I first heard the song “Breathe” by Anna Nalick while watching the Grey’s Anatomy episode where Meredith Grey is holding an undetonated bomb steady in someones chest cavity. Naturally, I downloaded the song, learned the words, and mentally played it anytime I’m holding or carrying anything fragile. After hearing it a few million times, I finally decided to really listen to the words. My conclusion? PANIC. This song is panic inducing. I mean, let me break down some of the lyrics for you:
“Life’s like an hourglass glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button, girl.” OH.MY.GOSH. I haven’t felt this much anxiety from a song since “100 Years” by Five for Fighting. I get the mental image of Princess Jasmine getting drowned in the hourglass in Aladdin. STOP IT! I just want to listen to music. I’m not trying to think deeply about my mortality and time on this earth. And DUH the song is called “Breathe” because she knew when she wrote it that it was gonna make people like me anxious, so she had to write in a reminder to keep breathing. But then I think, maybe Ms. Nalick was ahead of her time. Maybe this is just an early version of YOLO. “Hey guys, time’s running out in your life’s hourglass. You better YOLO it up!”
You win, Anna Nalick. You win. When I calm down, stop hyperventilating, and crawl out of fetal position I will go live it up. But never fear, because in the back of my mind I will now always be thinking about my lifes hourglass dripping away as my time here on earth quickly runs out.
I have a tendency to like the TV characters that everyone else finds annoying. Maybe it’s because I think I’m annoying and sympathize with the fact that they can’t help but be who they are--annoying. But gosh darn it, I love Meredith Grey. Yes, she’s whiny, and overly guarded, stubborn, and kind of whorish. But really, who’s not? She can be overly dramatic and sometimes a little “dark and twisty”; well, so can I. She has ridiculously thin and stringy hair, and has a hard time saying no; so do I. So yes, I sympathize, empathize, and love one of TV’s whiniest characters.
So here’s to you, Meredith Grey. Because we all have days when we feel like this…
