Welcome to part two of our Louden Swain series! We’re posting a series of articles leading up to the release of Louden Swain’s new acoustic album, “Splitting the Seams”, on October 26! In the first part of our series, fans shared with us their favorite songs from the band and why they loved them.
In this second part, fans share their favorite lyrics from the bands songs and why they mean so much to them. Read the second part below!
Lindsey (@lindseyiam): “I have quite a few favourite Louden Swain lyrics, but some of my top ones are, ‘I know there was a time before you, but for the life of me I can’t recall’, ‘Loving like thunderstorms’, ‘Something’s so inviting first thing in the morning. I’m as equally frightened by the end of the day’.”
Amanda (@BandagedLetdown): “My favorite Louden Swain lyric is ‘The less I look the more I see it,’ because I related to those words. I was able to connect them to a family situation I was going through at the time I first heard the song, and it became almost a lifeline for me. I eventually got it tattooed on my left forearm when I turned 18, and it will always be one of my favorite tattoos.”
Sam (@honeybeemish): “‘Just because I’m sad don’t mean that I’m unhappy’ from ‘Like The Heart Goes’. I, like others, suffer from negative thoughts which seem to occur more often than not. That lyric in particular is validating in the sense that even if I’m sad I can still be happy with the way things are. Sadness doesn’t define me; it is simply a part of me.”
Helen (@mywaywardsonsuk): “’Just because I’m sad, don’t mean that I’m unhappy’. It’s from ‘Like The Heart Goes’ and the first time I heard that line it felt like it was about me. I’ve struggled with depression for the majority of my adult life and I’ve always tried hard to not let it define me. There have of course been moments when I’ve not been able to keep to that but this lyric reminds me that that there can still be happiness found. I love the line so much that I asked Rob to write it out for me and I have it tattooed on my arm so I can see it every day as a reminder.”
Charlotte (@Charlot74714899): “’I can’t hide behind your preconceived notions of who you think I should be, Hold my tongue if you have a vice, If you press hard enough I might try to play nice,’ It’s literally my motto, to remind me each day that I am the only me and as a wise woman once said, ‘What other people think of me is none of my business.'”
Emma (@simplyreflected): “’I can’t hide behind your preconceived notions of who you think I should be’ from the song ‘Downtown Letdown’ because to me that represents someone who is trying to figure out or who has already figured out who they are and doesn’t want to be something that someone else wants.”
Erika (@soliloquywriter): “I suffer from domestic violence induced PTSD, and I don’t feel like I am a very strong person, I feel weak and insignificant and completely unworthy of love. Listening to ‘Numb’ however, I feel like someone out there gets me, understands what a day in my life looks like, the hollow mediocrity I feel constantly; yet how fervently I pray that God notices me just long enough to listen to my one small daily prayer. I don’t need much in this life, I’m not looking for fame, or fortune aplenty, just for someone to see me, and to understand.”
Kari (@kariface27): My favorite lyric is ‘For a mitten girl she fits like a glove’. Being from Michigan, I always use my hand to show where I am from. I’m just in a mitten state of mind!”
Finn (@againsthewave_): “‘It’s no big mystery that we’re a bunch of freaks who hold up empty hands’ from ‘CA Nation’. It reminds me of the community that has built up around the band, and how many friends that have always felt just like me, outcasts, have come together.”
Aileen (@fandomfreak221b): “‘Life is profound, be who you want to be. It’s no big mystery that we’re a bunch of freaks.’ Those lyrics really stuck with me because I used to struggle with trying to be someone other people wanted me to be. Now, I’m free to be who I want to be and I don’t care if people don’t like it or think I’m weird. I don’t exactly keep my weirdness a secret!”
Gisselle (@lopezado8696): “‘And I think I will rise… I will rise up’ from Louden Swain’s ‘Downtown Letdown’. I experienced a lot of panic attacks throughout college, and the severity of them reached an all-time high during my junior year. I remember hearing this lyric as I was listening to Louden Swain and latching onto it during moments of overwhelming doubt and internal terror, and tried to associate myself with that simple message.”
Emma (@simplyreflected): “’And I think I will rise. I will rise up’ from the song ‘Downtown Letdown’ because it reminds me of a Phoenix rising from the ashes and the idea of just rising above all the bad.”
Katie (@katmgc): “I have many favorite lyrics, but this is the one I choose for my Swain tattoo. I made a big change in my life that wasn’t easy, but was necessary for my own happiness. I broke free of a situation that caused me a deep depression in favor of what I hope is the right path for me and my life. I always imagine a Phoenix when I hear these lyrics. Phoenixes are born from ashes and I sometimes feel like I burned my whole life down to start again.”
