“You and Me and One Spotlight”; Yellowcard; Paper Walls; 2007

David

Yellowcard has always held a special place in my heart, being the second band I ever owned a CD of. I will admit I was one of those people that bought their first studio album, Ocean Avenue, back when it first came out to roaring success. However, instead of simply having their one CD and not bothering with the band afterwards, I fell in love with Yellowcard. I bought their two other albums out then and couldn’t wait for more. Since then, Yellowcard has released two more albums, which I quickly bought after their release and loved.

This song is about love, at least to me. Looking at the lyrics, they speak of the togetherness of two people while everything else around them changes, or becomes chaotic or destroyed. I remember listening to this song for the first time and being amazed at the lyrics. With lines like “Go put on your best tonight / It's you and me and one spotlight / One more show, one last time / It won't be long now”, it’s hard to not feel the power and emotion in Ryan Key’s voice. The lyrics are poetry to me, and I always feel a kind of joy in my heart when I hear this song.

This song also holds special meaning for me in a simpler way: love. Whenever I hear this song come on, I can’t help but think of my girlfriend, and all the memorable times we’ve had, and how much I always look forward to meeting her next. The imagery that comes to me while listening to this song is very strange and bleak. I imagine me and her on a mountaintop of sorts. Bombs are falling all around, explosions rock the landscape, and chaos reigns. But somehow, me and her, standing alone, are physically unharmed and unaffected by what is going on around us. Instead, we stare at the world around us, saddened but unable to help.

This song is not my favorite song of all time, but it does rank high. Yellowcard have really outdone themselves with this song, and their latest album in general. It is unfortunate, though, that Yellowcard went on an indefinite hiatus after this album was released to the public.