I have loved music for a very long time. I recall as a teenager I?d spend hours in my room, listening to music. Sometimes it was fun. Sometimes it was relaxing. Sometimes it was a way to escape. I?ve mentioned before, I was picked on in school. I was different. I was much younger then my classmates, which meant I looked and acted differently. I don?t know why it bothered them that I was younger. In retrospect I guess they felt threatened by someone that had equal or higher intelligence but was years younger. I know now it wasn?t my problem, it was theirs. But I didn?t know that then. The fact that I wasn?t liked or accepted really bothered me.
Anyway. I was brutally picked on as a teen. Not physically, but verbally, mentally and emotionally. Because of that, I hated school. I had no friends there. I didn?t have many friends outside of school, because all the kids that went to school together hung out together. I had a few friends but other then that it was just me. In my spare time I?d read or listen to music, two things I love to do to this day. Early on I?d learn the words to my favorite songs, as kids do. But I didn?t really hear what the words were saying. As time went by I realized that those lyrics had meanings. I started paying attention to lyrics. I found there were many bad song lyrics put to good music. There were also many good lyrics with bad music. The very best songs were, and are still, a fusion of both good lyrics and good music. Sadly, there?s more bad music then there is good music, even today.
If you?ve read Mom Knows It All before you may recall me mentioning the band Oleander. If you follow me on Twitter then you know I support the band. That?s because I love their music, I have for years. They make good music. Actually they make great music, but that?s not the point. They?re also just nice. Well, this post isn?t about them. But it is about their song Something Beautiful, to a point. Their current single Something Beautiful is an awesome song. It?s about as close to musical perfection as you can get, along with the rest of the album. Every song on that album has great music and lyrics. But Something Beautiful is the one that means a lot to me, because of the meaning I find in the lyrics. Before I share the meaning I find in those lyrics, let me share the lyrics.
Tell me what hurts the most,
Where you feel it in your bones.
Is this how you pictured yourself?
Do you feel like a ghost?
Half alive and so unknown?
Is this how you run from yourself?And the undertow rushes in,
Pulls you out, pulls you in.
Spinning you all around,
Spinning you upside down.
And you don?t know which way is up,
And will this ever be enough
To make you whole, to fill your soul,
When all you want isSomething beautiful
That they can?t take away,
That no one can ever touch,
And nothing can replace.
Something beautiful
That you can call your own.
When the world shows its ugly side
All you want is something beautiful.
Something beautiful.Can you touch the way you feel,
Or does it only fade to gray?
Is this how you cripple yourself?
And when the sky is caving in,
Crashing down from within,
Is this how you, you lose yourself?Because you don?t know which way is up,
And will this ever be enough
To make you whole, to fill your soul,
When all we want isSomething beautiful
That they can?t take away,
That no one can ever touch,
And nothing can replace.
Something beautiful
That you can call your own.
When the world shows its ugly side
All you want is something beautiful.
Something beautiful.Some things will never, will never, will never change
Some things will never, will never, will never change
Will never change
Unless you believe in
Something beautiful
Something beautiful
When all you want isSomething beautiful
That they can?t take away,
That no one can ever touch,
And nothing can replace.
Something beautiful
That you can call your own.
When the world shows its ugly side
All you want is something beautiful.
Something beautiful.
Well. Besides it?s musical splendor, on a personal level the song Something Beautiful has come to mean a lot to me. This song represents what I believe in and what I want out of life and society. I am terrified to die. Not out of fear of dying, but out of the fear of not knowing what will happen to my son when I?m gone. The idea of my son having to live in today?s society without me to look out for him scares the living crap out of me.
That picture up there is a picture I personally took of my son. I think he is beautiful, inside and out. Very, very soon you will read another post about that photo and this song and how recent events on Facebook relate. But for now, know that to me, Something Beautiful is for society to be a better place for my son, and for others with Down syndrome. Something Beautiful is what I stand up and advocate for on a daily basis. I hope and wish that society will someday be a place where people aren?t judged by their looks, or their abilities or lack there of. My son is shunned and given funny looks because he looks different than most children. He tries to talk to them and they avoid him. I hope and wish that someday people won?t label others based on anything other then who they are inside and how they treat each other.?I dream of a society where parents teach their children it?s ok to be different, and to give everyone a chance. I dream of a society that offers a safe and accepting environment for all. I dream of a society where people don?t throw around a word like retard or retarded for every situation they don?t like because they are too lazy to look in a dictionary for an appropriate word. If society ever gets to the point where it?s anything like what I envision and fight for, it will surely be Something Beautiful.
Not a single day goes by that I don?t listen to this song. Not a single one. There have been a few occasions where I just put it on repeat and blast it, and somehow that, along with a hug and kiss from my son, helps make things a little better.
I leave you with the acoustic version of Something Beautiful, with the permission of the band Oleander.
Is there ?Something Beautiful? that you dream of? If so I?d love it if you left a comment sharing what your Something Beautiful is.
If you happen to be interested, the album Something Beautiful is available on the Oleander website and iTunes. I make no money if you purchase it, I just share it because I think it?s a million kinds of awesome. If you are interested, you can keep up with the band on the ?Oleander Facebook page . If you?re on Twitter, follow @OleanderBand on Twitter, they love hearing from people, tell them I sent you. 
A big thank you to Oleander, for graciously giving me permission to use this song in my post. And for making such real music.
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