If you don’t already know, I am a huge fan of the band called Skillet. They are a Christian band, but their music is honestly not obviously Christian. Their songs are about life and issues that people go through all with the backdrop of sharing the message of Christ.

Whether or not you’re Christian, I would definitely recommend you check out the band. I started listening to them since I was 15 and whatever emotion I’m feeling, there’s definitely a Skillet song for it.

So with that, here are ten Skillet lyrics that are perfect for college students.

• “Stand by ground and never back down, I know what I believe inside I’m awake and I’m alive.”
  • We’re living in a generation that’s very vocal about what we believe in. Animal rights, politics, you name it; being passionate and speaking up for what you believe in is a great trait, regardless of what people say. A lot of times in college, we form opinions and have certain beliefs about things and we should definitely speak up for them.
  • Song: Awake and Alive
  • Album: Awake
• “Raise your hands if you’re sick of it.”
  • This comes from my favorite Skillet song and it speaks about setting yourself free from whatever you are sick of in your life. Whether that is anger, loneliness, depression, abuse, addiction, this song is just an outburst of righteous anger that encourages you to take control of your life and overcome what you are sick of.
  • Song: Sick of It
  • Album: Rise
• “Through all the hard times in my life, those nights kept me alive.”
  • Skillet is famous for their songs about faith but has written a number of songs about life in general. The lead singer, John Cooper, talks about how Those Nights is about how as a kid, he would stay up late and play video games while listening to rock music. This song is mainly just about having a good time with your friends. I know a lot of college students who hang out late into the night and this song pays homage to all those memories.
  • Song: Those Nights
  • Album: Comatose
• “I won’t let you say goodbye and I’ll be your reason why.”
  • This is one of my personal favorites. The Last Night is about someone who wants to end their own life and letting that person know that tonight is the last night they will ever be alone. The Last Night is one of Skillet’s most emotional songs and one of their most uplifting. It’s a testament to how, if you reach out to God, he will never leave nor forsake you.
  • Song: The Last Night
  • Album: Comatose
• “Let love cut through the American noise.”
  • 21st century America is inundated with information and people telling you how to live your life. Girls especially are pressured to dress a certain way or look a certain way to be considered pretty. Even guys do, too. But it’s not just struggling with body image. If you don’t act a certain way, you’re then considered “uncool” and that can lead to bullying. And bullying isn’t just name-calling. Intentionally leaving someone out of the group can be a form of it. Pretending to be someone’s friend can be a form of bullying too. Not to mention so much violence happening; it seems like every day you turn on the news, there’s some new tragedy. In addition, we all have our own personal demons to fight and sometimes, they can get the best of us. All this is to say that love is the force that can overcome all of what we’re facing.
  • Song: American Noise
  • Album: Rise
• “If you can calm the raging sea, you can calm the storm in me.”
  • If I were to get a tattoo, I would want this lyric. Stars isn’t your typical upbeat, heavy sounding Skillet song. No, it’s much slower and focused on singing praise to God. If I’m not mistaken, this is a reference to when Jesus calmed the storm at sea with just a word and this lyric is talking about how if Jesus can stop a storm, then he is more than capable of calming the storm in you. The entire song is basically about how God created the universe, “set in motion time and space” and he “holds the stars in place” but he also knows you individually.
  • Song: Stars
  • Album: Unleashed
• “I must confess that I feel like a monster”
  • I think this particular lyric is relatable to college students because we have about ten million things on our plates. Classes, work, job(s), maybe a difficult roommate, maybe a difficult relationship, or feeling homesick. Often times, it can feel like there is too much to handle and we just get very stressed out and sometimes get angry. Feeling angry is a dangerous emotion because when we’re angry, we might say or do something we regret. That’s the monster – the side you never want to see – we have inside of us that needs to die so that new life can be given to us.
  • Song: Monster
  • Album: Awake
• “We are young, we are strong, we will rise ’cause I’m back, back, back from the dead tonight.”
  • Back From the Dead is one of my personal favorites. It’s a song about how there are so many people in the world who want to push you down, tell you that you’re never going to be good enough, never smart enough, never pretty enough, never whatever enough, and Back From the Dead is basically a song all about shutting up those haters.
  • Song: Back From the Dead
  • Album: Unleashed
• “I can’t believe it still hurts like this.”
  • This song has been with my for years and it really means a lot to me. As I said earlier, we all have our demons to fight and sometimes they can get the best of us. Every day can feel like a war we wage. And as those days turn into months that turn into years, it can start to hurt you. The Older I Get, to me, is a song that’s essentially about thinking about how you’ve been through a lot and you hope that the lingering pain and sadness will one day be over. And I believe that one day, it will be.
  • Song: The Older I Get
  • Album: Comatose
• “Tomorrow could be one day too late.”
  • Each of us has a gift and that gift is our life. There’s not enough time to hold a grudge against someone, there’s not enough time to feel angry. You don’t want to live your life with regrets because … tomorrow could be one day too late.
  • Song: One Day Too Late
  • Album: Awake