8 Songs That Keep My Head Above The Waves

by Luke Priestley

Music is sometimes an incredible way of coping with difficult days, here are my 8 favourite songs to keep my head above the waves

Frightened Rabbit – Modern Leper

A song that’s very on the nose about how you’re feeling is sometimes the perfect thing when I’m feeling down, and this is certainly one of those songs for me. This song is about the struggles of having personal relationships that come with mental illness and accepting people do love you despite the faults you see in yourself. Low self confidence can often come hand in hand with mental illness but I use this song to remind me to be myself and have confidence in the relationships I have in my life.

The Spook School – Still Alive

This songs was my 2018 anthem; it was a very difficult year for me and my mental health but I take pride in making it through that and that I’m still going. This song reflects this sentiment wholeheartedly and “F**k you I’m still alive” is the perfect lyric to defiantly shout along to when life throws you a curveball. 

The Smith Street Band – I Don’t Want To Die Anymore

This is another very ‘on the nose’ song, as you can tell by the song name, but I’ve mainly included this as a shout out to the whole album. This song, and the album (Throw Me In The River), reflects on a lot of difficult subjects but approaches it with an unrelenting positivity and defiance that really resonates with me.

Explosions In The Sky – Your Hand In Mine

Usually I resonate with songs for their lyrics but this one doesn’t have any – sometimes when I’m feeling particularly manic or on edge some post rock is the perfect thing to calm me down. This song, in particular, instantly helps me focus and relax and reminds me of good times I’ve had playing the song on rock band with my friends.

Enter Shikari – Jonny Sniper

Listening to this song always takes me back to one of the happiest moments I’ve had in the last couple of years. I was dancing with my friends at the silent disco of my favourite festival – 2000Trees – and this song came on. I took my headphones off and could hear about 1000 odd people screaming “this is all I need to feel alive” and I had this incredible feeling of belonging come over me. I can’t listen to the song anymore without being reminded of that feeling.

Right Away Great Captain – Right Ahead, You Sailor

This song tells the story of a captain talking to a sailor to convince him to leave his family behind and come away with the ship. This song reminds me that sometimes you can’t always have everything you want and sometimes the right path isn’t always the comfortable one. It’s a thought I always try to use to motivate myself – making a difficult decision in the short term to benefit my long term health

Public Service Broadcasting – Everest

This is another song, for me, which I associate with some great memories. Me and my friend Ross used to drive through the country roads near my parents house in his battered old land rover listening to this song. However since then it’s become more that, the song itself is incredibly motivational as it tells the story of Everest and the attempts to climb it – “why should a man climb Everest? Because it is there”

Modern Baseball – Just Another Face

“Even if you can’t see it now we’re proud of what’s to come and you” – I couldn’t have picked any other song as the last one on this list. The lyrics to this song resonate with me so much I got some of them tattooed on my arm. The song is very back and forth with the verses written from the perspective of someone struggling and the choruses written as a response and both parts really connect with me. However the message I take away from the song is one of positivity and it makes me think “yeah I can do this”.