Transition Songs
By: Grace Babcock
I have been thinking about transitions a lot lately.
As a college senior I am about to make one of the biggest transitions of my life: Graduating from college. I am both nervous and excited to see what challenges lay in front of me. Of course there have been other challenges in my life, too, and in those times I have always relied on music. Music has commiserated with me, supported me, encouraged me, and reminded me that in the end everything would be okay.
In this article I’ve highlighted three songs that accompanied me during a particularly stressful or difficult transition in my life, and how that song helped me in my hour of need. They aren’t the most beautiful or polished songs in my music library, but I’m sure they’ll do in a pinch for you too in a moment of struggle.
Army of Me, “Going Through Changes”
I’ll be the first to admit that my taste in music in high school was not sophisticated. I still listened to the radio and bought CDs. There was a particular CD that I played pretty constantly in the spring of 2007: Army of Me’s debut album Citizen. That summer I turned 18, graduated from high school, and started a new job ten hours away from home. It was one of the best summers of my life, but also one that hit me hard with a lot of emotional upheaval (new job, new friends, new college town to explore).
“Going Through Changes” is a standard pop song structurally: Two verses, a chorus, and a bridge. The music is equally simple: Drummer Dennis Manuel provides a basic beat and the guitarists don’t get fancy with their power chords. One of the highlights of Army of Me’s music is their lyrics. They are not especially deep, but the refrain, “And I know that I needed changes/But not this/’Cause this is not painless” reached out to my sometimes overexcited self and grounded me in reality. This song reminds me that while change is inevitable it is a necessary part of life.
Reliant K, “Here I Go”
The following summer I was back home in Maryland and struggling with equal parts boredom and restlessness. It was the perfect time for one of my favorite bands to release a new compilation. Relient K’s The Birds and The Bee Sides two-disc set was full of new songs and revitalized favorites. One song that was new to me was “Here I Go.” I defy anyone who is having a bad day to turn on this song and not feel empowered by the time the last note plays.
One of the strongest elements of Relient K is their ability to pair emotional lyrics with quality music, which keeps them in the power pop/punk genre and hopefully out of the dreaded emo tag. What sells me on this song every single listen is the bridge as Matthew Thiessen sings: “Move out/Move on/You’ll blink and I’m gone/I’ve only got one life to live/I’ll live it now”—these lyrics aided me in a time when I just felt hopeless and antsy to get back to my college town.
Alison Krauss, “Goodbye is All We Have”
Although it may seem weird that I’ve included a country singer on this list, I’ll confide that when I am really pining for some good soul-cleansing, life-affirming lyrics, I always turn to Alison Krauss. Krauss is accompanied on this song by the Union Station Band and includes banjos and acoustic guitars plucking simple notes.
However, what makes this song for me is Alison’s voice. I believe she has one of the purest and most beautiful voices in music today. And while this song reflects a break up with its subsequent departure and “good riddance” sentiment, it is the song I wanted to hear the most this past summer. I wasn’t about to move to a new town and certainly hadn’t left an unworthy suitor, but I did quit my job. This involved more tears than I’d like to admit, but Alison’s voice encouraged me to stay positive. She and her band have crafted a song that is hopeful but not careless, as she sings: I’m heading north/ Gonna see what this heart’s really worth/I guess it’s time to be on my own”. This song spoke to me when I was leaving one job and heading home myself for a very different kind of experience.
Each of these songs has had an impact on my life. In the last few years I have gone from living at home to living in a brand new town, I’ve taken on new jobs and quit ones when I knew I was through, and just plain had bad days. While I believe that I would have survived those struggles without these songs just fine, I believe that I am better for having listened to them.