Top 10 songs of the decade.

This is my opinion of the top 10 songs of the decade 2000-2009. Mainly personal opinion, but I did do a bit of research into what other people and publications thought were the best. Not necessarily my favourite songs, or songs I even listen to often. But I admit #1 is only #1 because I think it's the greatest song ever written <3 hahaha.

10. Coldplay - Yellow

9. Mogwai – Friend Of The Night

8. Sufjan Stevens – Chicago

7. Bright Eyes – Road To Joy

6. Sam Hart – Mario Kart Love Song

5. Arcade Fire – Wake Up

4. The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army

3. Eminem – Stan

2. Daft Punk – Harder Better Faster Stronger

1. The Killers – Mr Brightside

For the past month or so I've been playing Final Fantasy IX. I've made it my goal to have finished each of the numbered FF games (1-13) by the end of next year. (excluding XI, because it's online. I may replace it with X-2, we'll see how we go) I wanted to finish FFIX before the end of the year, which I've done. And it knocks VIII of its pedestal of 'Best Final Fantasy Game' and then poops all over it from the top.

Okay not quite, VIII is a fantastic game. But IX I think is just better. I heard it say that VIII is the emo teenager of the group, and that's probably true. It's filled with as much teenage angst as a song by My Chemical Romance. But that's good. I think the contrast from VII and VIII to IX makes it as great as it is.

The main character, Zidane, is a happy, out-there, womanizing thief with a monkey tail. Compare this to Squall and Cloud from the previous two games, who are all quiet, reserved 'lone-wolf' types (for the most part, anyway). The previous two are in worlds of 'Fantasy meets Technology', where both magic and science combine to create this unique sort of world. IX is a more traditional medieval fantasy setting. It was the refreshing game the series needed at this time, and it was perfectly placed and produced fantastically.

I think what drives this game most are the characters. You can't help but hopelessly fall in love with them in the very beginning. Zidane the womanizing thief. Garnet the young princess who wanted to be kidnapped. Steiner her up-tight, clumsy knight. Vivi the cute little black mage. Zorn and Thorn, the court jesters who, for some reason, remind me of Shakespeare. Then you get to know them and it's like you were trapped from the very beginning, you can't help but care for them and everything. They were all developed really well and I think it's the game's strongest point.

The storyline is another strong point. It's very deep and winding and everything sort of fits together in the end. And for a light-hearted game, it got quite dark in parts. But it wouldn't have worked as well as it did if it wasn't for those little moments. And it tackles some really deep questions. What is our purpose in life, what is death, etc.

The music, as per normal, is fantastic. It took me a while to really get into it, but there ended up being some great tracks which fit perfectly with certain scenes and certain characters. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Nobuo Uematsu is a genius.

The weakest part was probably just the gameplay, I'd say. And this isn't even a huge complaint. At time the random encounter battles just got plain annoying. You just wanted to get out of the freaking dungeon and get some story knocked over or something. Plus some of the normal battles were really quite hard. I'm used to just mindlessly attacking my way through dungeons, but I actually had to put some thought into these battles. Well done!

So yeah, overall I think it's my favourite Final Fantasy game. Next on the list is VI, unless XIII comes out before I get my hands on it. IX is definitely the game I will be directing Final Fantasy noobs to from now on.



There will be spoilers in this part. You're warned.
Favourite Characters:

1. Vivi
Vivi is quite probably not only the best character in the game, but the best character in the entire series. He is a small cute black mage who gets caught up in the part somehow. When they visit the village of Dali, they find out that black mages are being manufactured as soulless weapons of war. Vivi obviously is very effected by that and receives a lot of grief from townspeople who claim his people destroyed their home. Eventually the party find a village of black mages who escaped, learned how to talk and created a small community. Vivi finds outs that black mages are 'stopping' (dying) as they were only created with a limited lifespan of a year. Vivi has to fight with this knowledge that he won't be around for much longer while trying to discover why he was created. He's easily the most relatable character in the game and often times you just want to hug him and say "I know what it's like, I've been through this too." In the ending cinematic (mega spoiler time) you see everyone else, including Vivi's children, but not Vivi. I'm lead to believe that he stopped, which absolutely breaks my heart while simeltaneously making him the best character in the franchise.