Judy (@JayeEmm): “‘The moon is mine and I’ve had enough/I think I will rise, I will rise up’ – To me it’s this perfect sort of battle cry, from the beginning of the song talking about feeling really low – but then, in the end, refusing to give up.”
April (@AprilVian): “There are so many that I relate to, if I have to choose just one I think I would go with ‘The moon is mine and I’ve had enough, I think I will rise, I rise up’. It helps me remember that even on the worse day, I will come out the other side.”
Sarah (@SharksandSwain): “’The moon is mine and I’ve had enough, I think I will rise, I will rise up’. I’ve always had an affinity for the moon and things related to it, so I instantly loved it when I heard ‘Downtown Letdown’. It makes me feel like I can overcome anything, no matter how much my depression tries to drag me down. And to make it even more special…I once asked Rob to write out a Swain lyric he thought would be good for me and that’s the line he chose. Like…of all the lyrics he could’ve chosen, he went with my favorite. I don’t know if he knew it was my fave or it was just by chance, but either way, that line means the world to me. I even got ‘I will rise up’ with a scene inspired by DTLD as my first ever tattoo.”
Karyl (@karylannegeary): “‘I think I will rise’. I have it tattooed, along with a semicolon, on my right forearm for the semicolon project. I’ve lost way too many friends to suicide and have struggled with depression as well. Also, as a queer woman in a society that seems to increasingly try to pass laws against my protection and against my existence, the line has even more meaning. The idea that it’s rough right now, and people will try and change me, but if I keep walking eventually I can lift my head and find the strength to rise, is so important.”
Tiffany (@Tiffany Shope1): “’The moon is mine and I’ve had enough. But I think I will rise, I will rise up’. I was feeling really depressed one day and ‘Downtown Letdown’ came on. And that lyric just made everything in my head click. They were EXACTLY the right words at EXACTLY the right time sang by EXACTLY the right person. I realized I could continue to be sad and ‘woe is me’ OR I could actively work to improve my circumstances and change the things that were making me miserable. And every time I’m feeling down or think that the changes I am making are too hard, I can put on that song and know that I am stronger than I give myself credit for.”
Emily (fiveafterseven): “‘Pain is on the outside you will not let it in’. I want to focus less on my mistakes and embarrassing moments and the people who’ve hurt me and more on acceptance and strength and growth. It’s something I’m working on.”
Lori (@SPNZookeeper): “One of them is ‘I find my voice and sing it from the rooftops’. It reminds me a lot of myself and my journey of finding my own voice. I’ve always loved music, singing and playing guitar, but up until 3 years ago I’d never sung in front of anyone, it was through listening to Louden Swain that I found the courage to finally show everyone my voice. And once I found my voice, I sang from the rooftops, and I’ve not stopped since!”
Sam (@SwainerSam): “‘I find my voice and sing it from the rooftops’ I’ve always been a musical person but it wasn’t until Swain came into my life that I felt the need to sing and play music and share it with people, they helped me find my voice and sing it from the rooftops. I even got those lyrics tattooed and to this day they still bring tears to my eyes.”
Jenna (@sushiswain): “I’ve always been drawn to ‘life is profound, be who you want to be’ from ‘CA Nation’. It reminds me that, no matter how crazy and confusing and sometimes hard life can be, I have the power to be exactly who I want to be anyway. I got the lyric tattooed in Rob’s handwriting in May 2016, so it’s always close to my heart (literally!).”
Sara (@altsunthinkable): “‘I’m packin’ only love down this one-way road’. It’s kind of become my mantra, a reminder of how I want to live my life. Take the love with me. I can’t go back and change anything so take the love with me and leave the rest behind.”
Brittany (@tasteofmyhominy): “‘I’m packin’ only love down this one-way road’ from ‘Real Life’. None of us have an easy ride in life. For a long time, I’ve hardened myself with each wrong that has been done against me as a means of protecting myself from being hurt further in the future. But that is so not the answer! I’m only passing this way once and I can choose spread love to others as I go or hate. I choose to love as much as I am capable of. I often repeat the lyric to myself as a sort of mantra when I’m faced with a choice between love or fear and it’s made a difference.”
