Once again, I want to apoligize for not posting a regular entry for such a long time. I guess I just needed a "Stuck in My Head" break or something. For one, I ran out of songs to review, but it's summertime now, and that always means new music! So in short, I just wanted to say..."I'M BACK!!" 

"Alive" by Superchick

As I mentioned above, with summer comes new music. This song is no exception; it's from Superchick's upcoming release called "Rock What You Got". (Available June 24 for those of you who care.) Like most songs from this band, "Alive" is catchy and upbeat. It almost has a techno vibe to it, which makes for a fun listening experience. However, as my faithful readers know, I wouldn't review this song unless the lyrics had something to offer.

Even though the lyrics are simple, in them lies a powerful and uplifting message. This message is easy to grasp, yet hard to live. As you probably guessed by the title, the song has something to do with being alive. It does. Moreover, it has to do with actually living, with taking life for what it is and enjoying it. That's why I said this truth is hard to live; because we're either waiting for tommorow or are so wraped up with hating today that we lose sight of what each day has to offer. Today is all we have, so it's imparitive to truly live, to be more than just alive. As a line in the song states, "We were meant to live while we're still alive". I'm fairly sure I've said this in another entry, but it's worth repeating: We don't know how much longer we'll have on this earth. We aren't guaranteed tommorow, so we must live for today. It's hard to do, but I truly think it can be done. You must decide for yourself: will you be content with simply living, or do you want to be alive? The choice is yours.

(Oh! For any of you that want to listen to this song, Superchick is giving it away for free. That's how I got it. The website is: www.superchicklovesyou.com . Enjoy!)

Love is Here by Tenth Avenue North

Okay, I know I usually write about the songs and what they mean to me, but today I'm doing something different. "Love is Here" is such a beautiful, truthful, and thoughtful song that it really doesn't need any interperting. I'm simply going to post the lyrics and let everyone chew on them. I have this song on my playlist if you'd like to listen too; it's the second song. Really listen to it and let me know what you think!

Here are the lyrics to "Love is Here"-

Come to the waters, you who thirst and you'll thirst no more
Come to the father, you who work and you'll work no more
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed

Love is here
Love is now
Love is pouring from
His hands, from his brows
Love is near, it satisfies
Streams of mercy flowing from his side
'Cause love is here

Come to the treasure, you who search and you'll search no more
Come to the lover you who want and you'll want no more, no
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed, yeah

Love is here
Love is now
Love is pouring from his hands, from his brows
Love is near, it satisfies
Streams of mercy flowing from his side, yeah

And to the bruised and fallen
Captives, bound, and broken-hearted

He is the lord
He is the lord, yeah

By his strifes he's paid our ransom
From his wounds we drink salvation

He is the lord
He is the lord

Love is here
Love is now
Love is pouring from his hands, from his brows
Love is near
It satisfies
Streams of mercy flowing from his side
Streams of mercy flowing from his side
'Cause love is here
Love is here

Hey Everyone!

It's officially summer for me, wohoo! Okay, I've gotta be honest: I'm glad to be done with school work for the year, but I seriously have no idea what I'll do this summer. Usually my summers consist of swimming almost everyday, but for the first year in my life, we don't have a pool. So that's out.

My original plan for this summer was to get a job and work a lot, but I can't get a job until July. Why, you ask? Because I'll be going on vacation the last week of June. There's no way anyone would hire someone that needs to be gone only a few weeks after starting the job, so that's why I have to wait. It kinda sucks, but at least I'll be getting a job.

As a result, my dilemma is what to do for the five weeks until I go on vacation. I'd really like to volunteer somewhere, but I still have to see if there is anywhere to volunteer in my little town. Maybe the local library...

