First off, we'll start with one of my personal favorite musicians. The lovely lady known as Beth Crowley goes by bethj007 on YouTube if you'd like to check her out.

Ookay, so you're going to make me look up some amateur singer/songwriter that I probably won't even like! Wow, thanks Liz!

I can taste the skepticism. The answer to that is yes, and also probably no. You see, Mrs. Crowley isn't just a singer/songwriter. Besides the fact that she has an amazing voice, she is also (like us) a professional fangirl.

She writes songs about books (and 90 second songs about nonsense submitted by lovely viewers)! Have you ever felt a feel and then wanted to tell everyone what feeling you're feeling, but couldn't find the words? Beth has the words!

She has all of the beautiful perfect words and lovely background music. Her songs are deep and personal and also lighthearted. They're real, tangible things. (Little to) No money, sex, or drugs, which is great because I have never personally experienced any of those (well not much anyways, only in proper amounts and for proper reasons. Forget it, Liz, you're digging yourself a hole).

Her are some of my personal favorite lyrics, and because I am a terrible person, I'm making this a scavenger hunt. To those of you who are up to the task, find the songs that all of these lyrics belong to and leave them in those inline comments (Or if you can't, just do the number and song title, that'll work too).

While you're doing that, I'm going to analyze the lyrics and tell you what they mean to me personally. If you truly don't give a damn, then neither do I, just skip all of this.

Wordy, annoying, incessant introduction aside, let the games begin ;)

Don't say a word or I am going to lose my nerve. I guess your silence might be more than I deserve.
This is pretty true to life. We can break this up into two parts. The first sentence resonates because confidence can be so difficult to muster and the smallest thing can break it. As for the second sentence, I'm sure we all know people that shouldn't waste their words on us. You can be the nicest, most honest, most important person in the world, and I promise you, there is someone out there that doesn't need to listen to you. She feels like she has screwed it up with this person, but she has the courage to stand up and say what needs to be said. I love it!

You weigh the choice to live or die and don't know which is worse.
Considering this song is about Beth's personal struggle with depression, I can definitely relate. In case you don't know, I was diagnosed with depression at the age of thirteen, it's all good now, you have no reason to worry. Even those who don't technically have depression can feel depressed. Sometimes it seems pointless, and you just want to give up. Even though you know that giving up is the worst thing you can possibly imagine, it seems so futile to keep going. Beth really got me in the feels on this one, and her gorgeous voice is just the cherry on the sundae.

Another came along, and slowly won your heart. I cared enough for you to let you go.
This statement, while absolutely fruitlooping devastating, is so true. There's that old saying, "If you love someone, let them go" and this feels like an obvious allusion to that. I think that it's pretty straightforward. That sometimes, even though it seems impossible, you have to let go of someone to (as any fan of Once Upon A Time knows) give them their best shot.

This back and forth is stopping tonight 'cause I'm standing here telling you, "Make me yours."
I love this! She's finally standing firm and speaking out. Own up to your feelings, tell that person what you mean and what you feel. There's a point where there's nothing that can go worse, so you "put it all out on the line".

Now I'm playing with matches all alone here in the dark.
Wow, we're getting sad again. I could have picked a number of lines from this song, but I'm only choosing the one. I think that this one really stands out, maybe on a more personal level. I definitely know the feeling, though. I know that sometimes you feel so scared and alone and out of breath, that it feels like any move you make will yield disastrous results.

A thousand times the words just died right on my lips.
Who knows this feeling? I know this feeling! To that one obstinate reader, you can put your hand up, because this is a feeling everyone knows. There are just those moments when you feel utterly powerless. The times that you want to speak up most, are the ones where you don't have the ability to say anything. It can be so hard to admit things to other people, but it can be a million times harder to admit them to yourself. Sometimes you know how you should be acting, what you should be saying, what you should be feeling, but you just aren't. Let me just tell you, it sucks, but you're not alone, everyone feels this way.

Disregarding consequences, letting down all my defenses to my porcelain heart.
This is pretty good! You hand over some substantial part of yourself to someone, you drop your guard, and you stop worrying about the future. I basically just summarized what she said, but that was my way of agreeing with her ;). I know the feeling, I can relate.

A check mark on my lessons learned. You don't always get what you deserve.
This song is just a bleak one. It seems sort of hopeless and awful, even the title. It's absolutely devastating. Despite this, I can't help but wonder what exactly she was expecting. What does she think she deserves? Is she referring to the other party, did they not get payment that she felt was appropriate. I get that she feels betrayed, but this line has a bit of a god complex feel to it.

I felt it as we melted into something wonderful.
Have you guys ever had that one person who just got you? Maybe a significant other, maybe a close friend. If you have, then you're one of the lucky few who truly know this feeling. When you have that one person, you can let your guard down. And you feel a physical change in the air, you know exactly what's happening, even if it's totally foreign to you. You're just so comfortable and happy and everything is simply perfect. You have, as Beth says, "melted into something wonderful." I think that this is now the only acceptable way to describe that moment, melting into it. Thank you for giving me the words to describe how it feels. I hope that everyone reading will get that one day, the melting into something better.

Don't blame the timing 'cause the only time is now.
Procrastination. Something we, as human beings, know all too well. Although it's hard, we need to learn not to blame the little factors. They may have caused some obstacle, but in the end, you have to just own up to it and do it. Stand up, say what needs to be said, and get it done with.

Okay, so upon second thought, I've realized that
a.) I have too much to say about too many songs
AND
b.) I'll have to do more of this, I like it!

I think I'll definitely have to talk about 2007 in a part. I might do a super deep and potentially feels-invoking chapter on my personal struggles with depression. Maybe I'll also discuss This Goodbye, even though I can't personally relate to it. I do have a lot to say about some of the lovely lyrics. I barely even touched upon my favorite songs and lyrics of hers. So possible depression part is an idea ready to go. If you guys want to skip it, feel free, but this book is really just for me to get my thinking out, so I don't mind if you skip some parts or opt out of others.

Of course, these were only the most prominent themes, ideas, and feelings that I took away from these words. You guys might find totally different meanings in these songs and I would absolutely love love love to hear them so leave me comments please! I want to know what you're all taking away from this.

I think that that's all for today folks, enjoy :D

XoXoX,
Lizard