I have been a fan of Andrew since his Something Corporate days and I actually got to meet him and take pictures with him at one of his concerts in 2003. I was completely hooked on his music after hearing the song Konstantine:
I continued listening when Andrew started his new project called Jack’s Mannequin. The songs Rescued, Bruised, and Hammers and Strings became the soundtrack to my life during college and after. I went to a bunch of Jack's Mannequin concerts throughout the following years, never wanting to miss a chance to hear a live performance.
I have always been enamored by this music, but it wasn’t until I was going through cancer treatments that it saved me. You see, Andrew McMahon also battled cancer himself, and he continued to write songs and film a documentary while he was in the hospital receiving chemotherapy treatments. These songs spoke directly to me when I was in the hospital for weeks at a time, feeling completely cut off from the outside world. The songs Swim and There There Katie (among others) gave me a sense of comfort because they were so familiar yet so hauntingly relevant to this dark, other side of my life.
Andrew and I were both considered to be too young for cancer, but we fought it and came out as stronger people because of it. Dear Jack is Andrew’s phenomenal documentary film that I would highly recommend for anyone to watch. It really makes you stop and appreciate what you have in your own life. Not only is Andrew McMahon inspirational as a cancer survivor, he is also an extremely talented musician and a lyrical genius.
And you got to keep his paper airplane at the more recent concert we went to!
ReplyDelete@Karen- I remember that one, haha! I was SO excited!
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