2. Kuja
Kuja is the primary antagonist of the game. At first you think he's just the usual sort of deal, guy has a huge ego problem and thinks he can take over the world. But he's a great villian: he monologues (with some beautiful ones in there), has a God-complex, is smart and has the resources to be able to fulfill his plans. When you go to Terra, a different world, you learn the full story (again, spoilers): Garland was created to look after Terra and in order for Terra to survive it needs to assimilate with another world, in this case Gaia, the one where everyone lives. Kuja was created by Garland so that he could merge the two worlds. So really you end up getting this kinda sympathetic view of Kuja. He's not a psychopath, he's just doing what he was made to do. In the end it turns out he is a bit of a psychopath, though. Garland tells him that Zidane was Kuja's replacement and that Kuja is in fact mortal and will die. Kuja can't accept this and basically says "If I can't live, no one can live. That would be unfair." so he destroys Terra. Then he goes to Gaia to destroy this Crystal which is the beginning and end of everything, it is basically life and death. But again, you get this sympathetic view of him when he realises what life actually is, when he is about to die. He's knocked out of this god-complex he has and sees what life actually is. He teleports the party to safety, keeping them all alive.


3. Beatrix
Beatrix is the a general of the Alexandrian army. She's very strong, a great fighter, known throughout the land, all that cliche stuff. She is loyal to the Queen even when she was being corrupted by Kuja, until Queen Brahne tries to kill Garnet. Beatrix then becomes a mostly non-playable protagonist, helping the party protect the princess. Though despite being such a strong female in the story, you also get to know everything that goes on in her mind. And inside she's very lonely, lost between serving the Queen and doing what is moral, troubled by all these things. All her emotions are very open for the player to see. In a big way she's the character which emphasises that you can be a great person, but in the end you're still human. Something that Kuja just couldn't grasp.
Also, Steiner and Beatrix end up falling in love. An unlikely couple, they used to be rivals, but she is perfect for him. He needs a strong woman to keep him in line. It's so cute. hahaha.



Favourite Songs:

Rose of May



You're Not Alone!


The Dark Messenger


Song from her Memories

The Turtles.

I had an awesome dream last night and thought it would be a great children's story. So I wrote it up.



The Turtles.

Once upon a time there was a baby turtle named John. John was very small, even for a turtle his age, but was very friendly.

One day, when he was becoming a bit older, John’s dad talked to him about finding a partner turtle.
“You have to go out into the big world and find yourself a girl turtle!” said John’s dad.
John didn’t want to go outside. After all, the world was a big place and he was only a small turtle. “I don’t want to go, dad! Why do I have to?” asked John.
“So that you can have children, just like your mother and I did! That’s how you were born!” said John’s dad.

John figured that it was a good idea now as he quite liked being born. So the next day, John said goodbye to his mum and his dad and his brothers and left home to find a girl turtle.

After a day, John had had no luck finding a girl turtle. He had only found two other turtles and they were both boys. They lived in a big amusement park named DreamWorld, it looked like lots of fun and John wanted to go there. John started to feel a bit dry, so he found a big pond nearby and went for a swim. After his swim, he went to lie on the bank so he could sleep.

He laid there for only a minute when he saw another turtle coming his way! And this time it was a girl turtle! She was very pretty, but had a big crack in her shell. John came out of his shell and waited for the girl turtle to pass him. When she was passing him, John made his move.
“Hi, I’m John!” he said as she walked in front of him.
The girl turtle turned to him and said “Hi John, my name is Elizabeth. Nice to meet you!”
“You too!” replied John. “I was wondering if you have ever been to DreamWorld?”
“No, I haven’t!” said Elizabeth. “But I really want to go, it looks like lots of fun!”
“Let’s go right now then!” John said.
So John and Elizabeth both walked to the amusement park together, talking and laughing along the way.

When they got to DreamWorld, it was all closed up because it was night time. They walked under the gate and it began to rain, which was good because they were both feeling really dry after the big walk. They swam in the puddles, walked along the rollercoaster tracks and ate lots of yummy food.

