The Songs That Shape Us: My Call to Arms
Since starting The Frequency Pit, I’ve been asking others: “What’s a song that means something to you — one that got you through a hard time?”
In doing so, I’ve had to ask myself the same question. I have tons of songs tied to memories:
Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do” — my mom’s white Volvo, sunroof open, the California highway, singing at the top of our lungs.
Coal Chamber’s “Big Truck” — my little brother’s speech impediment made his version of the title sound… let’s just say, “stepmom-unapproved,” but it cracked me up and bonded us over my music.
Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” — still the soundtrack to one of the coolest moms of my youth.
There are also songs that were “pebbled” to me — first-date tracks, deep-dive discussions, songs about love and losing it. More will come to mind over time.
But one has always been a call to arms for me: Hatebreed’s “I Will Be Heard.”
Why Hatebreed Stuck
Though the band formed in 1994, it was their 2002 album Perseverance that defined my high school years. Hatebreed have a reputation for sounding aggressive — breakdowns, shouting choruses, hardcore energy — but underneath it’s about strength, resilience, and self-empowerment.
They’ve even faced flak for their name, sometimes wrongly associated with hate groups. Jamey Jasta and the band have been clear for decades: they’re not political, not hateful, and not affiliated with any extremist ideologies. “Hatebreed” was always about breeding hate out of yourself by channeling it into perseverance.
Their catalog reflects that ethos:
Proven
Live For This
This Is Now
Weight of the False Self
Before Dishonor
and of course, Destroy Everything (that tries to destroy you)
These aren’t nihilistic slogans — they’re mantras about refusing to be broken.
“I Will Be Heard”
Now is the time for me to rise to my feet
Wipe your spit from my face
Wipe these tears from my eyes
I've got to take my life back
One chance to make it right
I've gotta have my voice be heard
And bring meaning to this life
Pretty powerful, right? Honestly, I could start and end this post with just those lyrics.
Hearing that as a teenager stuck with me. High school is an age when we’re all trying to find ourselves, begging to be heard. As life carried on, I cycled through wins and losses, knockdowns and rebuilds. But that chorus was always a handhold — a reminder to pick myself up, brush myself off, and come back stronger. This song was not begging, it was demanding, claiming it’s space.
“I Will Be Heard” is still the only lyric I’ve ever seriously considered getting as a tattoo. Maybe now’s the time.
The Takeaway
Music isn’t just background noise. It’s a map of our inner lives — memories, milestones, and mantras. For me, Hatebreed’s I Will Be Heard is more than a song. It’s a frequency I’ve tuned back into, again and again, whenever I needed to rise to my feet.
What is your song?
