Inspiration... to change the world

If I had my own world, I'd build you an empire...

If I had my own world
I'd fill it with wealth and desire
A glorious past to admire
And voices of kids out walking dogs
Birds, planes, trees and cars
If I had my own world
I'd love it for all that's inside it
There'd be no more wars doubt or riots
There'd be no more police, packed parking lots
Guns, bombs sounding off
If I had my own world
I'd build you an empire
From here to the far lands
Spread love like violence

Let me heal you, carry you higher
Watch our words spread hope like fire
Secret crowds rise up and gather
Hear your voices, sing back louder

If I had my own world,
I'd show you the life that's inside it
The way that it glows when you find it
The way it survives with it's families, friends or its enemies
Let's make this a new world
I swear you can go if you want to
I know that you have that within you
Inventing the first clean and useable
God's greatest miracle

"Secret Crowds" written by Tom DeLonge of Angels And Airwaves
from the Universal/Island Records album "I-Empire"

These lyrics are from the song "Secret Crowds" by the band called Angels and Airwaves. Being in a band myself, I can appreciate the value of the different elements needed to successfully convey emotion through one's own music. I'm lyricist myself and I tend to sort of listen to the lyrics of a song before anything else. And it's been a while since I've come across a band that has made an incredible impact on me.

To me, the lyrics, written by frontman Tom DeLonge, are as meaningful as they are profound. Each one of his songs convey some sort of story, or stand on a certain issue. One song can be politically motivated, speaking to the atrocities of war, while another can be a personal revelation of growing up in a broken home. But the one element that ties all of their songs together is the feeling of hope. Hope really is bursting through these lyrics in each and every one of their songs.

I first discovered them through their debut album "We Don't Need to Whisper", released in the summer of 2006. Along with the music itself, the artwork for the entire album sleeve captivates me to no end. You would never expect to see the combination of celestial imagery with World War II planes and images. It just seems that the motivation behind this is sort of telling us that we as a human race shouldn't be doing what we're doing to each other in the aspects of war and turmoil, when placed in a larger, celestial context. Because when it all boils down, in this Universe, we only have each other.

All the elements needed to create something that people can listen to to be inspired by and feel a sense of unhindered hope is, I feel, present in the music of Angels And Airwaves.