All teenagers knew this was true. The process of growing up was nothing more than figuring out what doors hadn't yet been slammed in your face. For years, parents tell you that you can be anything, have anything, do anything. That was why she'd been so eager to grow up-until she got to adolescence and hit a big fat wall ofreality. As it turned out, she couldn't have anything she wanted. You didn't get to be pretty or smart or popular just because you wanted it. You didn't control your own destiny, you were too busy trying to fit in.

Teachers deserve respect," I explain. "Why do they get it for free, when everyone else has to earn it?

I only just found you, I can't lose you now

I always wondered why God was supposed to be a father," she whispers. Fathers always want you to measure up to something. Mothers are the ones who love you unconditionally, don't you think?

And if your parents have you for a reason, then that reason better exist. Because once it's gone, so are you.

Seeing her sitting there unresponsive makes me realize that silence has a sound.

The problem isn’t with rock lyrics, it’s with the fabric of this society itself.