Lyrics to Live by

Sometimes, all you need to cheer yourself up when you’re feeling down is to listen to your favourite song. I know a lot of the time for me, music makes me feel happier and certain songs just make me smile no matter what. We all have those certain lyrics which are our favourites, that speak to us more than others and mean a lot to us. I’ve put together some of the lyrics that mean the most to me and that I think give a message that can always inspire me in life, and I decided to share them with you so that maybe they can inspire you too whenever you need it.

‘These things will change. Can you see it now? These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down’ – Taylor Swift, Change

This song is one of my all-time favourites by Taylor even though it’s quite old now. It shows that although there will always be people who try to bring you down, you can rise above it and not let them control you.

‘If you ever feel alone, don’t. You were never on your own’ – One Direction, Don’t Forget Where you Belong

Now, everyone knows how much I love One Direction, but seriously a lot of their lyrics are more amazing than most people give them credit for. This is one of my ultimate favourites and I’m not going to lie, hearing this song live makes me cry every time! It means so much to me and reminds me that even when I feel lonely, I’m never alone. Alright, cringe alert over.

‘When the night is coming down on you, we will find a way through the dark’ – One Direction, Through the Dark

This song is one of my favourites ever, so if you haven’t heard it please do give it a listen! I love its positive message and it always makes me smile, and again reminds me that even if I’m feeling down or fed up, things will get better.

‘All I know at the end of the day is you want what you want and you say what you say, and you follow your heart even though it’ll break sometimes’ – One Direction, End of the Day

Alright I promise this is the last 1D song on this list! I just think this song is another one that is so upbeat and positive, and gives out such a great message that you should just do whatever you want, follow your instincts and never let anyone else’s opinion put you off because even if it doesn’t work out the way you thought it would, at least you gave it a shot.

‘If you wanna bring me down, go ahead and try’ –Avril Lavigne, Nobody’s Fool

One of my favourite songs from my childhood! I absolutely adored Avril growing up and wanted to be just like her, this song is so sassy and it’s quite old now but if you haven’t heard it definitely go and have a listen! The song is basically telling the haters that nothing will let them bring you down and I love that. When I was younger I was really shy and used to let people walk all over me but with this song I felt like no, you can’t tell me what to do, and nothing you can say will bring me down.

‘Where would we be if we couldn’t dream?’ – Jonas Brothers, That’s Just the Way we Roll

I also used to love the Jonas Brothers so much and this was one of my faves by them. It’s such a fun song that doesn’t take itself too seriously which is what I love so much about it; and it’s basically saying that no matter what you should just be yourself and dream as big as you want because we would be nowhere without ambition and aiming higher to get what we want.

‘All that you have to do is be true to you, that’s all you ever need to know’ – Ariana Grande and Mika, Popular Song

This song is also so fun-filled and lighthearted but it has an amazing message again; that being popular isn’t everything and that just being yourself is so much better. It doesn’t matter what other people think of you, it only matters that you are you own person and that you are happy with who you are.

‘Faith is the bullet, hope is the gun and love is all we need’ – Olly Murs, Army of Two

I love this lyric so so much; as an English student I love a good metaphor and this lyric delivers just that, fabulous. All we need is a little faith, hope and love and that will be enough – such a sweet and lovely message that a lot of people could learn from.

‘Get up and go, take a chance and be strong, or you could spend your whole life holding on’ – Boys Like Girls, Go

Now I’m not sure that many people will have heard of Boys Like Girls, they’re quite an old group but I loved them when I was in my early teens (which to be fair was about 8 years ago now, oh my god). Their songs are really upbeat so if you like that kind of thing then definitely go check them out! This is one of their slower songs, but one of my faves! I love the message that you should just let go of what’s worrying you, or whatever is making you feel down and just move on no matter how hard it is, otherwise you’ll spend way too long feeling unnecessarily unhappy.

