I came to school today and I looked at Regan, the only words that came out of my mouth were, "I found the perfect song for this year..." and guess what she said... "It is Long Live by Taylor Swift." That is when I knew I had to write this, I had to put it down in words. How do you explain something? For me it is in music and my words and that is exactly what this song is, it is my explanation.
Here are the lyrics and then I will explain each and every piece. This song is a metaphor to everything I have been wanting to say for so long.
"Long Live"
"I said remember this moment, in the back of my mind
The time we stood with our shaking hands
The crowds in stands went wild
We were the Kings and the Queens
And they read off our names
The night you danced like you knew our lives
Would never be the same
You held your head like a hero
On a history book page
It was the end of a decade
But the start of an age
Long live the walls we crashed through
All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
One day, we will be remembered
I said remember this feeling
I passed the pictures around
Of all the years that we stood there
On the side-lines wishing for right now
We are the Kings and the Queens
You traded your baseball cap for a crown
When they gave us our trophies
And we held them up for our town
And the cynics were outraged
Screaming "this is absurd"
Cause for a moment a band of thieves
In ripped up jeans got to rule the world
Long live the walls we crashed through
All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
I'm not afraid
Long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
I was screaming long live that look on your face
And bring on all the pretenders
One day, we will be remembered
Hold on to spinning around
Confetti falls to the ground
May these memories break our fall
Will you take a moment, promise me this
That you'll stand by me forever
But if God forbid fate should step in
And force us into a goodbye
If you have children some day
When they point to the pictures
Please tell them my name
Tell them how the crowds went wild
Tell them how I hope they shine
Long live the walls we crashed through
I had the time of my life, with you
Long, long live the walls we crashed through
All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
I'm not afraid
Singing, long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
And long, long live that look on your face
And bring on all the pretenders
One day, we will be remembered"
The time we stood with our shaking hands
The crowds in stands went wild
We were the Kings and the Queens
And they read off our names
The night you danced like you knew our lives
Would never be the same
You held your head like a hero
On a history book page
It was the end of a decade
But the start of an age
Long live the walls we crashed through
All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
One day, we will be remembered
I said remember this feeling
I passed the pictures around
Of all the years that we stood there
On the side-lines wishing for right now
We are the Kings and the Queens
You traded your baseball cap for a crown
When they gave us our trophies
And we held them up for our town
And the cynics were outraged
Screaming "this is absurd"
Cause for a moment a band of thieves
In ripped up jeans got to rule the world
Long live the walls we crashed through
All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
I'm not afraid
Long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
I was screaming long live that look on your face
And bring on all the pretenders
One day, we will be remembered
Hold on to spinning around
Confetti falls to the ground
May these memories break our fall
Will you take a moment, promise me this
That you'll stand by me forever
But if God forbid fate should step in
And force us into a goodbye
If you have children some day
When they point to the pictures
Please tell them my name
Tell them how the crowds went wild
Tell them how I hope they shine
Long live the walls we crashed through
I had the time of my life, with you
Long, long live the walls we crashed through
All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
I'm not afraid
Singing, long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
And long, long live that look on your face
And bring on all the pretenders
One day, we will be remembered"
So here we go. The beginning talks about how nervous they were as they stood with "shaking hands", they read their names and they became known. This was our first day at school, our first day with eachother, and our first day of this year. We were terrified and we didn't know what was to come. We knew we had eachother but we didn't know how important these friendships would become. We didn't know that we would become a family. We would hold eachother up and become everything to eachother. All we knew is that our lives would never be the same.
There was the one person who held their head up through it all and told us we could do this. They were our hero at the time, and that hero was constantly changing. When someone was down, someone would help. We are eachother's heroes.
This next part to me is so important in explaining what this is to me. "It was the end of a decade but the start of an age." Everything we knew was changing and it seemed like we were losing some part of us, the part of us that was back home. What we didn't quite realize was that it was the start to the rest of our lives. The decade was sweet but the age to come will be so much sweeter because of what we have gone through together.
On to the chorus. Long live this year. It is something we will always remember. Maybe all the lights didn't shine on us for too long, but we knew what we were doing and I think that was all the recognition we needed. When she says bring on the pretenders, to me she means all the people who thought they knew what was happening, who said they were their friends and who promised to be there though it all. We all lost friends and we all changed and maybe lost a piece of the person we used to be, but what we gained was SO much better. Our friends promised to keep in touch, and some of them did, but the ones who didn't are the people who are not significant to us anymore. I am not afraid of what is to come because I know I have all the people I need in my life and the others are just extras. And as far of us being remembered... maybe here they won't remember us and maybe 20 years down the line they won't even know our names... but WE will always remember. We will remember eachother and we will remember the memories.
