To be quite honest, The Family Jewels by Marina & the Diamonds is the true soundtrack of my life. It’s funny because I knew about Marina in late 2008, moreso January 2009 thanks to my friends, Caleb & Steven. But I didn’t take the time to really pay attention to Marina’s music until this past fall. It’s really a shame that it took so long for me to listen to this girl’s album.

Marina’s music is in my head when I wake up and in my head when I go to sleep. Her music is a constant stream in my mind all day, every day and it has been a long while since an artist’s music has done that for me! The Family Jewels is phenomenal and unlike anything that I have heard before. The music and arrangements are so incredibly unique and Marina’s songwriting is superb.

The songwriting really speaks to me, so I just want to take some time out to talk about that. Please note that I’m dissecting the lyrics of 6/13 songs by discussing how they pertain in my life, not Marina’s. This is how I view the songs, which may not necessarily be the original message(s) behind the songwriting.

Let’s start with the first track from the album…

1) Are You Satisfied?

The part that gets me in the first verse is…

Oh, everybody said
Marina is a dreamer
People like to tell you what you’re gonna be
It’s not my problem if you don’t see what I see
And I do not give a damn if you don’t believe

See, I’ve set out goals in my life that the majority of the people I know consider to be out of reach. To me, that’s not only instilling low self confidence but the same as telling me that it is best to settle and live in convenience rather than true happiness. There’s a big difference between having my head in the clouds/being unrealistic and making my own path to success. But when people are held captive by fear (amongst other things) and are unwilling to make their own path to success, they’ll tell you that your dream is not likely to happen as well. And when people are controlling and try to make you believe that the only path to your success is with their help and their advice and their this and their that (and possibly ultimatums are given) it makes the journey even more significant to make without them. You think I’m just a dreamer? That’s alright, you keep thinking that while I’m dreaming about my goals even after I’ve succeeded. I’ll really be dreaming then. Someone will have to pinch me. I might even ask you to do it.

The Chorus goes…

Are you satisfied with an average life?
Do I need to lie to make my way in life?

No, I am not satisfied with an average life. You only get one life and you don’t know when it will end, so it’s important not to take all that life has to offer for granted. Life is grand. Whether you are going to a Broadway play or eating lunch picnic style for the first time in your backyard, there are so many opportunities in life to take risks and do something to spice up your day. Something that you do for a day can be a wonderful memory lasting a lifetime and something that you do one day can make your life change forever. So I’m not going to lie to myself, telling myself that it’s fulfilling being married with a son and a daughter in my big white house with a white picket fence and red door, golden retriever, and 9 to 5 job. It might be satisfactory to America’s standards but that is certainly not fulfilling for me. The American Dream is not my dream and I refuse to be pigeonholed for the convenience of such.

There’s a part near the end of the song that goes…

Sad inside
In this life
Unsatisfied praying
Sad inside
In this life
Unsatisfied waiting

Yes, at times I am sad and discouraged but the difference between myself a few years ago and now is that I have a better understanding for praying. Sometimes no answer is also an answer. And God’s gift to us was free will and many times, that is our answer. We have to answer ourselves. But because we are so stubborn, we don’t even realize that we have to answer ourselves. What’s interesting here is fate vs. free will. I believe that our fate is set but not in stone because we have free will – so it’s up to us how we get there and if we get there at all. So instead of waiting around for an answer, being unsatisfied with what we believe to be no answer…we need to get up and clear the path, go down a new path, whatever you need to do to be completely fulfilled.

Basically, I love this song because it forces people to think about where they are in life, why they are there, and what they are willing to do to become fully satisfied with their life, no matter who tries to tear you down, no matter what troubles come your way. I love this song.

2) I Am Not a Robot

The beginning of the song starts out like this…

You’ve been acting awful tough lately
Smoking a lot of cigarettes lately
But inside, you’re just a little baby
It’s okay to say you’ve got a weak spot
You don’t always have to be on top

And the chorus goes…

I’m vulnerable, I’m vulnerable
I am not a robot
You’re loveable, so loveable
But you’re just trouble
Guess what? I’m not a robot, a robot (x2)

This song reminds me of middle school, one of the two middle schools that I attended to be exact. This song has so many meanings, though one in particular meaning that stands out for me is young children not conforming and just being who they are and proud of it. In one of the middle schools that I attended, everyone tried to act tough or put up a front in order to not show just how broken and/or vulnerable they truly were. Because you never stop learning, it’s never-ending, figuring out who you are, what you like and don’t like, what you stand for and so forth. But at this moment in time, it seemed so crucial for most to find a social identity. Because of this desire, some got belly button rings (yes, in middle school), others did drugs, others found themselves in detention every day of the week for disrupting class since they didn’t seem to get enough attention at home. There’s a long list of things that the children did that boggles my mind now, but thank God for this song. Hopefully this song will open up the eyes of everyone, in particular the youth of today. They need to know that they are special, they are loved, and they don’t need to grow up so fast to be accepted. They don’t have to conform to be successful. They don’t always need to be the center of attention to be happy. No one is perfect, so don’t attempt to be or attempt to be the complete opposite to prove a point. That is a waste of time. Don’t do what your peers expect you to do to fill their soul. Do what you need to do to fill your soul. I love this song because it encourages people to be the individuals that they are.