When they were about to leave, John told Elizabeth about what his dad told him.
“My dad said that I need to find a girl turtle so I can have baby turtles!” said John.
Elizabeth was shocked. “Yes, my mum told me the same thing! She told me I had to find a boy turtle to have children with!”
So John and Elizabeth decided they would be together. They found a place in the rafters to live. John didn’t like it, but Elizabeth insisted they live here.

Eventually Elizabeth laid some eggs. She would take care of the eggs, covering them with grass and leaves to keep them warm. John would go out at night and find some food left on the ground in DreamWorld to bring back to Elizabeth.

One day a bit later, the eggs hatched! There were two boys and one girl, who they named Jackson, John II and Katie. John and Elizabeth loved their children very much and were very happy together.

After two months, it had not rained a single time! All the water around the place had begun to disappear and all the turtles felt very dry. Elizabeth was feeling very weak nowadays and spent most of her time asleep in her shell. John came over to her and Elizabeth came out of her shell and asked him why he woke her up.
“We need to find some water or else we are going to die!” said John.
“But I cannot move, and either can the children. We are all very weak.” Said Elizabeth.
“If we do not get to water soon, we will die!” yelled John. He was very worried about himself and his family.
“Then go by yourself, because we cannot go anywhere. We will wait for the rain.” Elizabeth said back.
So John left Elizabeth and their children in order to find some water. Elizabeth was very upset, but she remained confident that it would rain soon.

Many night passed and no rain had come. Elizabeth was nearly about to die and just had to say goodbye to all her children. Elizabeth decided to use her last bit of energy to go down to the ground and into a bush to eat something. When she got down to the bottom she had no more energy left so she laid down on the side of the path.

Along came a human named Mathew. He saw the dead turtle and was very sad. He picked Elizabeth up and walked to the closest bush to put her in. As Mathew was walking with Elizabeth in his hand, it began to rain! As he put Elizabeth down in the dirt, he noticed that the turtle was moving a little bit. He picked the turtle up and said to it “You’re not dead!”
“No, I’m not dead!” replied Elizabeth. “Although I almost was, I was just lucky the rain came. My name is Elizabeth!”
“My name is Mathew.” he said. “Why are you in DreamWorld all by yourself?”

Elizabeth told Mathew everything. She told him about meeting John, about having fun with him in DreamWorld, about having children and about John leaving her to find water. She told him that she was very upset and wanted to find another turtle so she could start another family.

“Well, okay then!” said Mathew. “Let’s go and find you another turtle!”
Mathew began walking around DreamWorld with Elizabeth in his hand when she said “I don’t want to live in DreamWorld anymore.”
“Why not?” Asked Mathew.
“I realise now that it was a bad idea living here. It is very dry and the air smells funny.” Said Elizabeth.
“How do you know it smells funny?”
“Because I can smell the outside air on your hand, and it smells nice.”

So Mathew and Elizabeth began to go outside. On the handrail on the steps they found another turtle! So Mathew placed Elizabeth on the handrail and she went over to the other turtle.
“Hi, my name is Elizabeth! It’s nice to see another turtle around here!”
“Hi, Elizabeth” replied the other turtle. “My name is Heath! It sure is nice now that it is raining.”
Elizabeth told Heath about what had happened, and that she was looking for another turtle to start a family with. Heath was scared because she was very upfront and Heath was shy. Elizabeth kept pushing Heath until he accidentally fell off the handrail! It wasn’t a very long fall, but she heard his shell crack a little, not badly though.

“See, now we are meant to be together!” said Elizabeth. She showed Heath the crack in her shell and it looked exactly like the one in Heath’s shell.
“Okay then.” Said Heath. “Let’s find a home.”

