as I'm swimming through the stereo, i'm writing you a symphony of sound

welcome to can't! stop! listening! to! volume IV, the super special Valentine's Edition.

Volume I - what matters most? everything that you feel while listening to every word i sing
Volume II - sing us a song and we'll sing it back to you
Volume III - sing out, sing out, your voice is all you have

I'm a sucker for a good love song and especially for certain lines in a good love song:

1. Hero/Heroine, Boys Like Girls
And I feel a weakness coming on
ever felt so good to be so wrong
Had my heart on lockdown
And then you turned me around

2. Love Is Waiting, Brooke Fraser
I could write a million songs about the way you say my name
I could live a lifetime with you and then do it all again

3. The Minstrel's Prayer, Cartel
Just hold the hand and drop the knee
You're facing love
You're embracing melody

4. Stolen, Dashboard Confessional
You have stolen my heart
And from the ballroom floor we are in celebration
One good stretch before our hibernation
Our dreams assured and we all, will sleep well

5. This Year's Love, David Gray
This years love had better last
Heaven knows it's high time
and I've been waiting on my own too long

6. When the Lights Go Out, Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken
In the middle of this circus
You’re the thing that gets me through
So I dive beneath the surface and close my eyes and see you

7. More Than Anyone, Gavin DeGraw
Look in my eyes, what do you see?
Not just the color
Look inside of me
Tell me all you need and I will try
I will try
I'm going to love you more than anyone

8. Power of Two, Indigo Girls
You know the things
I'm afraid ofI'm not afraid to tell
And if we ever leave a legacy
It's that we loved each other well

9. Better Together, Jack Johnson
Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? and where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy
and sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing its always better when we're together

10. MFEO -Made for Each Other/ You Can Breathe, Jack's Mannequin
And maybe, we were made
We were made for each other
Is it possible for the world to look this way forever?

11. Lucky, Jason Mraz
They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you
I promise you, I will

12. Honey And The Moon, Joseph Arthur
Don't know why I'm still afraid
If you weren't real I would make you up now
I wish that I could follow through
I know that your love is true and deep as the sea

13. Hamburg Song, Keane
I'd like to bring a little light
To shine a light on your life
To make you feel loved
No, don't wanna be the only one you know
I wanna be the place you call home

14. Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop, Landon Pigg
I think that possibly
Maybe I'm falling for you
No one understands me quite like you do
Through all of the shadowy corners of me

15. She Will Be Loved, Maroon 5
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved

16. Augustine, Nevertheless
Don't say a word
I hope that you know
There's truth in the way that we feel
The current is strong
I'll never let go of you

17. When It Don't Come Easy, Patty Griffin
But if you break down
I'll drive out and find you
If you forget my love
I'll try to remind you
And stay by you when it don't come easy

18. Such Great Heights, The Postal Service
And I have to speculate
That God himself did make us into
Corresponding shapes like puzzles pieces
From the clay

19. This Everyday Love, Rascal Flatts
Every afternoon I make a phone call
Listen to the voice that warms my heart
I drag myself through a few more hours
Then head on home to try and beat the dark
Her smile will be right there, when I step through that door
And it will be that way tomorrow, just like everyday before

20. Your Call, Secondhand Serenade
'Cause I was born to tell you I love you
and I am torn to do what I have to
to make you mine
Stay with me tonight

21. Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

22. Island, The Starting Line
Let's sail away
Find our own country
We'll build a house and beds out of palm trees
Let's get away
Let's push our lives aside

23. Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone...

24. A Man and a Woman, U2
You can run from love
And if it's really love it'll find you

25. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfukel*
When darkness comes
And pains is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
* Suggested by alison, because i was stuck at #24 (thanks, friend!)

sing out, sing out...your voice is all you have

can't! stop! listening! to! volume III
[volume I]
[volume II]

some recent faves, and as always, the lyrics that I love and/or my own thoughts for your reading pleasure:

return, needtobreathe *
["I’m giving you my heart to break again; Oh I’m leaving you a way to get back in...return to me"]
(this song reminds me of a true love story, a story of loss and redemption that only God could have written. oh, and, of course it reminds me of edward and bella, specifically in new moon (book 2) of the twilight saga. what's that you say? you're wondering when i'm going to stop talking about twilight? answer: not any time soon)

gotta find you, joe jonas
[i blame my good friend leslie for this one - but it's truly a good song. so what if it's on the camp rock CD?]

the resolution, jack's mannequin
[ "There's a lot that I don't know, there's a lot that I'm still learning..."]
(this is on jack's new CD...and i'm not so sure about the rest of it. maybe it'll grow on me? i love them so much and i really want to love their new CD...)

rest, nevertheless *
["hey, I know that you're scared/ to look in My eyes/ when you know that something's wrong/ I'll wait as long as it takes/ for you to find grace/ that's been here all along"]
and also, augustine:
["love is an ocean/ caught in a storm/ breaking down walls/ and taking its form/ the
farthest from safety/ but the closest I've come/ as we come undone..."]

