It’s a typical Tuesday morning at work, and the song “Hey, No Pressure” pops into my head. This is peculiar because of my aversion to this song. Nevertheless, over the years I’ve learned that aversions and the random, songs in my head on repeat have messages and lessons awaiting me. 

I’ve been familiar with Ray LaMontagne’s music for years and I’ve seen him in concert, but I wouldn’t say that I was ever a huge fan. Until this experience. It was this song that led a months long obsession with his music.

This song’s overt message is about the difficulty of being a bystander when a loved one is struggling. Rather than simply lamenting, his lyrics offer support for this person in their time of distress. But this song spoke to me from the perspective of myself to myself as a bystander in my own life. Whether or not he wrote this song with the same intentions as the meaning I drew from his lyrics, this song fueled several pages of journal entries exploring different perspectives,  reflecting on my personal growth, and redefining what I want my life to be.

Alternative meanings and journal prompts from “Hey, No Pressure”:

• Know what you truly want. There are so many superficial things we may think we want, but it’s the underlying motivations that have the most meaning. Explore them and you’ll have the pathway to your
• What do you want your life to mean vs be? Many times when we talk about what we want to be or the direction of our lives, we assign the tangible things, possessions, and the things it looks like rather than the actual meaning of that life. Maybe this is a call to think about your goals and “where you want to be” first as meaning, and then as we can define what it looks like from there. When we’re asked “what life do you want to live?”, think first of the meaning and feelings instead of the visual, physical aspects.
• Have the courage to ask for help, and trust and accept it when it comes to you. You’re not alone in life, and very little has been accomplished by solitary individuals operating alone. Find your support system, people that can help guide you and lean on them when you need it. You have help and guidance, all you have to do is ask. Like Dumbledore says “help will always be given to those who ask for it.” Here’s a personal mantra if you also have struggle with asking for help.
• You’re not limited in life. Anything you want your life it mean, it can. This is a prompt to explore what you want your life to mean, what you want to do with it.
• Everything in life comes down to intention and nothing just happens. You only fail in life if you fail to define what you want your existence to mean, and if you fail to pursue it. And, if your choices and actions aren’t aligned with that definition.
• Our lives are exactly what we make them to be. There is no such thing as normal. What I refer to as ‘gray’ lives only exist because they will them to. And if you don’t heed this advice… hey, no pressure because the life you’re already living must be what you really want. Our lives are as gray as we make them. Or we can have more meaning and make an impact on others.
• At the end of your days, what do you want your individual existence to mean? What are you doing with your life? What meaning does it hold?   What have you contributed to the world?
• Are you a bystander in your own life? Are you living life on your terms?
• Maybe it’s time to revisit, revise, and redefine any previously held definitions that no longer fit or serve you. This song asks me to remember how I’ve defined the meaning of my own life. To make sure that I’m living in alignment with what I want my life to mean, this song prompts me to continually ask in my daily activities “is this in alignment with what I want my life to mean?”
• Your life might feel stuck or like you’re in a sort of pergatory. Maybe you’re not where you want to be yet because you haven’t decided exactly what that is. Do you have fears or negative thoughts that are preventing this? Do you need to believe?
• Other’s perceptions of your life have no value. You need to change your perception.
• Everything is an illusion and a matter of your perception. Which brings me to my recent challenges with balance. Balance isn’t when things go perfectly, but in your response to things, and depends entirely on your perception.

Take a look at the lyrics and see what comes up for you:

“Part One – Hey, No Pressure”

Ray LaMontagne
Album: Ouroboros (2016)

I hate to see you breaking down (hey, no pressure)
I hate to watch you fall apart (hey, no pressure)
I want to help you through it all (hey, no pressure, hey, no pressure)
I want to lift you when you fall (hey, no pressure, hey, no pressure)

Anything you want your life to mean it can mean
Anything you want your life to mean it can mean

This life is full of give and take (hey, no pressure)
Be careful of each step you take (hey, no pressure)
It doesn’t matter lose or win (hey, no pressure, hey, no pressure)
It’s all an illusion in the end (hey, no pressure, hey, no pressure)

Anything you want to be you can be
Anything you want to be you can be
Anything you want your life to mean it can mean
Anything you want your life to mean it can mean

I hate to see you crumbling (hey, no pressure)
You need to know we are your friends (hey, no pressure)
This life is full of give and take (hey, no pressure, hey, no pressure)
Be careful of the choice you make (hey, no pressure, hey, no pressure)

Anything you want your life to mean it can mean
Anything you want your life to mean
Anything you want to be you can be
Anything you want to be you can be

Hey, no pressure