" by Arkitekt and "Porn Star Dancing" by My Darkest Days . The excitement is building just typing the words! I also have some sick choreography to burn out by Wednesday to "There It Go" by Juelz Santana for Cadence Dance Co. This should make for some interesting - possibly epic writing. If anyone decides to follow this out there in cyberspace, send your "requests" for critique my way. Thanks dolls!!