currents, dashboard confessional
["the air is visceral around us/ turning in its simple steps/ on slow currents/ and I watch as it pirouettes and spins in slow motion/ a long drag comes/ a slow dance/ in a halo of ember"]
(pretty sure i just like the word "visceral")

God of this city, chris tomlin
[where do i even begin with this song...God uses this song to break my heart for new york city time and time again. chris tomlin didn't write it (though he sings it well), bluetree did, and the story behind the song can be found here]

sorrow, flyleaf
["familiar breath of my old lies changed the color in my eyes...soon He will perforate the fabric of the peaceful by and by"]
(another edward and bella song, but more importantly, a beautiful reference to Psalm 30:5)

walk you home, karmina
["even the brave may depend on someone/ the moon only shines with the help of the sun/ it's not as safe when you're walking alone/ i'll walk you home"]

divine romance, phil wickham *
[from his newest (FREE) album singalong...so good! you can download it from his website]

disturbia, rihanna
[one of those fun songs you can't get out of your head!]

* get the whole album...you can thank me later :)

sing us a song and we'll sing it back to you....

welcome to volume II of can't! stop! listening! to!
some of these are old, some are newish...but here are the songs on my recent playlist or just running through my head, and as usual the lyrics that pierce my soul:

1. Table for Two, Derek Webb
[And You know the plans that You have for me
And You can't plan the end and not plan the means
And so I suppose I just need some peace
Just to get me to sleep]

2. Break the Same, MuteMath
[The different stars tonight
will somehow fade the same
and all the tears we cry
tell us we're made the same
and when we fall aside
let's hope we fall in place
we built our different lives
but they all break the same]

3. Even the Streets, Matt Wertz
[I tried leaving you at home
but every thought returns to you
My head it seems to roam
No matter what I do]

4. Little Miss Obsessive, Ashlee Simpson
[I don't even know the lyrics, but it sure is fun]

5. Down, Something Corporate
[Let's get crazy,
Talk about our big plans
Places that you're going
Places that I haven't been
Build my walls up
Concrete castle
Keep this kingdom free of hassle]

6. Hundred, The Fray
[So this is where you are, and this is where I am
Somewhere between unsure and a hundred]

7. Franklin, Paramore
[When we get home
i know we wont be home at all
this place we live
it's not where we belong
and i miss who we were
and the town we could call our own
going back to get away after everything has changed
everything has changed]

8. Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop, Landon Pigg
[No one understands me quite like you do
Through all of the shadowy corners of me]

9. It's for the Best, Straylight Run
[But I was scared to death of eternity
I was saved by grace
But destroyed by naivety
And I lied to myself
And said it was for the best]

10. Good Life, Andy Davis
[We struggle to pay rent
'cause jeans are expensive
professional children
it's just the way that we live]

what matters most? everything that you feel while listening to every word that I sing

sorry for the lack of correspondence tuesday...i'm just not feeling it this week. sometimes i can't put the words together.

in lieu of all things deep and meaningful, here's a list of songs i can't! stop! listening! to! complete with either the lyrics that make my heart beat fast (and sometimes make me want to curl up in the fetal position) or my own commentary:

1. When a Heart Breaks, Dave Barnes
[Please don't leave me here]

2. Your Call, Secondhand Serenade
[I'm tired of being all alone, and this solitary moment makes me want to come back home]

3. No Air, Jordan Sparks + Chris Brown (shut up, I know)
[I mean this song really has no redeeming qualities, it's just fun]

4. Say, John Mayer
[You'd better know that in the end it's better to say too much than never say what you need to say]

5. The Last Time He Saw Dorie, Copeland
[She was a wreck, but he loved her]
also: 6. When Finally Set Free
[Feel the pain teaching us how much more we can take
Reminding us how far we've come]

7. Breathe Me, Sia
[ok, pretty much - this entire song makes me want to die. um, in a good way of course. the piano, the voice, yikes!]
also: 8. The Girl You Lost to Cocaine
[current ringtone!]

9. Hometown Glory, ADELE
[I like it in the city when two worlds collide]

10. You’ll Come, Hillsong United (Brooke Fraser!)
[We are not shaken, we are not moved; we wait upon you Lord]

11. Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis
[I’ll blame my best friend, who played it 42,000 times the last time we hung out]

12. Close Enough, Sean McConnell
[Makes me want to fall in love so I can feel this way about someone]

13. Washington Square, Counting Crows
[When nothing I needed is left there behind me
I walk out through the shadows of Washington Square]

14. I Will Posses Your Heart, Death Cab
[How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me...
It's like a book elegantly bound, but in a language that you can't read just yet]


correspondence tuesday will be back next week (sara!)