Entertainment Tuesday #4

American Candy

American Candy is The Maine's fifth studio album and I can honestly say, it's my favorite album they've ever released! I've been a huge fan of The Maine for about eight years now; I used to go to every Southern California show they would play and I even street teamed for their record label at the time, Fearless Records. Street teaming gave me a lot of cool opportunities to hang out with the band even more than I already was; a lot of backstage access, all very exciting! As I got older and busier, though, I stopped seeing them play, but I never stopped listening to them. All of their albums are incredible, but American Candy has become a part of me.

American Candy is your classic alternative/pop-punk/indie record with some of my favorite tracks being Am I Pretty?, (Un)lost, and American Candy. In all honesty, the whole album is so well written and the music behind the lyrics is so perfect for just driving around with friends on a beautiful day. There's a song called 24 Floors, a song John O'Callaghan (lead vocals) wrote about his deep depression that he went through when he was in his early twenties. It's such a darkly honest song about feeling like things will never get better, but the band pushes the message that things do get better and just to hold on to that a little bit longer.

The actual track, American Candy, is one of my absolute favorites because I relate to it so much! The candy they sing of could be anything from media, material things, to drugs and the chorus "They've got American candy/For the American kids/And even if you wanted to you couldn't stop/It's just so sweet/ But this American candy/It'll rot your teeth" and lines like "Try to think back to/Back to a time when/You loved what you loved/Because you loved it are so incredibly powerful. Give the song a listen and tell me what you think because it can be interpreted in so many ways, but either way you interpret it, there's a real depth and truth to the words.

I almost forgot how incredible the album is until I was driving around town with Dalton yesterday and we were just cruisin' along, windows down, breeze in the air, belting out the words to each song. The Maine as a whole have saved my life and got me through more difficult times than they will every understand and that is why they and American Candy are this week's Entertainment Tuesday. :) I'll leave you with the first single they released off the album, English Girls. Enjoy! xx

It's been 84 years...

Hello lovely reader, I've not written properly on this blog in ages! This is something I seem to do quite often; I'll come back, talk about how I've been gone for quite some time, say I'll be writing again and then I disappear. Again. It's quite a shame, really, because I genuinely enjoy writing this blog, no matter if it's about beauty, life, anxiety, etc; I just love it. This is not the only place I've neglected writing, I no longer write in my journal anymore either. Shock horror! 😨

I'll be honest, as I always am (if not, a bit too honest at times), my anxiety has been so terrible, the past few months, in particular that I spend all my free hours outside of work and school watching YouTube videos. I haven't been able to tear myself away from a screen for fear of any terrible thoughts or feelings that might come. Because of this, I haven't really written anything anywhere, I haven't read or listened to any books, I barely go out, it's all bad. It's also the complete opposite of the list of things I wrote at the beginning of the year that I wanted to do.

However, it's only the beginning, but the past few days have been pretty damn good! I'll tell you why. :) I went to see the band, The Maine this past Friday and the lead singer (John O'Callaghan) said something that has stuck with me and I think always will. He said something along the lines of "Get off the internet, off YouTube, off your phones and go outside. Human interaction is awesome! And enjoy the sun and being outside; look we're all outside right now having a good time." It's been a few days so I did have to piece that together how I remember it in my head, so its definitely not 100% accurate. LOL For months, Dalton (my best friend, if you remember) and my mom have said things very similar to that, but John's words were the final push I needed to get out of my rut.

I'm not entirely out of my rut, but I feel like I'm slowly, but surely getting out. I feel hope again. I still haven't spent much time outside, but I've been pushing myself to exude more positivity and strength. I'm also trying to do more things besides watching YouTube vides; things like actually doing my homework, chanting (part of my new Buddhist practice), and spending more time with my mom. I owe a lot to The Maine. I've been a fan of theirs since I was 15 and they're a huge part of my life and sanity. They are an incredible band and if you're into groovy, rock, indie type music with truly inspiring lyrics, you should really check them out!

24 Floors - The Maine
Photo courtesy of wehearit

I do hope that I'll stay writing on this blog more frequently from here on out, as it could be an incredible outlet for me and I do just love the blogging community. :) I think that's all for now so I will talk to you all again very soon! xx