This is a song that has been following me around for a LONG time. To be honest with you, I have no idea how I ever came to know about this band, or this song. I just remember it, and I remember it well.
I remember listening to it from a medium-quality download that I transferred to my super old school slide phone. You know, those tiny little things that had a full qwerty keyboard slide out from the bottom half? I was in love with that phone. In some ways I still kind of miss it. I mean, it has NOTHING on my beautiful Samsung Galaxy S6, but I do miss the convenient size, and I mean come on, that sliding keyboard was just so cool! Anyway, I’ve gotten off track.
Wherever it was that I found this song, I fell in love right away. I put it on my little phone not only so I could have it with me everywhere, but I used the chorus as ringtone for a while.
I do have a small confession to make: I never really got into Ten Second Epic as a band, and I haven’t really listened to much else by them, ever. But there is something that keeps me coming back to this song. I was 13 or 14 when I first found it and I think I loved it because of the way I could relate. Welcome to Wherever You Are is off of the album “Hometown”
The opening line of the song says “somewhere in the world now, you’re getting out of bed, standing on your own feet you shake your sleepy head”
I would have been in grade eight or nine at this point, and this line just spoke to me somehow. I was getting up early every day for school – and I HATED school. I never wanted to go, for various reasons, but for some reason this song made me feel like I had something there reminding me that I wasn’t alone. “somewhere in the world now” as well as the title which is a repeated line “welcome to wherever you are” just made me feel like yeah, I’m just someone in this big, huge world, I’m not the only one getting up to go to a school I’d rather avoid like the plague, and it’s okay. I don’t believe this is the intention of the song, but for whatever reason, that’s how it made me feel, and this is why I think I clung to it for so long.
This was right around the time I was really, really getting into punk and pop/punk type of music, and of course this came with a very strong “get out of this town” mentality. This is a very general and widely accepted stereotype and element of pop/punk especially, but that’s only because it’s true. I spent a lot of time (especially in class) thinking about when I would finally graduate high school, and do something more fulfilling and enjoyable with my life. And while I listened to a LOT of pop/punk back then, I just kept coming back to this song. Not this band, not an album of theirs in particular, just this song.
Now, that phase in my life is pretty much over. I mean, I graduated high school a few years ago now, and my life IS much more fulfilling. I fill my days with things I WANT to fill them with – friends of my choosing, my horse, etc. And, I still come back to this song.
Anyway, that’s a little life story haha! But, it just goes to show how powerful even a single song can be. All of this, AND it’s insanely catchy. I’m listening to it as we speak, and I can’t help but bob my head along as I type this out.
The band does have a music video for this song:
Welcome to Wherever You Are is a very fun and catchy little song, and while it holds a lot of meaning and memories for me, I do think even a first time listener will enjoy it! And who knows, maybe Ten Second Epic will become your new favourite band, and you’ll listen to more than this song!
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