Most Meaningful Sleeping With Sirens Songs to Me

By Alexx Shaner

Crash & Burn Blog

09/14/22

Credit: @nickalausstafford on Instagram

Sleeping With Sirens is my absolute favorite band besides Pierce The Veil (I love them equally). Certain songs I really resonate with, and those songs inspire me every single day. Here are my top ten most meaningful Sleeping With Sirens songs to me.

1. Better Off Dead

This song speaks for itself. Kellin wrote this when he was at a very tough time in his life, and it shows through the story of the girl in the song. When I heard this song live, I was shaking and crying. Kellin always gives a speech for this song, and he did it at both of my concerts. He dedicates the song to anyone who feels alone, anyone who has been struggling. And always says, “You are not better off dead.” When they played the song in Santa Ana, I was going through a really tough time. My dad and brother might have been moving separately from my mom and me. I felt so misunderstood, and not heard. I always listened to this song when I was feeling upset, or dealing with intrusive thoughts. It got me through so much, and when I heard it I felt less alone. I was crying a lot, and Justin was kind enough to give me a high five. He was kind enough to keep looking at me during the show, and just smiling. He is absolutely the sweetest dude out there.

2. The Strays

This is where the Sleeping With Sirens fan base got its name. The Strays represent the fanbase as a whole. The first listen to this song… made me fall in love with it. I have a dog tag that says Hold On Don’t Look Back, We Are The Strays. I even added a knuckles charm, because of the song Bloody Knuckles. The song reminds me that I am part of something even when I am feeling lost. Sometimes I feel like I am nothing, but the song reminds me that I am something. They surprised us with The Strays in Santa Ana, and I felt found for the first time in a while.

3. Don’t Say Anything

Another song off of Madness, I think this one is extremely underrated. It’s about two people arguing over the phone, and going through a tough spot in their relationship. But, the whole “Breathe in, breathe out, someway, somehow” really resonates with me. This song always calms me down during panic attacks and reminds me to breathe. I always stayed up late, because I couldn’t fall asleep. So the lines, “it’s late now why aren’t you sleeping? Shouldn’t you be in bed?” also holds meaning.

4. Go Go Go

I have always enjoyed this song from Madness. The meaning is nice, and I think it's about a boy and his partner wanting to get into the right relationship. The people around him see him differently, but he thinks it's just the way he is. But he knows she didn't change him, and he gets to live with his new personality. The reason I am so attached to it is because of what happened during the live performance. Kellin was on stage left, and he was reaching out for hands. He locked eyes with me and grabbed my hand for a good two seconds. He saw my scars, and that meant the world to me. Because he was one of the only people who saved me. And now every time that I listen to the song, I think of him and that moment.

5. Save Me A Spark

The song is my most listened to song on Spotify currently. I really do love this song, the overall tone and vibe are immaculate. I really felt, “when everyone is sleeping, I am wide awake, hearts are only open when they break.” This was because of my insomnia and how much I can never turn my brain off at night. As a songwriter, and a writer I truly believe my best work comes from trauma and experiences I have when I am troubled. The song is about having that one person be the spark that creates such a strong fire. I haven't had that experience yet, but I truly believe I will once I meet him. The song starts with darker tones, but slowly turns happier. Since the song is about chasing a girl, he begins to get happier once he gets the girl that he was chasing. Kellin Quinn said, “I believe that as a musician you can impact a lot of issues in people's lives by injecting positivity and good will into them. All it takes is one person acting to change something for the better if that person has the right mindset. They can be the spark that ignites the entire fire, impacting people in a good way. This song impacted me in a good way.” This song helped me to find the light that was like I was looking for.

6. Roger Rabbit

Kellin has mentioned that the song is about driving a new car. The importance of the song to me is mostly what the chorus says.

Nobody's gonna love you if you can't display a way to capture this. Nobody's gonna hold your hand and guide you through. No, it's up for you to understand. Nobody's gonna feel your pain. When all is done and it's time for you to walk away. So when you have today you should say all that you have to say.

