Songs that motivate me to “go wide”

I have made it pretty clear in many of my blogs that I am a big lyric listener. I love listening to song lyrics because I can easily interpret them in ways that are meaningful to me and then insert myself into them. Lyrics that stir up beautifully deep, complex emotions attract me, and while a good chunk of the time those songs are sad, there are some that strongly motivate me to be productive and inspire me to fulfill my potential. This blog is all about songs that motivate me to get up, break bad habits, and work hard towards a brighter future.

Photo from Mk.gee

This blog was originally inspired by some songs off of Mk.gee’s 2024 album, Two Star & The Dream Police. Specifically, the lyrics “What's keeping you fenced off? / And who's got the power in your mind? / How're you gonna waste it all?” preceding the lyrics “So are you looking up? Are you asking why? / 'Cause if you wanna go then baby go wide” from the song Are You Looking Up perfectly replicate the feeling I am trying to describe. I have seen some discussion online about whether Mk.gee sings “go wild” instead of “go wide”, but either way it means the same thing to me. This song really makes me question why I would ever choose to live my life in a shell, and in turn also strongly motivates me to, like the lyrics say, go wide.

Photo from Alistair McVeigh

On another Mk.gee song, the lyrics “Why bleed when we don't have to?” and “Are you holding on? / Don't you wanna get a move on?” from the song Alesis, similarly, help me escape the pool of mud that slows me down. As humans, we sometimes weigh ourselves down with so much self-doubt and little misfortunes, but I think life is too special to just stand still. I freaking love Mk.gee’s lyricism. I think it is so interesting, feels brand new every time I give his music a listen, and honestly, a new blog about Mk.gee might be coming soon.

Photo from Alex G

While usually my favorite bands and artists’ discographies consist of mostly gut-wrenching songs, there’s always at least one song from them that makes me want to go wide. Alex G’s song Proud has always been special to me for the lyrics “If I sink / I don't wanna be the one to leave my baby down / Without no money in her bank”. This has been important to me because it demonstrates my desire to be both emotionally and financially stable for those I care about most in the future. When I feel stuck in a rut, it’s a good song to remind myself of the reasons I chose to attend school, and also to do the things that would make my future self proud.

Photo from Title Fight

Funny enough, not all of these songs are directly related to being a productive person, but rather, I sometimes just like to interpret songs in a way that feels right to me. A standard example of this is my relationship with the song Shed by Title Fight. I completely understand how the song's concept seems to be more about people who superficially change their personality to fit in, but I love listening to this song from a different perspective. The line “Shed your skin” from the song instead makes me think of growing from your past troubles and doing things right the next time around. Like a snake shedding its skin, I reflect on learning from past mistakes and building a new identity around a better, more mature version of myself.

Photo from Elliott Smith

I have two more songs to talk about, so bear with me. The next are lyrics from Elliott Smith’s song Ballad of Big Nothing, “You can do what you want to whenever you want to / You can do what you want to there's no one to stop you”. This song is a little different from the others, because it isn’t exactly encouraging me to work on my career, but rather it really inspires me to pursue my creative endeavors. In a world where there is constant pressure and stress to improve one's professional experience, I love this song to help encourage me to feed my soul by picking up my guitar or playing the piano for fun, even if I’m not very good at it.

Photo from Ovlov

My last song is from a band I just started getting into. The song “Strokes” by the band Ovlov sings the lyrics, “And you warn to save time before you wait, why? / But you nod to save time and belong to safe tries.” I interpret these lyrics in a very similar way to how I interpreted the previous Mk.gee lyrics. Simply challenging why you would choose to play it safe and not experience growth by pushing out of your comfort zone makes me reflect on just how much my fear of failure holds me back. It’s more attractive to take the easy route, but I would personally rather try to take risks to see more of what I am capable of.

Anyways, even though all of these songs are fundamentally different, they all encourage me to continue growing and fulfill my potential in one way or another. It's a feeling that is sometimes really hard to come by, so I'm very happy that writing this blog has given me the space to reflect on it more. Thank you for reading if you made it this far!

Caleb G / Industry Insider