A person once said that “Behind every song there is an untold message”. I believe that the song is a way of sharing the message. A song can capture many emotions at once and explain a concept through lyrics. What makes a song good is not the amount of times played on the radio, but the message. A good song has lyrics and a catchy beat, but an exceptional song has lyrics that move you.

Many of my favorite songs are from musicals. I am a huge musical theater nerd, and I find that the songs in musicals have more meaningful lyrics. The songs serve a purpose other than to get caught in your head, they tell the story. In my opinion, one of the best musicals is A Very Potter Musical. I could be biased, because I am a huge Harry Potter fan, but the musical is still extremely good. A Very Potter Musical isn’t well known as far as musicals go, and is written and preformed by Starkid productions. The song that speaks to me the most from this musical is “Not alone”. The song fits perfectly with the script, but I find it is very versatile. The song often gets caught in my head, even when I’m not thinking about anything related to the musical.

The lyrics of the song have a wonderful message, that you’re not alone and all you need is love to face the world. The beginning of the song starts of with the words “I’ve been alone, surrounded by darkness. I know how heartless the world can be”. This is a good way to start the song, showing that everyone feels alone. It shows that the singer knows how society can be cruel and selfish. The next lyrics are “And I’ve seen you crying. You felt like its hopeless. I always do my best to make you see” The singer is now singing to another person who is experiencing the same feelings of loneliness. As someone who has lived their life feeling alone, I can relate to the feeling of hopelessness the song refers to. I have experienced the thoughts of how I will always be alone and there is nothing I can do about it many times. I think this is what makes me enjoy the song so much.

This beginning part leads into the chorus, “Cause baby you’re not alone. Cause you’re here with me, and nothing’s gonna bring us down. Cause nothing can keep me from loving you, and you know it’s true. It don’t matter what’ll come to be, our love is all we need to make it through”. The lyrics in the chorus spark feelings of happiness and motivation inside of me. It assures me that no matter how upset and alone I feel, I’m not alone, and that message is worth thousands to me. The song makes me feel like I belong, more than any other words can. The words and melody blend perfectly and give a reason to not succumb to loneliness and sadness.

From there, the song moves to the second verse, “Now I know it ain’t easy (no it ain’t easy)”. In this part we see a call and response, with the first singer saying she understands that it isn’t easy, and the second singer agreeing. I enjoy how they show that it will be hard to grasp the concept that people are there for you, especially when you feel so isolated. The next words address this, saying “But it ain’t hard trying (it’s so hard trying)” The first singer tries to explain how when you look at all the people that care, it’s not so hard to understand you belong somewhere. The second singer shows a different perspective, saying that it’s hard to try. This also rings true, when you feel alone it can be hard to accept that people care about you and you’re not alone.

After the second singer sings this the first singer tells him “Every time I see you smiling, and I feel you close to me, tell me…”  She tells him that even though he claims he’s alone, she and others are there for him. Even if he denies it there is someone there. This is true in real life too, even if it feels like the world is against you, someone will always be there. It might be a friend or a family member or someone you didn’t even knew cared about you, but there will always be someone.

The verse leads into the chorus, which is now sang by both people. It is the start of the second singer realizing and accepting that he’s not alone, and he’ll always have someone. This part speaks to me even more than the first chorus, because rather than one voice, there are two voices telling me I’m not alone. This makes the chorus even more inspiring than before, and makes me want to join into the song, to make the fact that I’m not alone heard by everybody. The second chorus shows that no matter what life puts you through, you’ll be able to make it through with love.

After the second chorus, there is a change in beat, before the second person blurts out “Well I still have trouble. I trip and stumble trying to make sense of things sometimes”. This is the part of the song where they address a very important fact, that life isn’t a straight line up or down. I think it’s very important to know that as you go up you go down a little, progress is hard. The lyrics capture this perfectly in the song, from the shift in beat to the tone of voice. The next lines address the positive way to deal with these ups and downs, saying “I look for reasons, but I don’t need ‘em. All I need is to look in your eyes, and I realize”. I really like this part, because not only does it show how life isn’t perfect, but it shows that it’s okay for life to be imperfect. When I’m faced with a problem, one of the first things I do is think “what did I do to deserve this?”. the singer admits that he doesn’t need to have a reason, he just needs to realize that he’s not alone. This is something I try to recognize when faced with a problem. You don’t need reasons; you need to remember those that love you and work through the problem.

After this realization, two more singers arrive and the four of them sing the chorus for the final time. The message is stronger than ever, you’re not alone and people care about you. All you need to succeed is to understand that you don’t have to face everything by yourself. It hammers home the message that even if you feel like you’re nothing, to someone you are everything. The song tells me that even if it seems like it’s over, there’s something – or someone, to fight for.

The songs ends by repeating the end of the chorus, saying “Cause it don’t matter what’ll come to be. Our love is all we need to make it through” The ending is slow, but sweet, the background track pausing in bits to let the singers sing the final notes by themselves. The ending shows that no matter where life takes you, you’ll always be able to face life by each others side. It shows that even if things don’t work out, you’ll always be able to go on, together. To me, that is the most important message a song can share.