Anyway, that's what has been on my mind lately, so I thought I'd write about it. I'd like to know what all of you are doing over the summer; so leave me a comment telling about your summer plans. Or, if you wanted to, you could suggest ideas to keep me busy for those five weeks. Either way, I'd really like to hear everyone's input. :D

Before I start this entry, I just want to apoligize for leaving all of you hanging for five days. I'm not going to use the "I've been really busy" excuse...but I've been finishing up school for the year and whatnot. Anyway, sorry for not doing a new song sooner, but the wait is over! Here it is:

Wake Up! Wake Up! by Everyday Sunday

Until this past year, I had never heard of Everyday Sunday and wasn't familiar with any of their songs. "Wake Up! Wake Up!" was the first song I heard by them, and it has been stuck in my head ever since.The music in it is really upbeat and the lyrics are catchy. This catchiness stems off of the two main words in the song. Can you guess these two words? Yep, they're wake up.

As the title implies, I feel like this song is a wakeup call for people in general, whether they're Christians or not. It's telling listeners to wake up and take a look at their lives. Is your life what you want it to be? Are you living each day to the fullest?  These questions and others beg for an answer every time I (and others) listen. From a Christian perspective, I think this song is talking about spiritual growth and one's personal relationship with Christ. Part of the verse says, "All I know is I'm so tired living life I never feel give me hope, give me fire, give me something real." As is easy to see, the person in this song wants something more. They want to have a palpable relationship with Christ; they want to stop going 'through the motions' and live a purposeful life.

Whenever I listen to "Wake Up! Wake Up!", I'm reminded to step back for a minute and take a look at my life. And many times, I do need to wake up. Do you?

The Feeling-Kutless

I just heard this song for the first time yesterday, and already I love it. In case any of you are wondering, this is Kutless' first single from their new cd, "To Know That You're Alive" that will be out on June 24th. I've lost count of how many times I've listened to it so far...it's seriously that good. For one thing, it combines three different styles of rock: classic rock, alternative, and punk rock. In my opinion, this is one of Kutless' best songs yet. Although I haven't looked at the lyrics yet (because the song was just released yesterday), I still wanted to write an entry about "The Feeling".

"The Feeling" is first an awesome rock anthem; it gets the listener pumped and ready to rock. Listen closer and you'll find that the lyrics are fairly notable too. I think the main point of this song is that we Christians can't run away from our duties as followers of Christ. The second half of the chorus states (from what I could gather): "I think that we'll know, the reason that we show the world how real we are". This 'reason' is Jesus. We show the world the difference in us because we're ambassadors of Christ. As a result, we can't run away from that duty; it's up to us to constantly reflect Him in our lives.

Anyway, that's all I could gather about this song for now. I was so excited for a new Kutless song that I just had to write about it. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you all the best part: this single was completely FREE. Yep, just go to exclusivekutless.com, enter your info, and the download will be sent to your inbox. It's that easy. So yeah, you're welcome for that valuable information...rock on!

"Who Needs Air" by The Classic Crime

The Classic Crime is a truly awesome band that doesn't get much recognition. I actually wouldn't have heard of them if it wasn't for a recommendation from one of my friends. Even after I heard a few of their songs, I still didn't know about this one. However, one of my other friends has a quote from this song on his Facebook page, and he was always talking about it. In fact, he chose this song as one that he could relate to on one of those e-mail quizzes; saying about it, "That's where I want to be heading." I had no idea what he was talking about at the time, but after listening to this song, I could completely understand.

In my opinion, this is one of those songs that is simply beautiful. To truly understand it, I really think one should read the lyrics. I did just that before I started writing this, and I was blown away. I feel like "Who Needs Air" is about so much: salvation, the greatness of God, and being real; all at the same time. I could choose so many topics to write about from this one song...but there's one part that really drives into my soul. The lines are: "I'm drowning, but I don't care, cause when you got what I got, who needs air?". That sentence is just incredible...I feel like it's talking about salvation here. Think about it: once we're saved, we've gained everything. Even though air is vital to life, this song is saying that we don't need it. We don't need it because we've got Jesus. At the same time, it seems like trust plays a part in this line; why wouldn't you care if you were drowning? I know I'd be freaking out, personally. I think to sum the song up, it's saying that if we have our salvation, if we trust in God, there's nothing more we could want. From there, we have to have total dependence on God, and everything else will fall into place. My gosh...the enormity of that just blows my mind...

