my careless contagion

This song says a few things to me. Mainly it says I listen to too much Taylor Swift. Call it What You Want is an old-fashioned love song masquerading as a pop song. It's understated for Swift, and it feels both a little tired and a little at ease. Perhaps the tiredness is because she's been in love (many times) before, and perhaps at ease because this time it feels different.  I think one of the marks of finding the right person for you is you just forget about what other people think. It's not a "f*ck em" kind of feeling, though. It's just that you can't really explain to them what this person means to you. So you tell them they can call it what they want; it doesn't affect anything for you. There is a little bit of "my man is amazing" here, but also she doesn't feel like she needs to share the most intimate things with others.  Some of the lyrics convey a tired, boarded-up feeling, like she's weathered the storms of love and...

Jimmy Eat World's The Middle was released in 2001 on the album Bleed American. The lyrics to this song were important to me, as they spoke of peer pressure and the need to conform. I was at a point in my life when I really started missing my education. I was wondering if I'd ever get a chance to go back to school. I saw everyone moving on with their lives, getting real jobs, and I was just a hardcore kid paying the rent. So, too, Jimmy Eat World's A Praise Chorus spoke to me. I remember listening to this song when I was 24, 25, 26. So, when the song says, "Even at 25, ya gotta start sometime," I agreed. I felt like my time was coming, but I also felt it was too late to go back to school at the age of 25. And 26, well, that was really old. Here I am, 41 and taking classes. Clearly, it's never too late. These songs are important to me still because they reveal a lesson I started learning a long time ago. It doesn't help to compare yourself to...