MaryJane (@12TimeTraveler): “The line ‘I’m packing only love down this One-Way Road’. Really spoke to me. As I was first listening to Louden Swain, I was also just leaving a very hard core and controlling religion. I found myself angry all the time. Angry over what I’d missed out on, angry over what I’d been told to believe in. How I’d been treated. Just so much anger. I could feel it starting to change me in the way that anger does but I couldn’t seem to shake it. Along with that I also felt the loss of that strong religious moral code and was struggling to form my own moral compass. So the idea of ‘packing only love down this one-way road’ really helped me form my own moral compass and let go of all the anger. This life only goes one way. If I drag anger along with me, it’s going to be a harder road.”
Emma (@simplyreflected): ‘I’m still alive and I’m still trying’ from the song ‘Reunion’ because I suffer from depression and to me it means everyday I wake up, it means that I fought another day and that today I can say that I’m still alive and I’m still trying and I’m still fighting.”
Trish @SwainerGirl): “There’s so many fantastic ones that really speak to me. But along the lines of the last answer, this particular lyric from ‘Leg Up’ has really spoken to me over the last year. ‘Close your eyes, let go of the hurt inside’.
Jess (@JessHawden): “My favourite lyrics are ‘And you close your eyes, let go of the hurt inside’ from ‘Leg Up’. In times of sadness I think of this lyric and it allows me to take a moment to breathe and take stock of my thoughts and feelings. It gives me the time I need to get my thoughts together enough to know which path to go forward with. During times of anger or frustration it reminds me that holding on to those feelings does not benefit you and only hurts you further by keeping hold of them.”
Sandra (@PoptartSwain): “‘And you close your eyes, Let go of the hurt inside”. Whenever I feel anxious, sad or angry about something ‘Leg Up’ pops into my mind and I literally close my eyes, take a deep breath and hear Rob’s voice in my head. That’s when I know that everything will be okay.”
Paige (@lightinmychest): “‘Close your eyes, let go of the hurt inside’. After my mom passed away last November, this particular lyric from ‘Leg Up’ really helped me get through that time.”
Stacy (@LoveandSwain): “‘As the final credits start to fade, I wouldn’t take back a single frame’. I’m at a point where I can just very much relate to those lyrics. My childhood wasn’t the greatest, but looking back I wouldn’t change a single thing.
Kim (@KimSaysSmile): “It is really hard to pick just one favorite lyric. I love ‘As the final credits start to fade I wouldn’t take back a single frame’. Life is good, bad, sad, etc but when it comes down to it, my experiences made me who I am and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Shannon (@reelnerdy): “’But as the final credits start to fade I wouldn’t take back a single frame’ because it’s a great reminder that our story is ours and no matter what happens it’s made us who we are. I agree that I wouldn’t take back a single frame either because I’m the captain of my story.”
Mary (@pare6386): “As for the lyrics, ‘I often think of my life as one big movie, a two buck matinee of one of the greats. The main character is just so captivating, I just worry I’m the only one in the seat. But as the final credits start to fade, I wouldn’t take back a single frame,’ resonates with me. As someone who has anxiety and depression, often times you feel worthless, and question every decision you’ve ever made (at least I do), and sometimes I feel like I watch my life go by as I haven’t done things as conventionally as some of my peers and I have traveled most of my life alone. However, at the end of the day when I look at my life, my mistakes were opportunities for me to grow, I have had some amazing opportunities and incredible experiences. I believe every single step I have taken has led me to this place in my life and while it is far from perfect, I wouldn’t take any of it back as it made me who I am and I still have so much adventure left in me.”
Laurie (@LauriePriemen): “Probably ‘She waits for you’. That line basically summarizes what the story is all about, not only the events but also the emotions of the people involved in it. Much like ‘Medicated’, it’s drawn from personal experience and that speaks to me more than anything else.”
Chris (@Chris_afec): “‘I’m the captain of my story’ – it’s powerful, and empowering, and beautiful.”
Beth (@comet9443): “‘I’m the captain of my story, but I’m looking for a mate’. It describes so perfectly where I am right now. It made me realize I’m not alone but that others want that perfect balance in a relationship.”
Em (@invisible_heir): “‘I’ve been walking ’round with my head hanging down and I really don’t think that I should” is kind of a reminder to myself that I have no reason to feel guilty or ashamed of the person that I am. It helps me to remember to keep my head up no matter if I meet people’s expectations or not.”
Veronica (@veronica_bum): “‘I try to think about tomorrow, but I can’t forget today’ from ‘St. Louis’. It reminds me to not let life get me all worked up and to be in the moment.”
Niki (@darlingniki): “My favorite lyric is from ‘Angela’, ‘this mortality it seethes’. I just feel that sometimes it feels harder to keep fighting and holding on than it would be to give up. Making my life the way it is now was painful but worth it… and I just relate to it.”