So anyway, there's your deepness for the day! Haha. Seriously though, I hope everyone reading this really got something out of my words...Actually, I think you all should read these lyrics for yourselves...they'll be sure to blow your mind as well. (Especially check out the last paragraph...that's probably the deepest part of the song. I had to read it a few times to really take it in.) Anyway, here they are:

I long to taste adventure like the nature of the sea,
Always moving, always hiding all the creatures from beneath.
Singing silent songs of sadness my heart waits for its chance,
To dance upon the ashes of my burned up little plans.

And I stand alone before the night.
My nakedness is so clear in the glow of the moonlight.
Life is old but so short.
We are young we want more.

I'm drowning, but I don't care,
Because when you got what I got, what I got, what I got
Who needs air?

You don’t need air.

My addiction to danger like the rush of the sea,
Like a wave on the rocks the lessons crash down on me.
I don’t need to prove the world to you only to myself.
So step back and look away as I dive into the swell.

I'm drowning, but I don't care,
Because when you got what I got, what I got, what I got
Who needs air?
I'm drowning, but I don't care,
Because when you got what I got, what I got, what I got
You don’t need air.

Take me down to the river like a little child,
Take my hand and tell me its okay to be wild.
I never knew the world until I saw through your eyes,
I never knew my self until I ripped off my disguise.

I’m drowning, but I don’t care,
Because when you’ve got what I got, what I got, what I got
Who needs air?

I have come to the realization that life is more than what I have accomplished.
And life is more then the realization that we have accomplished nothing at all.
True success is so selfless so drown in the lyrics of your life
and give up the air that you breathe.
You don’t need anything.

I've done three songs, so you know what that means...personal entry time!! Yay!!! I decided instead of writing an actual entry, I'd post a list of random facts about me. So here they are:

• I've been homeschooled since the fourth grade, and I'll be graduating as a homeschooler next year.
• Even though I'll be sixteen in June, I still call both my parents "Mommy" and "Daddy". (And I'm not embarassed about it either.)
• I'm actually a nerd in disguise: I need glasses but where contacts instead, I'm an asthmatic, and am a total book worm.
• I've actually wanted to go to college since I was six years old.
• Even though I'm outgoing now, I used to be pretty shy.
• I don't watch R-rated movies, and I don't really intend to anytime sonn. (Well, unless House is rated R.)
• I've been to every major amusement park in Florida except Epcot.
• I love animals; if a cat or dog comes within two feet of me, I have to pet it.
• I've collected many things; ranging from dolphins to surfboards to coins.
• I'm a definite sucker for eyes; especially those that are chocolate brown or pool blue.
• I've lived in Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas, and South Carolina in all of my almost-sixteen years.
• I've tried surfing, skateboarding, wakeboarding, skim boarding, and jet skiing. (I like surfing and jet skiing the best though!)
• I'm not afraid to admit that I do like to eat; especially anything sweet!
• I don't really care for fast food (with the exception of Chik-Fil-A) and I hate McDonald's the most.
• Despite what some may think; I'm not really a girly-girl, I just like to look good. :)
• And last but not least, I'm a pretty fast runner, and could probably beat a lot of guys if they raced me. (Maybe not though, it's been awhile since I ran track...)

So anyway, those are my random facts! It would be really cool if everyone reading this decided to do their own random facts post...let me know if any of you decide to!

