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Specific Memories I Have Connected to Songs by Cage the Elephant

So this is just going to be a compilation of stories of songs by Cage the Elephant that I have personal connections to. Most of these are related to the same situation. It will make more sense when you read one, so I'm just going to get right into it.

[in no particular order]

Cigarette Daydreams
I have to put this one first so the other stories will make sense. Long story short, my section leader got mad at me and I plunged into a very deep episode of depression. This song clicked with me because it basically retold the story of everything that happened. It's funny how it turned came around full-circle; this was the first song suggested to me, but I had avoided it because I thought it was about drugs.

Shake Me Down
This song, as most of you should know, is my favorite by Cage and also the first song that I really enjoyed by them. I listened to this song at least six times in a row when I first heard it. By the last time, I was crying because it reminded me of my current situation (I was in a depressive episode at the time).

Punchin' Bag
Okay, since this one is totally unrelated to most of the others, I wanted to put in a positive memory. This was the first song that I played on a loop. It was the second day I think that I'd known about the band, and my mom had me sweep the floors. I just kept replaying this song every time it ended. I probably listened to it at least 40 times that day.

Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
This song has a very specific memory attached to it. This song was the song that my section leader had always told me she loved because it made her dance every time the second it started playing. My mom teaches the color and winter guards at my high school, and this was right in the middle of the winter guard season when they were practicing for two and a half (sometimes three) hours three days a week after school. Each day that I could, I waited in the teacher's parking lot where I could sing as loud as I wanted to without anyone complaining. However, each day that my section leader stayed after for tutoring, I would see her walk through that same parking lot to wait for her ride with her friends. Seeing her laugh and smile made me feel guilty and it often triggered a panic attack remembering what had happened. On this one specific day, I was trying so hard to pull myself out of it without help because I didn't want to bother anyone. This song was playing on shuffle and I can distinctly remember leaning up against the car with my head in the air, tears running down my cheeks, almost screaming the lyrics, "No there ain't no rest for the wicked...oh no I can't slow down, I can't hold back though you know, I wish I could; oh no, there ain't no rest for the wicked, until we close our eyes for good."

Teeth
This was another one of those songs that I played on repeat. I went on a whale watching trip for school (not really, it was for a club that I was never a part of XD) and this was one of those songs that I wasn't told about but later listened to (others being Sabertooth Tiger and It's Just Forever). Just for some reason, I couldn't stop playing this one song.

Mess Around
This song is special because it helped me hide my emotions...yay...
Anyway, when my section leader finally just up and told me that she couldn't forgive me (she was nice about it, but it still hurt), I cried throughout my first three periods, and then left school to get a root canal. I was pretty much dead for my entire appointment. I told my mom that I was tired and didn't want to go back to school, so she drove me home. I hit the bed, pulled my blankets over my head and hyperventilated and sobbed through one of my worst panic attacks for a straight two hours. I was still a mess, but I had band practice after school, so I eventually swallowed my emotions and tried to act like I was okay. My mom realized when it was finally time to leave that something was wrong, and wouldn't let me go to practice, no matter how much I begged. Instead, she drove me out to Joanne's to grab some hot glue guns for the fundraiser after practice (we were making roses out of old sheet music) and tried to help me get over it. She asked me if I had any music to play. Every song that I could think of were all sad, and my mom wanted me to play something upbeat. So, despite my fear of my mom not liking Cage, I turned on this song. It did help me feel a little better.

Sweetie Little Jean
This song has a very vague memory, and I'm not entirely sure when it happened, but it was sometime after the incident with my section leader happened. I was listening to this song and I heard the line, "How's it feel to be a ghost?" I just remember being reminded of what happened and laying down with my head upside down, just letting myself be numb to the world.

Cold Cold Cold
This song is literally about depression, so of course I'd have a memory linked to this one. I'm pretty sure this one was with my first or second time listening to it. I'm pretty sure it just reminded me of what I was going through.

How Are You True
I used to not be a huge fan of this song. I don't know why, but there was this one day while I was brushing my teeth before bed that I just really wanted to hear it for some unknown reason. The fact that I was literally in a bathroom just made me connect to it even more. It was as if Matt was talking to me personally.

Telescope and Spiderhead
These songs are grouped in one because they were songs that I sang when I was in the hospital. I know there were more, but I specifically remember these.