Ohh, say all that you have to say.

It reminds me not to regret what I say, and say what I want to say. The song is one of my biggest inspirations to write music. It reminds me to share my message with the world. I write music to motivate people and help people with similar issues. Music is a form of my therapy, much like my writing. I want to share what I have to say, and get my message out. I don’t want to live my life with any regrets. This song reminds me that I have a voice. Not just in what I have to say, but with my future and how I want my life to be.

7. Do It Now, Remember It Later

The song isn't super emotional, but it reminds me of some important things. I love the music video too, it's so chaotic and great. The message I get from the song is specifically to live your life the way that you want to.

Remember when they said that what we want could never be done? When it all comes falling down, We'll do what we want to.

The song reminds me that I have control over my life, and those risks are worth it. You have to take risks in your life, to live the way that you want to. I don't want to sit at an office job the rest of my life, and I'm willing to take the risks for myself to succeed. I have to do certain things to make myself happy in the future. It also reminds me that I want to cherish my years when I'm young because those are some of your fondest memories. It reminds me that if I work hard enough, it can happen. It also reminds me to live in the moment and remember the important memories and moments that I have. To just live my life the way that I want to with no regrets.

8. If You Can’t Hang

The song of The Sleeping With Sirens table. The song got me through toxic friends and that one strange three-week relationship. It got me through that, and it reminded me that I still have time in my life to meet new people. People constantly come and go in my life, and people that matter will stay. It reminds me that eventually, I will meet the one person who will give me the same amount of love I want to give to them. It reminds me that I don't have time for toxic people, and I want to spend time with the people that I love.

9. Leave It All Behind

This song is the first song on the sixth album, How It Feels To Be Lost. To me, it is Kellin reflecting on his life. The song ultimately returned Sleeping With Sirens back to its roots musically. The song was always one that I listened to when I was feeling lost or unsure. It reminds me that I am human, and I am allowed to make mistakes because I'm imperfect. I used to question myself a lot because ultimately I thought my depression made me who I was. I was characterized by mental illness and when I started feeling better, I wondered who I was and who I wanted to be. I had to leave that version of myself in the past, and focus on building on who I wanted to become. I lost myself so deeply, I was running from everything that I loved. I wanted to create a version of myself that left my past out of the question. A version of myself that reflected on who I wanted to become, and for people to remember me by. I felt so judged for who I was, but the song reminded me that it was okay to question myself and doubt myself. What mattered was that I overcame it.

10. How It Feels To Be Lost

The song helped me feel certain emotions when I was feeling lost. I was questioning myself, and feeling guilty like the blood was on my hands. I like it when bands incorporate songs with oceans. “I've been stranded in an ocean, treading water but it’s hopeless,” was exactly how I felt. I felt stranded, and I tried so hard and nothing was happening. I didn't know how to get help, and what help meant. I just gave up on trying eventually, because it was just exhausting me. I felt like I was constantly being stabbed in the back because of my life. I thought everything bad was happening to me for a reason, and I didn't know how to get out of this dark space. This track illustrates how lost depression and anxiety make people feel. I often felt that I was constantly two steps behind people. When I was in that space, I didn't understand how to take in new information. School often pressures kids to take in new information, and some kids don't learn the way teachers teach. For me, I was struggling with my ADHD diagnosis, and the way my teachers were teaching me was hard. I had to constantly ask for deadlines to be lengthened because I didn't understand the concepts and I had to teach myself. Or, I just didn't have the motivation to do it at that moment. I had so much going on in my life, that I didn't know how to balance it all. I didn't know who I was and I was in this constant identity crisis.

I hope you enjoyed my favorite songs as much as I did! Sorry for the late post, since I was extremely busy last week. I went to Vegas and got two tattoos, and I will be writing about that in my next post. The weekly newsletter will be up on Sunday.

-Alexx

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