Songs that mean the most to me

I always think it’s incredible that hearing a certain song can immediately take you back to a specific time in your life or a memory attached to it. Whether it’s a song that got you through a hard time, one that takes you back to your childhood or that was always on the radio during the best summer of your life, I find that certain songs mean a lot to me. Therefore I’m going to share with you some of the songs that mean the most to me, whether it’s for a deep, personal reason or that it just reminds me of a good time in my life.


• Story of My Life – One Direction

I bet you’d already guessed that my favourite boys would make this list. But honestly, this song means so so much to me. It might sound cringey, but when this song came out it was all I would listen to for a long time. It was a time in my life when I was feeling quite lonely; I’d just started university and I was finding it hard making friends when it seemed that everyone else had already started forming friendship groups. When I was walking back from lectures in the dark and cold, I’d stick my headphones in and just put this song on repeat. And even though it was freezing, I felt warm inside. I felt like I wasn’t alone. This song comforted me at a time when I needed it the most, and so whenever I hear it now it takes me back to that time and makes me realise how far I’ve come since then. Not even afraid to admit it always makes me cry and gives me goosebumps, because it means so much to me.

• How Does It Feel – Avril Lavigne

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know that growing up I was a huge Avril fan. I basically idolised her and wanted to be her. This song really struck a chord with me when I heard it as a 9-year-old girl. ‘I am small and the world is big, all around me is fast-moving’ – this line made my small mind think ‘wow that’s exactly how I feel!’. The song asks the question ‘How does it feel to be different to me?’, something that a younger me always wondered, and to be honest I still wonder 12 years later. I’m a creative writer – I’m always thinking about other peoples’ lives besides my own, imagining what it would feel like to be someone other than myself, it’s just the way my inquisitive mind works. This song sums that up for me, and that’s why it means a lot to me because it reminds me of the first time when I thought that someone else felt the same way as I did and put it into words.

• Never Grow Up – Taylor Swift

Another really emotional song, wow this one never fails to make me cry! Throughout the song Taylor is addressing perhaps her younger self or a child in general and telling them to make the most of their childhood, never to take their parents for granted and to hold on to being young and having the whole world at your fingertips. To me this is such a strong message that resonates with me, when I hear people taking what they have for granted, wishing they were older I just think ‘No! Please don’t say that!’. At 21 now, I’d do anything to be 18 or younger again, I miss being a teenager and seeing my friends every day. I always tell people as much as you hate school, when you finish you’re going to miss it more than you realise. Please just take every day as it comes and stop wishing your life away, enjoy the now because you never know when something can be taken away from you.

• A Little Bit Longer – Jonas Brothers

Sorry for all the emotional songs in a row, I promise it’ll start getting more light-hearted as we go on. This song has a similar message to the last one, to never take anything for granted. My favourite lyric from this song, a well-known phrase is that ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’. Again, appreciate everything you have. This song was written by Nick Jonas about when he got diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, something that obviously changed his life a lot. He urges people to not let anything slow you down, to always appreciate what you have while you have it, rather than taking it for granted and missing it when it’s gone. Another great lyric from this song is ‘Every time you smile, you laugh, you glow, and you don’t even know’ – such simple things like smiling and laughing are so special yet you take them for granted. This song means a lot to me because it reminds me to always be grateful for what I have, even the simplest things.

• Somewhere Only We Know – Keane

This song for me just screams childhood. I hear it and I’m taken right back to being really young, and it makes me all nostalgic and happy. My dad would always play Keane in the car so they’re one of the bands that are basically the soundtrack to a lot of my childhood, and this song is so lovely and dreamy it fits well with the feeling I get when I hear it. I don’t have a specific memory that I associate with it, but it just gives me this warm feeling of nostalgia and general child-like thoughts.

• Thinking Of Me – Olly Murs

Such a happy and upbeat song, it always makes me smile. Just hearing the intro immediately reminds me of happy memories. My friend and I were (and still are, not going to lie) obsessed with Olly Murs at school, and we’d always sing this song together so it reminds me of all the great memories we had. ‘I know that you’re somewhere thinking of me’ – it’s true; this song instantly makes me think of friendship and laughter and smiles and that’s why it means so much to me.

• The Great Escape – Boys Like Girls

I went through this phase when I was about 14/15 (before One Direction came along) when I loved Boys Like Girls. Again, their songs are so upbeat and positive and they just put a smile on my face whenever I hear them. I went on a school trip to Spain when I was 15, and I basically just listened to Boys Like Girls the whole time whenever we went anywhere on the coach. So whenever I hear this song it takes me right back to that trip which was so much fun and the first time I’d ever been abroad without my family, which was a big thing for me. The song is aptly named for the memory it holds – The Great Escape represents freedom and breaking free of what’s holding you back and just going for it. Although it was out of my comfort zone I did it and it was one of the best experiences of my life, and this song represents that for me so it always makes me happy.

• Through The Dark – One Direction

Of course I had to include another song by my favourite people. This song doesn’t have as much of an emotional attachment to me as the previous 1D one I talked about, but it still means a lot to me. This song is from the same album as Story of My Life, so I was listening to it around the same time, a little after I’d heard it. For me this song just epitomises happiness and hope. ‘When the night is coming down on you, we will find a way through the dark’ is just one of my favourite lyrics ever, it just holds so much positivity with its message that things will always get better. This is also my favourite ever song live; I just jump around and go crazy whenever they sing it! So yeah, it just makes me feel really happy and its message means a lot to me.

• Someone Like You – Adele

Back to another emotional one, sorry. This song is another one that always makes me cry, it reminds me of when I left school. Just the opening intro is enough to give me goosebumps and take me right back to that moment when my friend sang it at prom. The lyric that gets me the most is ‘You know how the time flies, only yesterday was the time of our lives’. It shows again as I was talking about earlier, how we have to make the most of every day because before you know it time has flown by and we have to move on from things, whether its school or uni or jobs or friends moving away or whatever you might have to face. Although this song makes me sad it also reminds me of the amazing times I had with my friends at school and makes me grateful that after all this time we are still friends and make time whenever we can to see each other, and when we do it’s like nothing has even changed.

• Bring It All Back – S Club 7

I know what you’re thinking, I go from something really serious and deep to S Club 7. That’s just how I roll. But in all seriousness this song makes me so happy and it not only reminds me of being a little kid but again reminds me of school too. We made up a dance to it (actually we copied the one from the music video but whatever) for a fun end of term thing we used to do at school and ever since then I cannot hear it without wanting to break out all the moves. It just reminds me again of childhood and of happy times and that’s why I love it.

• Mr Brightside – The Killers

Finally, the song that everyone seems to adore. Does anyone in the world even dislike this song? Is that even legal? This song makes me happy because it also reminds me of my friends. In sixth form it was literally the only song that the whole year group liked, and so in the common room we would always play it on the speakers and know that we wouldn’t get any complaints about our music taste or be told to turn it off. It’s such a feel good song and one that you can really belt out the words to and that’s why it deserved to make my list.


Realistically this list could have gone on forever as so many songs have a lot of meaning to me, but I didn’t want to go overboard. Do any of the songs I’ve mentioned mean a lot to you too? Maybe for different reasons. That’s what I love about music, is that the same song can be interpreted differently and have different meanings to people. What songs mean a lot to you? Feel free to leave yours in the comments!