When you mention Yellowcard to most people, you’ll receive a look of confusion in return. Unfortunately, this band’s run as the top dogs of Pop-Punk has been long over, and it hurts to say so - Ryan Key’s poetic lyrics, hard-hitting guitar and drums, and the inclusion of violin (as performed by the talented Sean Mackin) certainly make them stand out among their fellow Pop-Punk pioneers. But for many people, their music continues to provide the motivation needed to go through with day-to-day life, even with their tenure as a band soon coming to a close. With their final, eponymously-titled album recently launched and their final world tour on the horizon, now is as good a time as ever to analyze their 10 hit albums and point out 12 particular songs that stand out to the college crowd in 2016.

1. “Life of Leaving Home” (When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes)

For most college students, moving away to college is their first opportunity to live life on their lonesome. And with living life alone comes the allure of chasing dreams, which is why this song reminds us to always chase our dreams until we finally achieve what we desire.

2. “Rivertown Blues” (Southern Air)

This song pieces together two themes that are commonly shared among college students: the concept of “risk versus reward,” and looking back upon nostalgia. Now that we’re all grown up, we look back upon the dreams that we had as children, and we ask ourselves, “Why haven’t we achieved those goals?” And with that, we consider if it’s worth giving up everything we’ve achieved, just to reach the things that we always dreamed of achieving.

3. “The Deepest Well” (Lift a Sail)

Continuing the theme of “risk versus reward,” “The Deepest Well” discusses the dangers of failing, and how to recover from the feeling of failure. It teaches us how it’s never easy to fail, nor is it easy to recover from failure, but it’s certainly possible to do so as long as you put in the proper effort and dedication.

4. “Gifts and Curses” (Paper Walls)

Best known as part of the soundtrack for Spider-Man 2, this is one of the more popular Yellowcard songs known - albeit, not as a Yellowcard song. Its narrative lyrics tell the tale of fighting for a cause and to never give up, no matter how hard we’re beaten into the ground. Just as the old saying goes, it’s important to “fall down seven times, and stand up eight.”

5. “Cut Me, Mick” (Paper Walls)

In the theme of Yellowcard songs intertwined with movies, this song’s narrative is inspired by Rocky, in which Rocky requests that Mickey cut his eyelid so he can see and continue the fight. It teaches us that we all should have somebody motivational in our lives - somebody that can prove to us that we are living and that we are capable of achieving nothing but the greatest feats.

6. “Way Away” (Ocean Avenue)

This song stands as many peoples’ first exposure to Yellowcard, due to its appearance in the 2003 snowboarding video game, SSX 3. The song reminds us that sometimes, escaping our past is necessary if we wish to better ourselves. We don’t need to let our past define us. But with that said, we need to make the solid effort to separate ourselves from our mistakes as effectively as possible.

7. “Only One” (Ocean Avenue)

This hit song from Yellowcard’s biggest album reminds us of regrets and mistakes. We always seem to forget that regret does happen in our lives and that we do make mistakes from time to time. And sometimes, we cling on to the things that we cherish most, even when we should’ve let go a long time ago. But we do have to wonder: will letting go make us better? Because life is about taking chances, and even if these things were once good for us, we need to be brave enough to step away and become ourselves.

8. “Ocean Avenue” (Ocean Avenue)

“Ocean Avenue” is by far the most well-known Yellowcard song out there, and it serves as a flashback to our all-too-recent high school romances. But sadly, for most people, those days are long gone, and now the memories are being washed away in nostalgia when compared to the events of today. It hurts us to remember what could have been, but it helps us to remember what definitely was.

9. “California” (Lift a Sail)

In the similar sense as “Ocean Avenue,” “California” challenges us to look into the future, at what can be. And in doing so, we are given the hope that’s necessary to succeed in the future.

10. “The Hurt is Gone” (Yellowcard)

Off of their recently-released, eponymously-titled album, “The Hurt is Gone” aims to remind us that even in our darkest moments, things are capable of being turned around. Even if things seem hopeless, anything can be achieved as long as we strive to better ourselves by any means necessary.

11. “Life of a Salesman” (Ocean Avenue)

Unlike most music artists - who write music to write off their parents’ lack of taking care of them as children - Yellowcard’s “Life of a Salesman” takes a moment to thank parents. As an ode to parents - especially fathers - for all the assistance they’ve given in shaping our lives, it really serves as a “thank you” that many of us forget to utter. Not everybody can say they had the privilege of having caring parents, but for those of us fortunate enough to say that we did, I speak on behalf of all of us when I say: thank you.

12. "Sleep in the Snow" (Southern Air)

Most college students are very restless - they want to get a jumpstart on their lives, give very brashly, and are begging for the opportunity to get on with their lives. Thankfully, this song represents the idea of the restless college student, and helps people to find the balance between “playing it safe” and “taking chances.” Just as discussed earlier, it’s all about analyzing risk versus reward.

Yellowcard’s final album, Yellowcard, is now available on iTunes, Spotify, and other major music platforms.