This song from Paramore, "The Only Exception", touches on an emotional aspect I find myself applying to my female teen protags quite often: they're afraid to get close to the one they know is right for them, or perhaps put themselves through grief--purposely or not--before realizing who that person is. They're jaded before they've lived long enough to warrant it, and usually that is because of things they've seen happen to their parent/s. They keep their heart hidden to prevent it from breaking, even if it means hurting themselves in other ways.
But that gives them something to overcome through the course of their story. And like this song, there is hope at the end that they will take what seems like a huge risk and open up to what we know is best for them. That keeps us as readers engaged through their ups and downs, their failures and triumphs, their good and bad choices. We want them to succeed and stamp out the overwhelming bitterness.
A BIG THANK YOU to Joe for showing me this perfect song. Embedding has been disabled, so follow the link HERE. Enjoy!
~Lydia
Oh, great, give me a new band to distract me all afternoon!
ReplyDeleteBut really, I got goosebumps.
And I like how you put it in context of a character's struggle - what they need to overcome. It's easier to have them fight aliens, but means so much more to us to see them move towards opening themselves to possibly being hurt.
'Cause I've definitely been here:
I had sworn to myself that I'm
Content with loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk
Haha! It's easier to have them fight aliens... don't I know it!
ReplyDeleteGlad you felt it was goosebump-worthy, mc. :)
Dude, I LOVE Paramore! Great song. :)
ReplyDeleteElana, I am officially HOOKED on them now!
ReplyDeleteJoe has an account with Pandora and whenever he hears something he thinks I'll like he emails me a YouTube link. This was one of them.