Music Review // Autumn Helene "You Won't Regret a Thing"

https://open.spotify.com/album/0NxOVYkK86gQoDJEakfiiE //

When this song, and Autumn Helene, was first introduced to me it had the distinction of being a twelve year old's response to bullying.   I'll be the first to admit that I was skeptical because twelve is still a young age, but Autumn Helene has a voice which could be much older than her years.   There is a video for this song, she plays along as she sings, and in some ways I think that is done just to prove that it is really her singing, if you have any doubts.

I try to think back to my childhood, though I don't want to do so.  I think back to when I was twelve years old and what life was like for me.   Was I bullied?  Sure.  But bullying is much different now than it was when I was a kid.  On one hand, bullying was more of a "rite of passage" when I was growing up and these days there is zero tolerance for it.   That, of course, isn't to say that it's by any means easier for children now because I never had to deal with cyberbullying, for example.

While I hope this song will grab at the internet in its intended use and turn a negative (bullying) into a positive (this girl can sing!) I think it should also inspire others.   If you feel like you're being bullied, stand strong and do what makes you special and that will kind of connect everyone in some weird way.   It's the power of the internet.   Yet, oddly, as I listen to this song, as an adult who isn't really bullied (In the workplace, we call it harassment) it still appeals to me. 

There is this quote about how it is better to regret the things you've done than the things which you did not do and I feel a lot of that in this song, to the point where it might not be the intended message but it just speaks to me in the way of saying: this is life-- this is your life-- and you have to live it.   So do what you think is right at the time, do what makes you happy, and maybe six months or ten years from now you'll look back and wonder "What was I thinking?"   But sometimes I feel like I spend too much time thinking and not enough time living, so this soulful song is great to listen to because it's easy on the ears but it's also still teaching me and guiding me on the right path.