Brandy (@horrorlovingirl): “‘I’m frank about the story, but not about the pain’ from ‘Leg Up’. Those ten words sum me up as a person. I will tell you the story, the facts, about the places and the people. The parts that hurt? I keep those until I find my own way to let go.”
Tiffany (@TiffIsWayward): “’I’m frank about the story, but not about the pain’ from Leg Up. I had been listening to this song for months before this lyric even registered with me, and when I heard it for the first time I was just kind of…floored. Yes. This is me, I thought. I spend a lot of time on social media trying to raise awareness about Type 1 Diabetes having had it for 21 years now. I share a lot of facts and even some of my struggles, but I don’t typically let people see how it can affect me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Rob just has an uncanny way to be able to write in his lyrics exactly what I’m feeling but don’t know how to say.”
Scout (@scoutstiel): “There’s something really special about select members of an audience yelling the ‘SO CAPTIVATING’ echo at incredibly wild decibels and with little to no sing-song quality during live performances of ‘Amazing’ that makes me love that lyric specifically.”
Vera (@raths_kitten): “’Why does it rhyme? Does it always have to fit in a box?’ really resonates with me. I hate labels and I never really fit in any of them. I feel like the lyrics question the structures we’re forced into. Do I really have to fit in a box? Do I have to choose a label? Am I not an individual who is able to break rules? And is it more important that something rhymes/is pretty/symmetrical or does the message matter more?”
Lynette (@LynetteParki): “My favorite lyric is ‘I’m up against the wave’ from ‘Wave’. I strongly identify with the imagery that life quite often feels like you are being pelted with waves that want to slow you down and drag you under. The waves make life difficult but they are not impassable.”
Maranda (@maranda_martin): “I have a rediscovered love for the lyric ‘Singin’ cuz that’s how we get by’ from ‘CA Nation’. Music is literally how I get by. It’s how I get through my best and worst times. I was driving on a nice day a couple weeks ago and that song came on shuffle and the lyric came up and everything in that moment was perfect.”
Angélique (@Angie_Voyage): “‘Because I’m a sinner don’t mean I’m not a saint’ from ‘Like the heart Goes’. Because it’s simple and yet powerful.”
Rachael (@NessaNight): “My favorite lyric is from ‘Cigarette’. ‘This may be your chance, so don’t think twice’ because I have a tendency to overthink things.”
Sarah (@WyldeFandom): “The lyric that I think of right away is ‘now I lay you down buried in the ground, but I carry on ’cause I must be strong’ from the song ‘Too Far Away’ that will be on the new acoustic album. As soon as I heard those words I couldn’t stop the tears from happening, it took me right back to when I lost my father. During his wake, I kept myself together by saying that I have to carry on and I must be strong. It took me back to that moment where I was taking care of my mom and everyone else.”
Kelli (@klairermusic1): “‘I may be crazy at least I’m medicated’. I’m not 100% sure why it is my favorite honestly. I enjoy ‘Medicated’ and I get a chuckle during the chorus every time, so maybe that is why.”
Holly (@AccioAwesome): “I got a tattoo of it! It was a rough time in my life where I felt very directionless and lost. But holding on to sentiments like this made me remember life could be worth it even when you feel worthless.”
Shaena (@StartoftheAct): “There are a lot of lyrics I like but I really like ‘I look like a dog, but I’m all cat inside. I dress like a slob’ from ‘Overachiever’. I always liked this lyrics and thought that it was funny.”
Jennifer (@macd1982): “My top one is ‘It’s not fair, but fairness is overrated’ (from She Waits) because I feel like it’s my personal mantra sometimes. I have some physical issues that I’ve been dealing with for most of my life and it’s very easy to get bogged down with asking ‘why me?’. Something about that lyric just grabbed me and I feel like (for me) it’s saying ‘it’s not fair, but you have to deal with it anyways and in doing so it makes you stronger’ – it actually gives me hope.”
Natasha (@NatashaCole): “‘I’m happy, and lonely, and free’, from ‘Like the Heart Goes’ just because it describes my life currently. There’s always a Swain lyric perfect for something going on in life or to describe a feeling you are having.”
Judith (@LAgirlHD): “‘Never meet again, Never speak again, maybe in another life, maybe, we could have been‘. I think we all meet that random person in our life on a random occasion where that lyric just fits cause we didn’t made a move. At least i did.”
Michelle (@lydrewsmom): “’There’s one life I’ve ever known, much I’ve changed but not outgrown’ has always struck a chord with me.”
Stay tuned for part 3 – coming soon!
