Personal Songs - which and why?

This is quite a personal topic for everyone participating and it'd be nice if, for once, accusations and name-calling could stay out of it.
We've had a similar thread on a small private German fan board years back and it was one of the most interesting ones there. It was easier there because you basically knew half of the users personally anyway. I've been thinking about carrying it over to this place for some time since this really gets personal, but since I've at least shared half of those stories in the tour review thread years back, I figured it may be worth giving it a shot.
The original thread was in 2014 (on the German board), at a time where the Jovi world really had been torn to pieces, and having been able to read those stories really relaunched some of my appreaciation for this band and made me rediscover some songs because I started to listen to them with a different mindset.

So the focus lays on which songs defined you and your fandom and what the stories behind it were.

I'll start:

Wild Is The Wind
Maybe my first-ever favourite song and someday probably my last as well. It was back in around 2003/04 when I was entering my teen years and really had the hots for a young German actress at that time. Logically, there was no realistic chance of ever meeting her, so all I had was that song to listen to on long car drives, ironically shuffled with "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" from Ultravox. During the last 15 years the song has fitted in many other circumstances, but that first time a song really hit me is something I'll always remember.

Undivided
It was in January of 2007. My dad had gotten really ill during that period and actually almost died at work that day because of it, hadn't it been for that old man on a parking lot near a highway who was fast enough to call an ambulance. As I was walking home from my relatives at night, I felt like I had hit rock bottom. When you're 16, you (hopefully) hadn't been through too much turmoil, so this felt like life had fallen into pieces. Just when I was at the lowest point, Undivided from Munich 2003 came on on my MP3 player. The energetic way in which Jon belted out "Enough, enough, the time has come to rise back up!" was cathartic and probably gave me the strength to get through this period.
Thankfully, my dad made a full recovery and years later, we went to the concert in Dresden in 2011. It was the first time ever that just the two of us went to a show and you guess where this ends - for the only time in 15 years Bon Jovi played Undivided in Germany! It was really a tremendous moment!

Hey God
This goes back to late 2006, actually before the story above happened. At this time the marriage of my parents started to fall apart. The most dreaded things were long car drives, when you just couldn't escape those fights. On one of these occasions I decided to plug in my MP3 player and, for reasons I never know, I clicked on the These Days folder that day. I say this because I had actually never paid attention to that particular album beforehand. And there it was! That first track! Loud, cracking guitars and Jon who sang like his soul was just about to be torn apart. It felt like they had taken all the shit of my sleepless nights and fired it into this song. This was the first time I probably really understood the strength of music and it not only changed my perception about the TD record, but about music in general.

When We Were Beautiful
Yes, really that one! Back in 2010 on New Year's Day I was on my way home from a party in the early morning hours and, well, pretty much drunk. It was the year where all of our narrow circle of friends were going to graduate and I was questioning how it was all gonna go on. Would everyone go off into different directions and that circle fall apart? As I was thinking about it, WWWB came on and this, combined with the break of dawn and, well, quite some alcohol, made me very melancholic since I just didn't want those past few years, where this circle of friends had been everything, to end.
Luckily, it didn't end. But that song still had left a giant impression during these early morning hours.

A Teardrop To The Sea
The saddest of all I guess. In 2015 my grandfather died and this had quite an impact on my life. He had just lived down the road, so he'd been very present throughout. And furthermore he, my cousin and I had met up every Wednesday and Saturday to watch our favourite football club's matches at his house for 6 years. This was something I had cherished immensely because you always just left everything at the side for these two hours. Great fun, especially since our supported club had won the Champions Leagues trophy during that era.
Now not only was he suddenly gone, but my cousin (who is like a brother to me) decided to do a semester abroad and was consequently gone as well. Now I don't like changes too much and especially not that many at once. Especially since my cousin and I were both pretty good at imitating famous German personalities and our jokes worked the best when they fed off each other. Now I didn't enjoy doing that anymore and just had some empty feeling for month (not depressed, but in quite low spirits) because so many constants had vanished. I felt like everyone was able to move on while I kept standing still. Not a great feeling, I can tell you. The lines "life of a party, tears of a clown, can't hear a heartbreak..." as well as the desperation in the chorus truely helped and spoke to me back then.


Now this leaves the impression that there's too much shit and sadness in my life, I gotta admit that. There definitely isn't and there are tons of songs that I connect with fun times, but in the long run, the ones that made an impression during the hardest times are the ones that really stick with me.

So, I layed my cards down, now it's your turn!

Great idea for a thread. I have to give it some thought, but I’ll definitely respond.

Keep The Faith

The song that got me into the music. I used to have a crush on this guy that played bass and he when I heard him play this song I never got it out of my head. But even more importantly I was listening to it throughout my high school period and it helped me as it was a reminder of staying strong for me. I never took it as a song about religious faith but about haveing faith in yourself. Not all of the lyrics fit for me but some lines were important (still are today). The song is just 'my song' as I always felt a connection to it and was 'a friend' through many years (yep, lots of cheese here)

Something To Believe In

In 2003 someone who was there for me a lot at a time when no one else was moved to China and I remember being so angry about it. That I played the song over and over again. When I went to the Kiel concert they played it and it really got to me. I still remember that intro and the emotions running through me back then. The whole TD album gave me a lot but this song stands out particularly.

Happy Now

I was at a place where a lot of stuff happened while I was living abroad, sickness, people dying, old pain coming back, getting deeply hurt and disapppointed by someone I had feelings for, important decisions and so on. I'd say it was the worst time in my life and I didn't know whether I would make it because it almost broke me, but at the same time I started building new dreams and did a lot of reflection of my past and my values. So this song fits lyrically and guided me during this period. I still feel connected to this song in a special way and love it because it seems real, reflective but still hopeful.


