Song lyrics occupy this weird space between poetry and melody. Sometimes you can take something that sounds kind of trite and ordinary and set it to a driving beat and throw in some guitars and suddenly you've got a song that sticks in people's minds and makes them feel something.

Steemian Hive account@bozz has expanded a post of his into a full-fledged contest: write down your favorite song lyrics and explain why you like them or what they mean to you. Here's my entry - Jawbreaker's "Do You Still Hate Me?" from 1994's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy.

Here's the song:

And here is a section of the lyrics (as posted by Genius.com):

Are you out there?
Do you hear me?
Can I call you?
Do you still hate me?
Are we talking?
Are we fighting?
Is it over?
Are we writing?

And I miss you

I love how simple these words are. They found me right after a break-up during college and stuck in my head. Right at the moment, the plaintive "Is it over?" stuck in my teeth for days at a time. Now, decades and miles away, the break-up doesn't hurt anymore, but I play this song and those memories come back and I reflect on how things have changed, for good and for bad. I don't dwell and I don't wallow, but for two minutes and fifty-three seconds, I miss her.

Like I said, simple words, but they hold enough truth to keep me listening, years after they were first introduced to me through a friend who saw what I was going through and put this record on.

Thanks for reading!