~Candice~

Sea of Faces-Kutless

One time at youth group we were all asked to bring in our favorite worship song, and this was the song I chose. "Sea of Faces" is a meaningful ballad that makes me feel closer to God every time I hear it, which is why I picked it in the first place. The main point of this song is that each and every one of us has a purpose and is loved by God. Even though we may feel like we're "lost in a sea of faces" at times; we can find hope in the fact that God cares for each and every one of us individualy. The song then goes on to talk about His sacrifice; further pointing out that Jesus laid down his life for us, so therefore he'd never forget us or leave us in obscurity. Then, at the end of the song, we're reminded that even if only one of us were to give our heart to Jesus, he still would have willingly died for us. The hugeness of those lines...the hugeness of this entire song...blows my mind. After listening, things in my life are put into perspective and as I previously stated, I feel closer to God. A song that does that is truly amazing; which is why "Sea of Faces" has been 'Stuck in my Head' since the album came out. If you haven't already, I'd reccomend giving it a listen; I guarantee it will stir something inside of you.

"Dare You To Move"-Switchfoot

This song is a little old, but it's one of Switchfoot's best in my opinion. There's always been something about "Dare You To Move" that I couldn't put my finger on; but I just realized that it's the lyrics. They're simple, yet powerful. To me, this song is challenging listeners to change their lives for the better; as is apparent in these three lines: "The tension is here, between who you are and who you could be, between how it is and how it should be". Wow...simple words that say so much. We're the only ones that can change ourselves, and sometimes we have to be the first one to change other things in life. It's up to us to be who we want to be, it's up to us to BE the change, it's up to us go where we want to go. Nobody else can direct your life or my life...we make our lives what we want them to be. My question to you today, dear reader, comes directly from the song: what happens next? It's up to you; I dare YOU to move.

Paperthin Hymn-Anberlin

Anberlin is one of my favorite bands, but I've yet to do a song by them on here. Until now, that is. I've liked this song forever, but like so many of Anberlin's other songs, "Paperthin Hymn" is abstract and difficult to understand. Only recently have I understood the meaning of the lyrics, which is why I decided to make this my song of the day.

In my opinion, "Paperthin Hymn" talks about the fragility of life. Everything can change in an instant; for the worse or the better. The loss of a friend in this song leads the lyricist to warn that life is fragile and nobody knows what will happen day to day. As a result, the last two lines say, "So laugh, love, live free and sing when life is in dischord, 'Praise ye the Lord'". These are some of the most truthful words I've ever heard in any song... because that is exactly how each and every one of us should live. We never know when we'll leave this earth, so while we're here we must live each day to the fullest. The other truth is that even if things don't go our way, we should still praise the Lord. I know this isn't always easy to do, but through those hard times we still have at least two things to praise God for: our lives and His unfailing love.

Hello, Comrades!

I know this entry is way overdue, but I'm sticking to what I said and am making this entry 'personal' since I already wrote three music entries. However, this one might be a little flat because I already wrote a killer entry, but it wasn't saved on here!! So now my words are lost forever...but I'll try to remember most of what I wrote. Here goes:

Every year at this time, I find myself yearning for the end of the school year. Maybe it's because the weather is so nice, maybe it's because I don't have a lot of schoolwork left to do, or maybe it's because I'm just ready to be done with school for the year. I actually think it's a combination of all three. I don't have that much longer to go though...I'll be done in the middle of May. I'm looking forward to a lot this summer...so that's probably another reason why I want it to get here so quickly. Some of the things I'm looking forward to are: turning sixteen, getting my license, and hopefully getting my first real job.

That said, I still can't believe that this year is almost over. I mean, it seems like I was just contemplating my forthcoming junior year...and now I'm thinking about what senior year will be like! I don't know if it could get better than this year; so far junior year has been my best yet. At the beginning, my goal was to not worry about the college thing so much, and just focus on making this year great. And to my surprise, it worked! (Don't get me wrong though, I've studied for the SAT this whole time too.) This school year I've met a lot of new people, done better in math, wrote many killer essays, improved my driving, been to a few concerts, and matured in my relationship with Christ. Of course, I've had my fair share of tough times like anyone else, but I think the good have far outweighed the bad. In my opinion, that has had a lot to do with my mindset as well. I've resolved to live each day as if it's my last, and that has really helped me to have a better outlook on life; which in turn helped shape this year as well.

