Emotional Toads

As I was thinking about this post, I went back & forth on if I really wanted to discuss something kind of personal. I finally decided that I need to be more open since it's a lot healthier than bottling up everything. I have a bad habit of holding things in until something finally sets off an explosion of emotions. FUN, eh?!

Last night I was listening to a playlist that I had made for someone a while back and a song came on which made me start to cry. I wasn't really shocked since the particular artist has stirred up emotions for many years now whenever I hear them. I think I'm just surprised how deep those feelings go.

Ever since I was little, I've dealt with depression. At first, I didn't realize exactly what it was or that it was really serious in my case, until my early twenties. I just knew that it was difficult to deal with my feelings and thoughts sometimes. During highschool I was introduced to Toad The Wet Sprocket and for me that band became a way to get through some hard times. Specifically, the album - Pale - which I remember many times sitting on my bedroom floor crying my eyes out as I listened to every song.  Three songs stick out the most that expressed my thoughts & feelings so well  -
1. High On A River Bed
2. Torn
3. I Think About

In some ways, I'm glad that I had an outlet because I'm sure I would have been in worse shape if I wasn't able to get my feelings out in some form. It's just interesting to me that all of the songs from this album stuck with me over the years. I remember going to see TTWS in concert at Exit Inn and I ended up standing in the back trying to hide as tears ran down my face. I wasn't sad about anything at the time, it was just that when I heard any of those songs - all of those feelings came back up to the surface.  It makes me realize how powerful music can be....

I still enjoy Toad The Wet Sprocket. All of the other albums they came out with don't have the same emotional power that Pale does so it's not a total cry fest every time they are mentioned. ;)

Do any of you have certain music that stirs up crazy emotions? I know there are other songs or artists that can totally change my mood but TTWS will always be the strongest, I think.