Top Ten Songs by Flyleaf

10) Perfect
In this song, lead-singer Lacey Mosley has such power and yet such purity in her voice. You can hear and understand every word she says, it’s like she wants you to hear the song’s message as well as its music. I love this song because of how much I think we can all relate to it, feeling “putrid and filthy” or not understanding why we are loved. One of the things Flyleaf depicts in their music is that you don’t have to understand God’s love in order to receive it.

9) So I Thought
The last track on their self-titled album, So I Thought has a very melodic soft sound compared to some of the other louder songs. There is clearly angst in Lacey’s voice and the chorus is fierce and meaningful. It has a very strong message, the hope to someday see “something there in between.” So I Thought was, I thought, an excellent way to end the album.

8) I’m So Sick
This song was what drew me into the band immediately. There is something so hauntingly beautiful about Lacey’s voice, an airy quality that is melodic and very moving. Lacey alternates between loud and soft singing, while the band backs her up with some awesome drums and guitar riffs. The song was an excellent choice to be their first single.

7) Fully Alive
The story behind Fully Alive is touching and special to the members of the band and especially to Lacey, who wrote the song about “Layla”, a friend’s wife who was sick and going through hard times but managed to pull through it and see joy in the smaller things. Lacey sings about how seeing someone else smile through their suffering made her think twice before complaining about her own pain. Great choice for the band’s second single off the album.

6) Believe in Dreams
This song is slow and beautiful. Lacey laments the sorrows of living and dying, and wonders “is it worth it to be sad?” The name of the song says it all; it is a beautiful soft message: believe in dreams. Lacey’s voice is so soft and soothing and yet full of angst and powerful meaning. The guitar is also great as it accompanies her singing. Truly great song. My favorite line is “all the ones you love / anything and everything you feel / believe in dreams.”

5) Sorrow
My favorite song on the album, Sorrow is loud and soft at the same time. The lyrics are really beautiful, my favorite being “familiar breath of my old lies / changed the color in my eyes.” It is a great song to listen to when you’re sad, because the music together with Lacey’s voice can make you feel better. Lacey sings of an ugly girl smothering her, and it is so powerful the sorrow in her own voice, like she truly knows of what she sings.

4) Stay (U2 cover, performed for Sirius radio)
This song is really rare and can be downloaded from flyleafonline. It was performed by Lacey for Sirius satellite radio, for the Octane station (rock station 20). The song is apparently a cover of Stay, a U2 song. It is very quiet and it is just Lacey’s voice that is so beautiful and haunting. You can really tell that she puts so much raw emotion into her songs and performances.

3) Tina
Similar to Fully Alive and Cassie, which are both on Flyleaf’s album, Tina is about a woman able to overcome her own pain. It is a true rock-hard anthem to perseverance and faith. I recently read at the Flyleaf forums that Tina was a real woman whom Lacey met at one of her concerts who had been badly burned. Lacey very much admires those who can surpass their pain and recognize the glory in simply being alive. Great rock song.

2) Something I Can Never Have
This is one of Flyleaf’s best songs. It is a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song, and is currently on the Score (different from the soundtrack) to the movie Underworld: Evolution. While they didn’t write the lyrics, it sounds like they truly own the song; Lacey does an amazing job of sounding so hurt and pained, like the song is her therapeutic release. I love the way she sings the line “Gray would be the color / if I had a heart.”

1) Much Like Falling
My favorite Flyleaf song of all time. The song starts out with Lacey saying “When I said good morning / I was lying / I was truly thinking of / How I might quit waking up.” Then she sings of how her growing relationship with God showed her how selfish committing suicide would have been. So she says, “So I keep waking up.” This song, if you know Lacey’s own history, is very personal and that makes it even more beautiful. She shares her pain with the world, in the hopes of turning someone’s sorrow into solace.

While the band’s songs do take on a religious tone, they don’t have to be viewed as being all about God. An atheist could appreciate their music, simply because it is beautiful and Lacey, as well as the band, perform from deep inside themselves, which makes them sound powerful and full of meaning. All of their songs are incredible and I recommend everyone getting their album. Also, you can visit www.flyleafonline.com to hear demos and other tracks on the Flyleaf Radio Blog.