Anyway, that's my entry for today and I hope all of you enjoyed it. Thanks so much to everyone that has read and/or commented on "Stuck in My Head", that means so much to me!

Peace out girl or boy scout! (Thanks to my friend Christi for that!)

"My Home" by Thousand Foot Krutch

The average person might not think much of this song because it's more of a ballad, but it really spoke to me. In fact, the first time I heard it I was brought to tears. The chorus is: "You are my home, you are my everything, when I feel so alone. You are my home, you are my shelter...when all my hope is gone." Trevor McNevan was talking about his wife in this song, but I interperet it as talking about God being my home. You see, the past two years have been filled with a lot of moving around for me. Even though I physically had a home, it didn't really feel that way to me. "My Home" truly encouraged me and made me realize that I can find my home in Jesus. That means wherever I am, if He is there with me; I can feel like I belong! So every time I hear this song, I'm reminded of that simple truth that is easy to forget.

Tonight I have a question for my readers: Has a song ever brought you to tears? If so, why? Please comment below if you'd like, and thanks to everyone that has already commented!

"Tonight" by Jeremy Camp

Jeremy Camp is a great lyricist, which can easily be seen in the song "Tonight". I really enjoy this song: the music is fast, Jeremy's voice is incredible, and of course, the lyrics get the listener thinking. In my opinion, this song is all about living your faith. It says that it's never too late to turn your life completely over to God, never too late to grow. I've listened to this song many times, but tonight as I was reading the lyrics, two lines really stuck out to me. They are: "The only thing worth holding onto is holding onto me". I had to read this a few times to truly grasp the meaning; and I realized that these lines are talking about Jesus! Even if everything in life fades, we can still hold onto Jesus and He will hold onto us...wow. Even if you don't care for Jeremy Camp, this song is definitely worth listening to, especially for the incredible lyrics.

Rebirthing-Skillet

Okay, first of all I have to say that Skillet is one of my favorite bands and this song is one of my top ten songs. Ever. When I first heard it, I was blown away. I thought it was so cool how they integrated strings with the guitars, bass, and drums. However, the lyrics also play a huge part in making this song as awesome as it is. Plain and simple, this song is about the process of getting saved. As hard as those feelings are to describe, "Rebirthing" does a good job of putting them into words. In fact, the entire song is transitional. The person starts out feeling paralytic, dies, then comes alive again. Simply speaking, that is exactly what it is to be saved for the first time. This song brings back those feelings for me...it also reminds me of the most amazing free gift I've ever recieved: the gift of rebirth.

*Quick Note For Blog* I highly recommend every song that I review here. If you haven't heard them, you can find them at the bottom of this page on my playlist. If one of them isn't there, just let me know and I'll add it!

Okay, so I'm not going to post about a song today. Shocking, I know. But I've decided that I want this blog to be somewhat personal, so I decided that after every three songs, I'll post a "regular" blog. Anyway, here goes!

Since I'm on here, I'm obviously homeschooled. I've been homeschooled since the fourth grade and will graduate as a homeschooler next year. (Class of 2009, oh yeah!) I was able to skip eighth grade, so I'll be graduating a year earlier, which is cool. Let's see...I'm into a lot of different things, I don't like to limit myself at all. Music and writing are probably my top two interests though. I hope to combine those two into a career in a few years as a music journalist. I think writing for CCM magazine would be completely awesome. I mean, I'd be able to interview musicians and review concerts and cds; what more could I ask for? Hmm...I also like the beach and photography a lot. Actually, those two are combined interests as well because the beach is probably my favorite thing to take pictures of! (Okay, I'll admit that I do take pictures of myself...but that's only for my profile on Facebook.) That's another thing: Facebook rocks. I personally think it's way better than Myspace. I'm not a Myspace-hater though, that site is good for band pages. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention reading! That's always been a big part of me, I don't know what I'd do without the written word.