So the two turtles found a home by a pond and had five children. It was always wet at the pond with plenty of food. And they lived happily ever after.

iTunes Quiz Thingy

How many songs in total?
980

Sort by Song Title; What are the first and last songs?
First: Absolutely (Story of a Girl) - Nine Days
Last: 9000 Miles - Pendulum

Sort by Artist; what are the first and last artists?
First: Anberlin
Last: Zachary Sterling

Sort by Time; what are the first and last songs?
Shortest: Crayons Can Melt On Us For All I Care - Relient K (0:12)
Longest: Darkness and Starlight - The Black Mages (15:23)

Sort by Album; what are the first and last albums?
First: Adagio, by Sweetbox
Last: Yourself or Someone Like You, Matchbox Twenty

Top 5 Played Songs:
1. The Killers - Mr Brightside (174 plays)
2. The Killers - Read My Mind (164 plays)
3. The Killers - Midnight Show (152 plays)
4. The Killers - Human (139 plays)
5. The Killers - Believe Me Natalie (127 plays)

Find “sex” – how many songs show up?
13. I would like to point out that these results are entirely from Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds album, except for a single song from Language. Sex. Violence. Other?, by the Stereophonics.

Find “death” – how many songs show up?
23. Mainly songs by Death Cab for Cutie, or from Coldplay's album 'Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends'.

Find “love” – how many songs show up?
51. Because I love love.

Try and put as many letters as you can into the search, with spaces in between each letter, if one letter takes all the selections out, skip it, and continue, until you’ve got as many as possible.

What song is left?
Jamiroquai - Love Foolosophy

What Letters were used?
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v y

This quiz is awesome because it makes my iTunes library seem so much more diverse than what it is :)

GMH

I've always had friend issues. I'm the kinda person who constantly worries about things like if his friends actually like him, actually care for him, actually want to know me and want to hang around me. I'm paranoid that my friends aren't actually my friends, I worry that I force myself on people and that I'm only invited to things if I'm within earshot of people at the time they were organising it. Basically, as I said in the first sentence, I have friend issues.

I think it's because I wouldn't want to be my friend. Although I try my hardest to be friendly, to have fun and to really put effort into my friendships, I don't feel as if I've got anything to offer them. I'm quite picky with my friends too, I surround myself with people who are determined, driven, confident and generally pretty happy and fun. Most of these things I'm not. And although I try and use them to bring me up, most of the time I feel as if I'm bringing them down.

I have many groups of friends: church, course, online, etc. I have friend issues with people in all these groups, for different reasons. But there's one group who prove to me over and over again that they actually want to be my friends. That's my high school friends.

Today it was about 9:30am and I was just lying in bed awake. I got a phone call from a friend and it went like this

"Hey bud"
"Get out of bed, you're coming to the beach."
"...But I'm in bed."
"I don't care, you're coming to the beach."
"You don't understand, I'm in bed."
"Look. We'll be at your house in ten minutes. If you're not on your doorstep in boardies at that time, we're pulling you out of bed."

And he hung up.

This single conversation pretty much epitomises friendship for me. He called me, invited me out, knew what I was doing before I told him, so many things which made me know that I was valued. This isn't the only thing, my high school friends are virtually the only people who invite me out to things, who I do things on a regular basis with, who I feel actually want me as a friend. There are exceptions in the other groups, people who I feel value me, but for the most part I miss this feeling in other groups.

I wonder what it is. Is it the fact I was there from the very beginning with the formation of high school friendship group, whereas I've joined other groups? Nah I was there at the formation of YMIS group, and I've been at the church for quite a while. There's always the Christian factor. As much as I don't like to admit it, some of the most judgmental people I know are Christians. Even though we're called not to be. It's funny, we're all accepting of those in other Social classes, such as the disabled or at-risk or unfortunate. But when it comes to people in our OWN social class, Christians hold no reservations in judging people it seems.

So basically, my high school friends Give Me Hope.

Anberlin

So tomorrow I'm seeing Anberlin. I am so mega-excited.

When I saw the Killers I like did this thing of my expectations of what they're going to play and stuff. I'm doing the same here, see how close I get.