The next line she talks about passing around pictures and showing what her life used to be, showing how she got to this moment. If I had a dollar for every time that happened while we were here, I would be rich. We reflected on our pasts with eachother and told our stories. We used them as ways to understand one another better. We showed pictures, and we made it clear that we had a life back home. We all knew we maybe couldn't replace our old friends and family but we did know that we were going to gain an entire new life. We got to this moment because of our past and our family and friends back home. We will do this 20 years from now and 100 years from now, we can only hope our family will pass our pictures around and inspire other people to make this choice, to have this experience, and to change their lives like we did.
The next line makes me laugh so much. It says, "You traded your baseball cap for a crown." This could not remind me more of DeWayne. He came to the first Rotary dinner with a baseball hat and well quite honestly we were a little worried there for a moment. However, now he has done a 360 and is literally an entirely new person. We all are. I know that sounds so incredibly cliche, but it could nto be more true. We are 12 entirely different people. We have grown and we have matured. We make mistakes, but that is expected. We are people that we can be proud of. I traded my baseball cap in and became the person I have wanted to be for so long. I am proud oof who I have become and I can only hope that with time I will grow even more. Our crowns are diamond studded, our lives are diamond studded.
As for the cynics... maybe they weren't outraged... but I would like to think we proved them wrong. How many people thought I was crazy.. I cannot even tell you. How many people said I would be home at semester. How many people laughed at me when I told them that this was where I wanted to be. How many people thought back in October that I would be home in a second because my life seemed to be "falling apart." It is absurd. This year has been absurd and I am the first one to admit that. Maybe I am crazy, but I would not have it any other way. The cynics made this victory so much sweeter. We made it. We did it. We are here 9 months later with tears in our eyes but the biggest smile on our faces.
And the best part... My band of thieves in ripped up jeans. My best friends. My family. The poeple who will forever hold pieces of my heart. Regan, Kayleigh, Lenny, Connor, Ilsa, Esther, DeWayne, Josiane, Tianmai, Gwen, and Tessa; if only I could explain to you what you all mean to me. We are the band of thieves who ruled the world for one year. Well maybe not the whole world, but at least our own little exchange student world. I am not going to say goodbye just yet, but what I am going to say is I love you 11 people more than anything in this world. In one month we will be strung out across the world but the funny thing is, we will all still be together because nothing could tear us apart. We fight, we laugh, we cry, we fall (Kayleigh in particular), we hurt, and we grow together and nothing will change that. I don't care where in this world you put me. I will still find my way back to you. If I could put this into words... trust me I would. But guess what guys, the crazy country girl with the southern accent is at a loss for words. The girl who never shuts up... can't think of how to put it. I cannot explain to you how much I love you. I cannot even write this without crying. Each and every single one of you, no matter our differences, are a part of my family. And you, the people who get me to talk the most.... have put me, at a loss for words. I love you to Germany, I love you to Canada, and I love you to each coast of our country. Thank you for helping me grow and for making me the luckiest girl on this planet.
The dragons we have fought together have made me who I am. Our dragons were big and scary and somehow we got over them. And we did it together.
And oh the looks on our faces. Whether it is Regan making her stupid teeth face, Kayleigh rolling her eyes, Tessa making her "ugliest face" which is actually TERRIFYING for such a beautiful girl, Connor with his weird eyebrow raising, DeWayne with a huge smile, Lenny with her big eyes, Esther with her perfect cheeks and sweet smile, Ilsa with one of the most flawless faces I have ever seen, Josiane with her look of, "Oh my god, who are you.", Gwen with her disapproving mother face, and Tianmai with her why are you touching me look. The faces that are forever ingrained in my mind. The beautiful faces of the 11 beautiful people I love so very much.
And after the confetti falls and this year is over, I will forever hold on to these memories.
And here we go, the part of the song that makes me realize... this is ending.