3) Girls

There’s quite a lot to touch on in this song, so I’ll only tackle the chorus…

Is there any possibility
You’ll quit gossiping about me
To hide your insecurities
All you say is “blah, blah”

Girls they never befriend me
Because I fall asleep when they speak
Of all the calories they eat
All they say is “na na na na na” (na na na na na)
All they say is “na na na” (na na na na na)

I love the chorus because it puts all of those girls with malicious spirits in their place. Instead of tearing people down, we should be building people up and yet many still decide to tear down. The beginning of the song has a message along the lines of, I’m a woman and I am not going to be pigeon holed because of that…you can be sleazy if you want to but there’s more to life for me. Then, the chorus comes on and shares how girls with low self esteem, girls intimidated by other girls’ confidence try to tear them down. But alas, it’s not worth since all the smart girls hear is “blah blah blah.” That’s all negativity is, is “na na na na na.” I love it.

4) Obsessions

One of the verses in the song goes…

Supermarket, oh what packet of crackers to pick?
They’re all the same, one brand, one name, but really they’re not
Look, look, just choose something quick
People are staring, time to go quick in
Skin is on fire
Just choose something, something, something
Pressure overwhelming
Next minute I am turning out of the door, facing one week without food
A day, a day when things, things are pretty bad
Don’t let it make you feel sad, the crackers were probably bad luck anyway
Can’t let your cold heart be free
When you act like you’ve got an OCD

I love this verse not only because I am unfortunately addicted to food but because it is such a fascinating metaphor for every other obsession there is (whether I have it or not) and the battle to fight that obsession. It’s really all in my head these obsessions of mine and this song, this verse in particular really shares the feelings, thoughts…the struggle perfectly. Thank you Marina for explaining it in a way that people who don’t have extreme obsessions can understand the internal struggle that is taking place.

5) Hollywood

The chorus goes…

Hollywood infected your brain
You wanted kissing in the rain, oh oh
(I’ve been) Living in a movie scene
Puking American dreams, oh oh
I’m obsessed with the mess that’s America (x2)

I can 100% relate to “Hollywood infected your brain.” I’ve been obsessed with celebrities and Hollywood since the third grade. My obsession was not as bold back then as it is today and now that I think about it, I wish it were the reverse. Over the past few years, I’ve been able to force myself to cut down on caring so much about celebrities and Hollywood. It is a daily struggle not to go onto celebrity gossip websites, watch E! News, read People Magazine, and so forth. But I am proud that I’ve cut down on the hours of doing such. It’s also a daily struggle not to follow everyone in Hollywood on Twitter, down to the janitors on the studio lots because I so badly want to be a success in Hollywood. But reading all about what everyone in Hollywood is doing every second of the day does not get me any closer to working side by side with those people that I admire in the business. There’s a skill to networking and being an invincible hound is not the answer. So I’m gradually falling out of lust with the mess that is Hollywood and am cleaning up the mess that it made of me.

6) Oh No!

Oh No! is my favorite track on the album because every single word, every single line speaks to me. Marina couldn’t have written this song any better. While tempted to just share the lyrics of the entire song, I’ll only share one bit towards the end that spoke to me the most when I first heard the song.

If you are not very careful
Your possessions will possess you
TV taught me how to feel
Now real life has no appeal
It has no appeal

After listening to this song on repeat for hours one day earlier this month, I decided to cut my TV schedule. My TV schedule consisted of over 40 shows each week and I recently just cut that schedule in half. As an aspiring television writer, I used the excuse to watch everything that I wanted to watch for inspiration. While it’s true that there are at least 45 shows that I haven’t yet seen and want to watch on top of the shows that I am already watching…a line needs to be drawn. I can be inspired all day to write good television but if the shows that I am watching are not inspiring me to be a better person in the real world, I need to re-evaluate my time. Sure, every single show doesn’t have to have a life altering message, some shows can be watched for pure entertainment. But that needs to be a minority, TV in general has to be a minority because real life is a priority. Once you get to that “Oh no!” moment, you really snap yourself back into reality and that’s what I did. I took back hours of my life back to do more productive things and I am so glad that I have because I feel more refreshed than ever and more in tune with everything going on around me. I’ll definitely be cutting more television out as time goes on because I love life and I don’t want my life to be watching me!

Marina & the Diamonds is my favorite artist in quite some time and she has encouraged and inspired me to not only be a better writer but a better person. There are not too many artists that talk about the subject matter that she does these days, so not only is her sound refreshing but her lyrics are refreshing and much more meaningful in the long run.