These songs they'll definitely play:
Paperthin Hymn
Godspeed
Feel Good Drag
Never Take Friendship Personal
Adelaide
Breaking
Change the World

These songs they better play or I'm gonna kill a baby:
A Day Late
Dismantle. Repair.
Time & Confusion
Hello Alone
Glass to the Arson
The Resistance
Stationary Stationery (My favourite Anberlin song)
Disappear
Blame Me! Blame Me!
A Whisper & A Clamor

These songs if they play I'll be so happy but I'm not particularly expecting them to:
Audrey, Start the Revolution!
Haight Street
Dance, Dance, Christa Paffgen
Cadence
Soft Skeletons
Naive Orleans
The Runaways
The 16 bit remix of Glass to the Arson. =P


Make sure I update with the set so I can forever remember it. <3

Introduction

Boy: I wish there was a way I could express it.
Girl: What do you mean?
Boy: Well actually, there is one way.
Girl: What?
Boy: You'd hate me for it.
Girl: Tell me.
Boy: No.
Girl: Tell me.
Boy: No.
Girl: Tell me.
Boy: No, I'd regret it forever.
Girl: What is it?
Boy: You don't want to know.
Girl: Yes I do.
Boy: Why?
Girl: Because I think I want to do it too.
Boy: What?
Girl: Assuming we're thinking of the same thing.
Boy: Which is?
Girl: No.
Boy: Tell me.
Girl: No.
Boy: Tell me.
Girl: You tell me.
Boy: Fine, I want to kiss you.
Girl: Do it.
Boy: No.
Girl: I dare you.
Boy: No.
Girl: Why not?
Boy: I'd regret it.
Girl: No you wouldn't.
Boy: Shut up. You'd regret it.
Girl: No I wouldn't.
Boy: Yes you would, I know you would.
Girl: I'd regret it more if we didn't.
Boy: You're not making this easy for me.
Girl: I thought I was taking a rather direct route actually.
Boy: You are, but you're making it awkward.
Girl: Am I?
Boy: Yes.
Girl: Really? Because if we had it my way it would all be over and done with by now.
Boy: Yes, but I get to savour the moment with my way.
Girl: Would you hurry up and kiss me already?
Boy: Fine. No tongue.
Girl: No tongue.

Contender

Today was a contender for the "Best Day of My Life" competition I run with myself. Other finalists include my first day in Disneyland, the day I saw the Killers, the day I arrived in Sydney for AusOne and my year 12 formal night. And nothing big happened today, it's just everything I'd want in a normal month rolled into 24 hours. It was seriously amazing.

So as the day started at midnight, I'll start it from there. I hadn't gone to sleep yet but five of my friends were over and we were playing Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne. I have lots of fun at LAN parties and that finished at about 3am when I went to sleep.

I woke up at 10 and went to a friend's house, where we chilled for an hour then headed to the cinemas. We sang along to Relient K loudly in the car. We had car-races through David Jones. We had KFC for lunch. The movie we saw was The Ugly Truth, which I enjoyed so much. I laughed and smiled a lot and it put me in a really good mood.

I came home for a little, had a few quick chats with some online friends before having to duck out again. I went to see a play my friend was in. It was an adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, in which my friend played Mayella Violet Ewell. She did an amazing job and I really enjoyed all the plays that they had.

Also, while at the school, I got recognised. I'm actually not embarrassed when this happens, in fact I love it. I was recognised by liv (http://youtube.com/livontoast). We're friendly with each other, but never really had the chance to talk at all. I want this to change. Anyway we only talked for quite literally a minute or two, I think she was expecting to be picked up from school at any second. =P This put me in a wonderful mood.

After the plays I went straight to the snooker bar where I played pool with a few friends. And to make it even better, I made new friends! That really, really makes my day so incredible. Afterward we all went to Maccas and just chatted. And even though my 'new friends' managed to find out about my YouTube ongoings within a few hours of meeting me, I had so much fun here. One of the girls is also a huge Harry Potter fanatic like me, so we spent most of the time fangirling over that.

And now I'm home. Maybe that doesn't seem like such an amazing day to you, but I tell you that I'm currently in the best mood I've been in for a very long time. This day has been magical. :)

blagosfyre.

Howdy gang.

As most of you probably know by now, I've been away for the last few weeks. If you want me to go into more detail about it, with the course I'm doing we need to have some sort of experience with people of another culture. So for 2 weeks we went to an aboriginal community in the Queensland Outback and really helped out where ever was needed. We did teacher-aide work, ran an after-school program, cleaned up the school, and built relationships with the community. If you don't want to know more about it, then unread the last couple of sentences.