Really cool threat! Thanks for posting it!

Good Thread. I think I just have certain songs that tie really strongly with certain memories for me rather than really actual events in my life.

You Give Love A Bad Name:
First song I ever heard from the band. I clearly remember hearing it Radio 1, and I started asking my folks questions about the band (they didn't know anything about them haha), I remember going into town with my Grandma and buying SWW on Vinyl from HMV, but this was a while later.

Wanted Dead or Alive:
First song that I ever learned to play on the guitar, somewhat properly. Still one of my all time favourite songs.

I Believe:
First song I saw the band perform live at the Birmingham NEC in May 1993. I clearly remember Richie coming on stage and playing the into bathed in blue light with his leather jacket with the crosses on the sleeve, jeans with the roses down the side and sunglasses. He just looked so damn cool!

Hey God:
I remember buying These Days on the day it came out. I skipped college earlier. I went straight to my aunts house, who had a super expensive hifi that sounded fantastic. I remember putting the CD on turning it up and the opening to this song just blew me away.

Diamond Ring:
This is my Grandma's favourite song. She lived with us when I was a teenager and her room was next to mine. Everytime I played the album and this song came on she would shout at me to turn it up, because she wanted to hear it! I will never be able to hear this song without thinking of her!

Have A Nice Day:
I was in NYC the week this came out, and I saw the band at the Nokia Theatre that week. I remember hearing the song everywhere, on TV, in shops, there was a big Have A Nice Day face in the Virgin Megastore window on Times Square. Everyone in NYC seemed to love Bon Jovi and whenever I would go out in a Bon Jovi tshirt, I would get acknowledged some some strangers. It was a weird experience. I got a signed copy of the CD from the Nokia show, actually it was a signed booklet and a voucher to pick up the CD from a store the day of release. And I remember going back to the hotel opposite Madison Sq Gardens on a crappy little alarm clock that had a CD player in it while I lay on the bed.

There are probably tons more, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind...

Thanks for your stories! The funny thing about KTF, though it never was one of the very personal songs for me, is the live experience I've had in Mannheim 2011. The show had kept ramping up all the time and the fans were loud around us. This one came near the end of the main set and I was kind of in a trance, but really screamed the lines "trying to hold on, trying to hold on" into the night like never before (and afterwards). Many people around me did something similar. It was a burst of emotion and a real goosebump feeling for a few seconds!

Something somehow similar happened to me around that time. I was fifteen when the song got released, in 9th or 10th grade. Bon Jovi wasn't "hip" anymore (if they had ever been, don't know about the 90's) and rather smiled at I guess. But that song was all over the radio here in Germany and for a short amount of time, they were kind of respected by people at my age. I remember buying the album on a field trip and about everyone was interested in it.
When I had finished school in 2010, there was our prom where everyone was individually called up to the stage to get their certificate. I had Have A Nice Day (a snippet) playing over the PA and all of the students on the stage (probably already a little drunk) sang along. To this day I've no idea what our headmaster said to me when he gave me my certificate because they were too loud

Great story about your grandma and Diamond Ring!

It's not a BJ song, but it's still Richie, so it still counts.
Father Time:

It was a very rough time in my life. Me and my family had moved to a new country and we were doing well for the first year or so and then my dad out of nowhere started to suffer from depression. It was a shock for me and my mother because dad was probably the happiest and most confident person we knew. In a matter of 2 or 3 days all of that went down the toilet. He was battling depression for about 6 months and I was getting bullied at school. This was a period of my life that I want to forget. So when I came back from school, I really had no friends to hang out with. Then I started to listen to Bon Jovi. There are a handful of songs that I can associate with this time of my life and the struggle, but Father Time was the main one. I listened to it almost everyday and just listening to the lyrics I realised how much I loved and needed my dad. I wanted him to get better. I also wanted him to get help. He didn't want any though. After 6 months, dad finally felt better and started being an active and positive person again. I thank Richie and Desmond for writing this song because honestly, I don't know if I would've had the strength to make my dad believe in love and live again.

Today, I had one of the (mentally) roughest days of my life so far. I don't want to go any further about anything, but I can safely say I'm pretty much f*cked as a whole right now.

However, there's a certain song in the BJ catalogue that's always helped me through tough days and times. I may be down at the moment, but I'm alive - and I know I'll rise again.

I'm really feeling like a Monday right now, but someday - maybe this Friday, when I'll be going out to play and sing at a jam-session type of event with (probably) a couple of my musician mates - I'll be Saturday night:

https://youtu.be/BIl-Kl85Q5w

There are lots of BJ songs I loved during different stages of my life. Here's one that was kinda always there:

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.

Somehow it has always resonated with my lifestyle. It was mostly lack of sleep due to work, not parties (unfortunately!) ))

- I Believe -
I was 12, KTF had just come out and I didn't know about the band then. My older brother (24) was living in an apartment quite close to us and I was over there quite a lot. He'd just bought KTF and put it on. When those first power chords of I Believe bellowed out of the speakers I was hooked for life. Then my brother took me to their concert in Stockholm in April 1993. Man what a show that was...!

- These Days -
It's not connected to any particular memory. It's just that the song touches me so much. The melodies, the melancholy, the energy. Just everything about it.

- Something To Believe In -
Now this one. This is - the - one. Every harder/tougher thing I've ever gone through in life. Wether it were breakups, tough choices, leaving/staying/enduring, working through difficult obstacles, but also great achievements I have done and other awesome experiences such as the birth of my kids and marrying my wife. This is the song that reflects them all. And over the years the things I connect to it keep stacking up. Listening to it is like reading my own f*cking diary. Memories come pouring back and everytime I hear it it's almost overwhelming. This one, together with These Days, are the two songs that are going to be played at my funeral when that time comes. That's how much they mean to me.