Would you look at that alliteration in my title? It’s the little things that bring a smile to my face, haha.
Hello and good evening! If you’re new here, I hope you’ll stop by for a couple of minutes to learn more about my Aural Autumn series. Every Thursday night, I post and talk about a particularly important or moving song that, in some way or another, has played a major role in my own personal development and/or my creative writing. In tonight’s case, it’s both.
Evanescence. For the most part, I don’t consistently listen to this band from Little Rock, Arkansas. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely respect and appreciate both Amy Lee and Ben Moody (who is no longer a member, but was a key contributor in the early days). I definitely grew up listening to all their major hits on the radio: “Going Under,” “Bring Me to Life,” “Sweet Sacrifice,” and, of course, “My Immortal.” However, I leaned more toward the hard rock ballads of Deftones and A Perfect Circle in my high school and college days.
Then, while I was dating my first boyfriend a few years ago, he gave me something special: a copy of Origin, the first demo album ever released by Evanescence. One song in particular got ingrained in my heart pretty quickly, and that song is “Anywhere.”
Love songs are usually hit or miss for me, but this one continues to linger. I can sense Amy Lee’s quiet but steady passion, the way she must have felt when falling head over heels for that one person whom she would have gladly run away with. It’s more than sentimental; it’s mystical.
In writing Stalder Press to Handstand and, now for NaNoWriMo, its sequel, The Flyer and the Base, I’ve had some time to reflect on jealousy and, more specifically, how it can be compounded by intense grief and self-doubt. This is a central theme in both stories, and one that I still grapple with in real life from time to time. Every once in a while, though, it’s nice to take a step back and reflect on how calming and inspirational pure love can be. For me, it’s become easier to find my own sense of peace. That’s because I’ve started to repeat two little mantras to myself when I feel down or forgotten:
- “I love, I am loved.”
- “Those I feel jealous of, resent, or in some way reject simply want to be happy, just like I do.”
While I still have a way to go, I’m healing and becoming a better man. For me, “Anywhere” is a simple reminder of the patience and virtuousness that I possess. It also takes me back to some of those nighttime drives that I used to go on while still living in Lubbock. Ahh, man…I was simpler back then. Even though it wasn’t the most cultured place in the world, Lubbock has a sort of expansive and mysterious quality to it that never gets old.
Here’s to more love songs like “Anywhere.”
You Young Adult Nostalgic 