The trip was a whole lot of fun. Not only was it great gaining experience working with Aboriginal children, it was a good time to get to know lots of really awesome people from my course. To the right is a photo of the entire Dajarra Primary School and our group. The fact that I'm already incredibly white because I never get out combined with all the dark people in the photo makes me look like a ghost. I love especially Shontelle, the girl in the front hugging Brendon, and Sharndon, the first grader in the front with the awesome hair.

While I was in Dajarra, it was my 19th birthday. It was one of my best birthdays to date. Without me even knowing, all the others guys in my group managed to bake me a birthday cake and we had a mini-party. Also, the kids found out it was my birthday so they spent the day singing (yelling?) happy birthday to me whenever they saw me. It was really nice having other people getting excited about my birthday instead of me trying to get everyone else excited about it.

When I got back from my trip, my mum gave me a gift which you can see the to the left. It's a photo of my baptism in a nice photo frame which says "Confirmed in Christ". I was baptised on Easter Sunday of this year, for your information.

This is the loveliest gift I've ever recieved. My family are all not religious, so it means a lot to me that they'd recognise such an important step in my faith and frame it for me. It still makes me smile every time I look at it as much as I did when they gave it to me.

Anyway, I have to do an assignment on the cross-cultural trip and it's due on Friday. But I leave for Melbourne on Thursday, so I have to get it done by Wednesday, which is tomorrow. Suddenly you see why I'm here. That's right, procrastination strikes again.

True, I need to submit it online and therefore could do it while down in Melbourne. But honestly, who wants to be cooped up writing an assignment when they could be hanging out with internet-famous celebrities? Me, obviously.

Seeing as I've just mentioned it, I may as well dive into it. This weekend in Melbourne there's a Nerdfighter gathering and a Meet & Greet John Green/Reading of Paper Towns. If you can make it, come along! It's going to be a fun time full of camera-rocking nerd jokes and awesome.

Unfortunately for me, I won't be able to attend the Nerdfighter gathering on Saturday even though I'll be in the state. The original reason I was going down to Melbourne was because my church wanted me to go to this conference thing, which is on the Friday/Saturday. It's just convenient that John Green is in town that weekend. But I'll definitely be there on the Sunday and I'm sticking around until Tuesday. Let me know somehow if you want to catch up.

In unrelated news, the other night I bought the Midnight Juggernaut's album Dystopia from iTunes. I downloaded it based off two songs I had heard which I liked, a friend telling me it was 'good', and a little incling that told me it'd be worth the risk. I was a little nervous because the last album I bought of iTunes for the same reasons (Plans, by Death Cab for Cutie) was quite average and I didn't want to waste my money. (luckily, I bought Plans off a voucher I was given so technically didn't waste any money. It's an alright album, don't get me wrong, but I think it relies to heavily on I Will Follow You Into the Dark to make it a good album.)

Dystopia completely blew me away from the very first listen. It's totally amazing and worth buying. It's their only album to date, but when they release another I will be getting it, no doubt. Highly reccomended. Really digging Shadows, Twenty Thousand Leagues and the two songs I had heard previous to buying it, Road to Recovery and Into the Galaxy.

That's all from me, I'll get back to doing my assignment. Ugh. :)

K

Sorry I missed yesterday, I honestly didn't have a spare moment. =P

2. Relient K

Relient K are the band I relate to the most and for all reasons should be my very favourite, but for some reason aren't. I like them because their songs about self-improvment. As you'll see some of my favourite songs by them are about being lazy, taming the tongue, self-esteem, etc. But they just don't complain about life like most bands seem to do today, they say "well this is an issue in me which I've noticed and this is my journey through it." It's beautiful, really. Matthew Theissen is nothing short of a genius. They also get 15 songs because they're awesome.

15. I So Hate Consequences.
This song is on the Mmhmm album. If you could only ever buy one album on this planet, I would suggest Mmhmm. It's brilliant from start to finish. I So Hate Consequences is quite typical of a song on the album, fast paced pop-punk song with a slow 'resolution' part at the end. The lyrics in this can be a bit emo at times (I wanna run away, I wanna ditch my life) but it's nicely wrapped up at the end. So here I sit, looking at the traffic lights. The red extinguishes the hope that the green ignites.