"Will you take a moment, promise me this
That you'll stand by me forever
But if God forbid fate should step in
And force us into a goodbye
If you have children some day
When they point to the pictures
Please tell them my name
Tell them how the crowds went wild
Tell them how I hope they shine"
Fate has stepped in. We are being forced into our goodbyes in one month. But one thing I can promise you is that my children will hear every story, see every picture, and know what a year this has been. I will tell all the names, tell them the crowds went wild (even if they didn't), and I will make sure they are as every bit perfect as the people I met this year. I will take the advice everyone has given me and use it to help me grow. I will use it 50 years from now and I will use it on my death bed. These memories will be told, oh trust me they will be said a thousand times. I will stand by you all forever and I will make sure that it is never a goodbye, just a see you later. We will see eachother later, of that I am sure.
In conclusion, this is my year. These are the words I had to search to find. These are my memories, this is my heart. This year will forever be remembered. Long live these moments. Long live these memories. Long live this year.
With much love and thanks to every single wonderful person I have met,
Kari Porter.
<3 <3 <3
As for the cynics... maybe they weren't outraged... but I would like to think we proved them wrong. How many people thought I was crazy.. I cannot even tell you. How many people said I would be home at semester. How many people laughed at me when I told them that this was where I wanted to be. How many people thought back in October that I would be home in a second because my life seemed to be "falling apart." It is absurd. This year has been absurd and I am the first one to admit that. Maybe I am crazy, but I would not have it any other way. The cynics made this victory so much sweeter. We made it. We did it. We are here 9 months later with tears in our eyes but the biggest smile on our faces.
And the best part... My band of thieves in ripped up jeans. My best friends. My family. The poeple who will forever hold pieces of my heart. Regan, Kayleigh, Lenny, Connor, Ilsa, Esther, DeWayne, Josiane, Tianmai, Gwen, and Tessa; if only I could explain to you what you all mean to me. We are the band of thieves who ruled the world for one year. Well maybe not the whole world, but at least our own little exchange student world. I am not going to say goodbye just yet, but what I am going to say is I love you 11 people more than anything in this world. In one month we will be strung out across the world but the funny thing is, we will all still be together because nothing could tear us apart. We fight, we laugh, we cry, we fall (Kayleigh in particular), we hurt, and we grow together and nothing will change that. I don't care where in this world you put me. I will still find my way back to you. If I could put this into words... trust me I would. But guess what guys, the crazy country girl with the southern accent is at a loss for words. The girl who never shuts up... can't think of how to put it. I cannot explain to you how much I love you. I cannot even write this without crying. Each and every single one of you, no matter our differences, are a part of my family. And you, the people who get me to talk the most.... have put me, at a loss for words. I love you to Germany, I love you to Canada, and I love you to each coast of our country. Thank you for helping me grow and for making me the luckiest girl on this planet.
The dragons we have fought together have made me who I am. Our dragons were big and scary and somehow we got over them. And we did it together.
And oh the looks on our faces. Whether it is Regan making her stupid teeth face, Kayleigh rolling her eyes, Tessa making her "ugliest face" which is actually TERRIFYING for such a beautiful girl, Connor with his weird eyebrow raising, DeWayne with a huge smile, Lenny with her big eyes, Esther with her perfect cheeks and sweet smile, Ilsa with one of the most flawless faces I have ever seen, Josiane with her look of, "Oh my god, who are you.", Gwen with her disapproving mother face, and Tianmai with her why are you touching me look. The faces that are forever ingrained in my mind. The beautiful faces of the 11 beautiful people I love so very much.
And after the confetti falls and this year is over, I will forever hold on to these memories.
And here we go, the part of the song that makes me realize... this is ending.
"Will you take a moment, promise me this
That you'll stand by me forever
But if God forbid fate should step in
And force us into a goodbye
If you have children some day
When they point to the pictures
Please tell them my name
Tell them how the crowds went wild
Tell them how I hope they shine"
Fate has stepped in. We are being forced into our goodbyes in one month. But one thing I can promise you is that my children will hear every story, see every picture, and know what a year this has been. I will tell all the names, tell them the crowds went wild (even if they didn't), and I will make sure they are as every bit perfect as the people I met this year. I will take the advice everyone has given me and use it to help me grow. I will use it 50 years from now and I will use it on my death bed. These memories will be told, oh trust me they will be said a thousand times. I will stand by you all forever and I will make sure that it is never a goodbye, just a see you later. We will see eachother later, of that I am sure.
In conclusion, this is my year. These are the words I had to search to find. These are my memories, this is my heart. This year will forever be remembered. Long live these moments. Long live these memories. Long live this year.
With much love and thanks to every single wonderful person I have met,
Kari Porter.
<3 <3 <3
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