‘Pretty please, I know it’s a drag, wipe your eyes and put up your head’ – Avril Lavigne, Darlin’

This is such a cute song off one of Avril’s most recent albums, saying that although you might be unhappy for whatever reason, these times will pass and things will get better.

‘Someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me, and all you’re ever gonna be is mean’ – Taylor Swift, Mean

Another one of my favourite Taylor songs ever! This song is literally one of the sassiest songs in existence, I love it so much. There are a few people I could imagine singing this aggressively to! As I already mentioned, I used to get teased quite a lot and not know how to stand up for myself. But as I’ve got older, and especially in the past year, I’ve got so much more confident and I’m so happy that I have, because I realise that it’s not okay for people to treat me like that. So this song has extra meaning for me now, because now I am big enough so they can’t hit me, their words can’t hurt me and all they are is mean and that will never get them anywhere in life.

‘All we have is this moment, tomorrow’s unspoken, yesterday is history’ – Katy Perry, This Moment

One of my favourite Katy Perry songs, it’s all about living in the moment which is something I have learned to do more over recent years. I’m a self-confessed massive worrier, I will literally worry about the tiniest things and overthink everything, but I’m learning to be better and I’m working on it. The message in this song inspires me a lot to do that; because really all we have is the present moment and we need to live our life to the fullest with the time we have rather than worrying about the past or the future.

‘If everything’s a constant battle, sometimes you won’t win. If all of our strengths turn into struggle, we won’t be giving in’ – Olly Murs, Change is Gonna Come

Another one of my favourite Olly songs, it’s quite old now as it’s off his first ever album but again I would recommend a listen because this is such a mood booster of a song! It’s got such a positive message; even though everything won’t always work out and there will be hard times, you’ll always get through it and you have to challenge yourself to keep going no matter what in order for things to get better.

‘I owned every second that this world could give, I saw so many places, the things that I did, and with every broken bone I swear I lived’ – OneRepublic, I Lived

I love this song so much! Definitely go and give it a listen if you haven’t heard it, again it’s so positive and upbeat and will instantly make you happy. It’s all about looking back on your life in the future and thinking that you lived it to the fullest, you went to amazing places and saw amazing things and even though you might have got hurt along the way and had a few heartbreaks, all of it made you who you are today because you grabbed every single opportunity you possibly could.

‘Don’t you see the starlight? Don’t you dream impossible things?’ – Taylor Swift, Starlight

Had to sneak another Taylor song in there, didn’t I? I love her lyrics so much, they’re so amazing. Anyway, this song is so underrated and I bet not many people have even heard it which is a shame because it is one of my ultimate favourite songs by Taylor. It is so cute, and it’s all about not being afraid to dream big, because even if your dreams seem impossible, if you work hard enough and want them enough then maybe one day they’ll become a reality.

‘So you think you know me now, have you forgotten how you would make me feel when you drag my spirit down? But thank you for the pain, it made me raise my game’ – Jessie J, Who’s Laughing Now?

So last but by no means least is one of my favourite Jessie J songs that I completely forgot about to be honest until I was scrolling through my ipod searching for some songs to include in this post, and I thought oh my gosh this song is amazing! I absolutely love the message in this song; a bit like a few of the songs I’ve already mentioned before – even though people try to bring you down, you can always rise above them and ultimately you will become more successful than they will ever be. Their cruel words only made me want to succeed more, made me want to prove them wrong. And I did it, so who’s laughing now?

I hope you’ve enjoyed these lyrics and hopefully you love, or will love, these songs as much as I do! Hopefully you’ve felt a bit inspired reading these as they are words that always make me smile and make me feel like I can do anything. It’s amazing how music can make you feel so many emotions, and sometimes can be the one thing that will make you smile on a bad day or will lift your spirits when you feel down.

What are your favourite lyrics, or ones that contain a message that inspires you or makes you happy? Feel free to leave your faves in the comments for me to check out!