14. At Least We've Made it This Far
I'm not sure if this is actually true, but I've always regarded this song to be about a long-distance relationship. The two people are madly in love with another but know that their relationship cannot go further unless they meet eye-are-ell so they do. I've never been in an online relationship before, nor do I plan on ever doing so, but I guess I like this song because I have so many online friends who I love deeply. It's generally a very positive song, 'everything's been great so far and now that we've met it looks like everything will be good for a while' to sum it up in a sentence. The way we say 'I Love You' a thousand times, we say those words but we can't look into each other's eyes.

13. Apathetic Way To Be
AWTB is a nice blend of the newish style of Relient K mixed with the cheek of their older albums. It's just about being lazy and apathetic, which I'm sure you already know, I am completely. It's really clever and full of cheek, but also makes it's point. And a half of me's all about apathy and the other half just doesn't care.

12. The Lining is Silver
This is from their newest EP with the best name for an EP ever, The Nashville Tennis EP (What can I say, I'm a sucker for puns). I hadn't heard the phrase 'silver lining' before this song so it took me a while to figure out what it was about. Then I realised it's about seeing the positive aspects in the ordinary things in life. Finding the 'silver lining'. I'm not sure if I'm an optimist of pessimist, I guess it depends on my mood, but this song definitely brings out the optimist in me. I found my new black shoes while cleaning out the bones left in my closet.

11. Bite My Tongue
This song deals with something I have a lot of troubles with: the taming of the tongue. I listen to this song and can totally relate to every word in it. I have an issue of speaking my mind, or saying thing's I'm not meant to, or just generally not shutting up in a certain situation and it's gotten me into a bit of trouble in the past. This song puts it all into perspective for me. Sometimes I say things that I wish that I could take back, the most crucial thing I lack is a thing called tact. And if you're always so intently listening then the smartest thing to say is to tell myself not to say a thing.

10. Mood Rings
I literally lol'd when I first heard this song. It's a song for guys about trying to figure out girls. The song is about how girls are so moody and the only way we're gonna have any chance with them is if we all give them mood rings so we can tell what mood they're in and can act accordingly. The line in particular a laughed-out-loud to is We all know the girls that I am talking about. She likes you Wednesday, but now it's Friday and she has to wash her hair. I just plain loved this song from the first time I heard it. haha. She's so pretty but she doesn't always act that way, her mood's a-swinging on that swingset almost everyday. She said to me that she's so happy it's depressing, and all I said was 'Will someone get that girl a mood ring?'

9. Getting Into You
Second song in a row from the Two Left's Don't Make a Right... But Three Do album! Cool. This song is nothing short of beautiful, I believe about two guys who share an amazing friendship together. A very Godly friendship, like a newly on-fire Christian and his mentor or something. Part of it is about this friendship, but the chorus always brings God back as the centre of the song, suggesting that in the friendship God is the centre of them. I have a friendship like this and always think of this person when this song comes on. When you looked at me and said 'I kinda view you as a son', for one second our eyes met and I met that with the question. 'Do you know what you are getting yourself into?'

8. Who I am Hates Who I've Been
Mmhmm was the first Relient K album I owned and as I said, is by far their best effort. This was a single off that album. It's about becoming a new person simply, getting over the past and changing old ways. It's catchy and meaningful, what a killer combination! I'm sorry for the person I became. I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change. I'm ready to be sure I never become that way again, because who I am hates who I've been.

7. For the Moments I Feel Faint
This is their biggest Christian song and if you asked any Christian what songs Relient K had, they would mention Pressing On and this one. But they'd probably call this song Never Underestimate My Jesus, because most people download songs nowadays with wrong names. Frustrating. And homygosh, when i just mentioned Pressing On I just had the biggest nostalgic moment. I love that song. Anway, FTMIFF has even been performed by my church before and it's lyrically one of the most beautiful things I've heard. Never underestimate my Jesus. You're telling me that there's no hope, I'm telling you you're wrong. Never underestimate my Jesus. When the world around you crumbles, he will be strong, he will be strong.

