By Chelsea AdamsFind out more about Chelsea here! How I armed myself with a shield of music Yesterday I virtually graduated my Musical Theatre bachelor's degree, and while that's something I never thought I'd say it's yet another twist in the road created by this year's pandemic. While watching a pre-recorded video with friends and fellow graduates on a zoom call from my University I flashed back to my year 12 graduation; six years ago, to be precise. It was the year 2014 when I wrote the lyrics to the song below at the height of my teenage adolescents. I was 19 and about to graduate year 12. I was essentially on top of the world; well externally I was. However, internally I was suffering extreme social anxiety and my world was being ruled by my fears, no matter how stupid or insignificant they were. The kind of anxiousness that makes you feel like you want to vomit, the kind that makes you sweat all over and inhibits your ability to make any sort of conversation flow, especially when meeting new people. Yet I continued to cover these feelings with a fun-loving exterior that saw the bubbling pit of nerves only grow until one day I had a thought. What if I could sing about what I'm feeling? Because singing always makes me feel happy. I suddenly set in motion a series of thoughts. They ran wild so quickly, I was barely able to catch them on paper and had to set up my voice recorder on my phone to catch the basic lyric structure, guitar chords and riff. At that moment I armed myself with a shield of music. I finished the song in 2 hours and felt a whole lot better about everything. What followed in the next few weeks before graduation was many hours of writing random snippets of lyrics into a notebook; and as I purged most of my strange, rhyming thoughts onto paper the extreme weight of my anxiety grew slightly lighter, my confidence returned and I volunteered to sing my song at my whole school graduation celebration assembly. Exams finished and a week later, armed with my basic guitar skills, a microphone and an amplifier I stood on stage in front of my entire high school and sang the lyrics below.  Adolescent Nation (Party Like I know Them) Verse 1 Lipstick and heels on, we're going out, Time to let go of all your troubles, and all your doubts. Grab a drink, raise a glass so you'll dance all night; Time flies when you're having fun, so make this count tonight! Flashing lights, pulsing bodies, music fills the air, Sway your hips to the music, to the rhythm, oh yeah! It's a celebration across the nation of adolescent fame, I won't begin to try to explain, so I'll just stand here and sing the same: Pre-Chorus Here we go, here we go, whoa, Take me back to that summer, Here we go, here we go, whoa ahh ooo! Here we go, here we go, whoa, Take me back to that summer; Cause I watch all of the pretty people, the popular people And wish: Chorus That I could just party like I know them, Party like I know them, whoa! I wish I could party like I know them, Party like I know them. I just want to party like I know them, Party like I know them, whoa! And we can party till the sun rises and let this melody take us higher. Verse 2 Social evenings, awkward feelings, I don't know how to act, Loud music scares me to a place of no return. Learning to have a good time shouldn't be this hard; Just give me something to ease the stress and I'll dance in the dark! I can't hear what you said, my heart beats to fast now, How long have we been dancing? Should I get a drink now? Then you grab my hand and pull me to the dancefloor, just for, one more! Everybody sway to the left now! Everybody sway to the right now! Camera, selfie, oh yeah! A drink in my hand; Oh, what do we have here? Pre-Chorus & Chorus Repeat Bridge This was the year that we learnt to party, Twenty-first-century socialites; We've got money on our mind, fame too: But we're adolescent's, Just like you once were! And we're singing: Here we go, here we go, whoa, Take me back to that summer… Pre-Chorus & Chorus Repeat If you'd like to hear how it really sounds, head over to my Sound Cloud profile: Chelsea_Adams to check out my original recording from 2014 of Adolescent Nation, or follow this link to listen here: https://soundcloud.com/chelsea-adams/monday-04-50-p
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