Even though I love all of these things, my relationship with Jesus defines me. Notice that I didn't put 'Christianity' or 'my religion'...what I have is so much more than that. As a really cool shirt says, "It's against my relationship to have a religion." And I truly believe that too.

Anyway, that's me in a few words. Of course, there's more to me, but I've been online for waay too long as it is, so I've got to close this thing out. Feel free to comment, and thanks to everyone who has already commented!

~Candice~

"Friend Like That"-Hawk Nelson

First I've gotta say that this is an awesome song; I was so excited to hear that Hawk Nelson finally put out some new music. I was even more excited to hear that this song had more substance than some of their other ones. To me, "Friend Like That" is an upbeat anthem that talks about the best friend in the whole wide world; Jesus. Although our earthly friends are amazing (and I personally couldn't live without mine), we all need someone more; as Jason Dunn puts it, "Somebody on the inside". And that's exactly who Jesus is: he was human; he's experienced all the pains that we experience and he knows what we're going through. He'll always be there too, and won't give up on anyone. That's what's so great about this song: it talks about the character of Jesus without being 'preachy' or anything; it also gets the listener thinking. So my question to you is: Do you have a friend like that?

"Unbreakable" by Fireflight

The first time I heard this song, I was honestly wowed. Between the fast guitars, strong bass, and the lyrics, this song makes the listener want to listen over and over again. But I'm here to talk about the lyrics, even if the music is awesome too.                                                                                                   This song is a beacon of hope to those that are struggling with something in their lives. It's a song of faith and trust. For me, it says that even though we're all faced with tough issues, we can overcome them and become stronger in the process. Hence becoming Unbreakable. I also love the definition of faith that this song gives, "Faith is moving without knowing".    That is exactly what faith is in the simplest terms. And sometimes we all need those simple terms to put things in perspective for ourselves.    Actually, maybe that's just what this song is: a definition. A definition of what it means to hope, to dream, to have faith, and ultimately, to be Unbreakable.             

"So I Thought" by Flyleaf

A few years ago, I hardly ever listed to the last song on an album. Lately, I've been finding that the last or second to the last songs have been just as good as the previous ones. "So I Thought" is no exception. Like all of Flyleaf's other songs, this one gets the listener thinking. Going off the lyrics, this song is about letting go of someone you love. To me, however, this song is saying to love the little things in life; to enjoy life and not grow up too quickly. At one point Lacey sings, "Ignorance is bliss, cherish it...", and she is so right: ignorance resulting from being young should be cherished. We don't have a care in the world when we're young, but that all changes at a certain age. Most of us are in a hurry to grow up, and we don't appreciate everything that comes with being young.Time flies too quickly and so many times we forget to enjoy the things that make life great. For me, "So I Thought" serves as a reminder to slow down and simply savor life.

Hey People,

So I decided to start a blog on here for a few reasons: (1) I'm homeschooled, so I thought it'd be cool to have a blog on a homeschool site. (2) I started a really cool blog on Livejournal, but nobody was reading it and that site seemed kind of trashy, so I decided to come here. (3) One day I was browsing on here, and I saw a lot of other teenagers, so hopefully this will have more appeal on this site. As I result, here I am! But that's not my real intro, that was like a pre-intro, if there is such a thing. Here's the real intro to what the blog will be focused on:

For the longest time, I've been wanting to write a specific blog (a topical blog, I think it's technically called), but I couldn't think of anything to write about. I'm a music maniac, and I wanted it to be about music, but nothing was coming to mind to write about. Then, the other night as I was humming a song that was stuck in my head, it came to me. I should write a short entry everyday about whichever song is stuck in my head! And that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to write about what that song personally means to me, even if the specific lyrics may mean something else. I don't know how else I'll elaborate on the song besides what I get out of it, so we'll just have to wait and see. I'll try to keep this up the best that I can, and comments are appreciated and very welcome. And if you'd like to suggest a song for me to review, please feel free to suggest it!