6. Must Have Done Something Right
This song has never failed to bring the biggest smile to me face. It's happy-go-lucky, optimistic and love-inspired. It's just about how lucky a guy is to have a girlfriend such as the one he does now. It's got some really corny, but really lovely lines and makes me smile just thinking about it. We should get jerseys, 'cause we make a good team.

5. Be My Escape
This would be their best song from Mmhmm, but not my favourite. It's one of those 'christian' songs where you're not quite sure whether it's about God or it's about another person, but I believe it to be about God, especially seeing as it makes reference to some Godly stuff like grace. The meaning of the song is nicely encaptulated by the video clip. It show the band playing in a room with the walls slowly closing in on them, and if I remember correctly at the end they're playing in a field. Maybe not, I haven't seen it in a while. I've given up on giving up slowly, I'm blending in so you won't even know me apart from this whole world that shares my fate.

4. Which To Bury, Us or the Hatchet.
This was my immediate favourite from Mmhmm and I have really loved it ever since. On my old computer, it was my most played song on itunes and is still rather high on this one. It's about people fighting, but more about what they're going to do. Should we end this relationship (bury us) or should we work out the problem and continue on (bury the hatchet, the cause of the problems). This song contains my favourite lyric from a Relient K song. I tried to move you, but you just wouldn't budge. I tried to hold your hand but you'd rather hold your grudge.

3. In Love With the 80's (Pink Tux To the Prom)
Now I wasn't even born in the 80's (though only just, 1990) but I am in love with this song. The song is about all things which were cool in the 80's. I guess I like it because it's catchy and I'm nostalgic and uhh...it's a good song! And I'm only gonna pierce my left ear, and I've been working on this moustache all summer long, and my favourite band will always be Tears for Fears, and I'm gonna wear a pink tux to the prom.

2. More Than Useless
My favourite song from Mmhmm. I can relate to it a lot as I fall into thinking myself as useless more often than is healthy. This song has picked me up and helped me out of that trap many many MANY times before. Sometimes I think that I'm not any good at all. Sometimes I wonder why, why I'm even here at all. But then you assure me I'm a little more than useless. When I think that I can't do this, you promise me that I'll get through this and do something right, do something right for once.

1. Faking My Own Suicide.
I know, incredibly odd choice for a favourite song. I've heard that people know people who love Relient K but refuse to listen to this song (either because of what it's about or because it's crap, I dunno) but nevertheless, it's my favourite song by Relient K. It's all about a man who pretends he committed suicide in order to get the attention of a girl. Weird, hey? I don't know why I like, but I think it's kinda sweet even though this guy would be the biggest jerk in the history or jerks if he did that. I guess I also like it because of it's naivity. The guy in the song truly believes that if he was to fake his suicide, the girl he loves will realise that she loved him all this time and once she admits it, he would "come back to life" and they'd go run away and get married together. I forget what the word for that is. We all know that it wouldn't work and he'd probably lose all his friends by doing that, but the fact he believes it would work...I don't know, it's kinda cute. I just love the song. Here's a really cute video to the song.



So I've made up my mind,
I will pretend to leave this world behind
and in the end you'll know I've lied
To get your attention, I'm faking my own suicide.

I'm faking my own suicide,
Because I know you love me, you just haven't realised.
I'm faking my own suicide.
We'll hold a double funeral, because a part of you will die along with me.

I wish you thought that I was dead,
So rather than me, you'd be depressed instead.
And before arriving at my grave,
You'd come to the conclusion you'd loved me all your days
but it's too late, too late for you to say.

Because I'm faking my own suicide,
Because I know you love me, you just haven't realised.
I'm faking my own suicide.
We'll hold a double funeral, because a part of you will die along with me.

I'll write you a letter that you'll keep,
Reminding you your love for me is more than six feet deep.
You say aloud that you would've been wife,
And right about that time is when I come back to life and let you know,
I'd let you know...

That all along I was faking my own suicide,
Because I know you loved me, you just never realised.
I was faking my own suicide.
I'll walk in that room and see your eyes open so wide,
Open so wide, because you know...

Because you know you will never leave my side
Until the day that I die for the first time.
And we'll laugh, yeah we'll laugh and we will cry,
So overjoyed with our love that's so alive,
Our love is so alive.