“Tries to be perfect, tries to be honest!” my little brothers sang.

“Urgh, be quiet,” I complained. I didn't bother to ask what the song was- its name or artist. A few months later, I did.

I was at the Revolve Tour and only expecting messages, music that I actually knew, and then packing up to go back home. It turned out that I knew none of the music- absolutely none whatsoever. Everything I heard was rather likeable, however, so I stuck around. It was about an hour later that they first announced the band Hawk Nelson.

I thought that the lead singer's name was Hawk Nelson, I really did. I now know that that's not true. But from the very beginning, something about Hawk Nelson was just… different. They were different from all the other bands I had been watching. Although I knew absolutely nothing about them (or the other bands), I found myself enjoying their music.

The fifth song was my favorite of all time and now is my ultimate favorite- a piece that I actually had heard before, only distorted and out of tune- the song my brothers had tried to sing. I dind't realize this until the chorus-
“I tried to be perfect
Tried to be honest
Tried to be everything that you ever wanted
I tried to be stronger
Tried to be smarter
Tried to be everything but you.”

The lyrics were just so true and personal- but the best thing was that everyone can probably relate to this. They completely applied to me. Ultimately, it made me remember my past, struggling with that difficult- the ‘you' being my parents and the rest of the world. This song- a song I barely knew by a band I had just found out about today that I had heard only once- immediately sparked my interest.

As soon as I got home, I tackled my brothers (almost literally) and found out that this song was called “Everything you ever wanted” and that it was actually written from a son's point of view whose parents had just divorced and wants his father back. Although my family life is totally different than the intention of the song, I found myself loving their music.

I then borrowed the album “Smile, it's the end of the world,” from the library and listened to all the songs. They weren't all like “Everything you ever wanted”- personal and all- but they were unique in their own ways and they portrayed their emotions perfectly. It was just that “Everything you ever wanted” was special. I listened to it for weeks, so much that my whole family memorized it.

I smiled to myself. the house was silent. I popped “Smile, it's the end of the world” into my CD player and went straight to track four and turned it up. When it was time for the chorus, I sang along.
“I tried to be perfect,
Tried to be honest
Tried to be everything that you ever wanted
I tried to be stronger
Tried to be smarter
Tried to be everything but you.”