When She Was Born They Looked at Her and Said...

Cause even if we can't be together

We'll be friends now and forever

And I swear that I'll be there

Come what may...

I threw a CD into the player on my drive to work this morning. I needed to sing a little to get myself. It was just a silver unmarked disc, of which I have many in my travel case. I put it in, and heard the words, Of all the things I've believed in... I listen for a while to the CD as it passes song after song, Goodbye to You; Say Goodnight, Not Goodbye; Superman...; music that brings back floods of memories. Feeling sorry for the people in my car pool, I skipped the Backstreet Boys, but when the next song's lyrics touched my ears, I could not bear to hit the SCAN button. When you have no light to guide you/ And no one to walk beside you....

I was not a Hanson fanatic in grade six when everyone else was all about them. Isaac, Taylor, and Zack were never plastered all over my binders or lockers. But when the craze died down, I had Weird and Speechless and Yearbook playing in my player every night. At the end of middle and the beginning of high school, I put them in my shelf between the G and I albums I owned, not wanting to admit I liked the three "are you sure they are not girls?". Every once in a while I would pull it out, place the orange disc in the boom box, and be carried back to once upon a time (for the past is always a little sweeter when reminiscing).

Come tenth and eleventh, I was connected with a friend who appreciated the Hanson vibe as much as I. I did not need to hide the fact that I had all the lyrics written out on my computer or that I listened to it perhaps a little more than once a week. I was in the Middle of Nowhere with a friend who was right there with me.

Around that time, about a year or two ago, I was watching one of the late night talk shows when three guys walked onto the stage, singing an acoustic song. The sound was vaguely familiar, although I was sure that I had not heard it before. Their look was just as recognizable, as if I was looking through a frosted, tinted window at something I knew.

Slowly, the realization came to me. Was it really Hanson? If so, they have cleaned up, both their look and their sound. As the new album came out into stores in April of 2004, I was in the music store in Kings Square Mall, purchasing Underneath.
Suddenly, Here's to the Night came on the speakers. I will reserve my opinions on that song. Following that, Am I the Only One? by the BNL, geniuses that they are. This got my mind wandering to one of Bryn's most recent blog entries and the song What a Good Boy; admittedly one of my favorites. In fear of stealing Bryn's thunder, I must admit that this song would snapshot my life quite accurately as well. I find this especially true during times when I find myself at crossroads or attempting to grow up, when instead, I feel stifled.

...When you were born, they looked at you and said,
'What a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl.'

We've got these chains that hang around our necks,
People want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same,
When temptation calls, we just look away.

This name is the hairshirt I wear,
And this hairshirt is woven from your brown hair.
This song is the cross that I bear
Bear with me, bear with me, bear with me,
Be with me tonight,
I know that it isn't right, but be with me tonight.

I go to school, I write exams,
if I pass, if I fail, if I drop out, does anyone give a damn?
And if they do, they'll soon forget
'cause it won't take much for me to show my life ain't over yet.
I wake up scared, I wake up strange.
I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever going to change.
I wake up scared, I wake up strange and everything around me stays the same...