Anberlin plays Viejas Arena on Sunday, December 13 (91X’s “Wrex the Halls” concert including AFI, Rise Against, and 30 Seconds to Mars)

I started listening to Anberlin in 2005, when they weren’t that big. I found them through my crush’s MySpace. Since I wanted him to think I was cool, I started listening to them all the time. Soon, though, I actually fell in love with their album Never Take Friendship Personal. I no longer cared about impressing Mark but instead started blasting them any chance I could.

Later that year I got over Mark and started going out with my first boyfriend, Bryan. Bryan was an absolute sweetheart, but a romantic to the core, which I found was not my type of guy, so I ended up breaking his heart. We didn’t speak for a year, but when we started talking again we became really good friends. Around this time I was obsessed with the song “A Day Late,” and part of the chorus related perfectly to my situation with Brian: “...could have been lovers but at least you’re still my day-late friend.”

Anberlin took me through yet another romantic failure. I started dating Michael, the hottest guy in the junior class my sophomore year. I thought I had scored, since he thought I was adorable and wanted to take me out all the time. Although our relationship never progressed past hand-holding and pecks on the lips, our friendship grew and I figured I’d be with him for a while, if only for the status quo. But, we broke up after two short months, and I found out he had cheated on me in Cancún. Still an Anberlin junkie, I heard the song “The Feel Good Drag,” which is about a girl cheating on her boyfriend. I always wondered if my relationship with Michael was like the song lyrics “Was this over before it ever began,” since nothing had happened with us anyways.

And the last breakup I sought out Anberlin for was my parents’ divorce. They had been separated and decided to make it final, but through that was custody battles and stressful days. I was listening to their album and heard a song called “Unwinding Cable Car,” which I felt perfectly described my life at the time. The song is about a person who is put through many situations and forced to make choices, and so they feel like they are unwinding. The chorus is the singer reassuring them that it is going to be okay, as long as they turn to someone for help.

Although Anberlin has been prevalent in my life during breakups, I will still listen to them religiously. I just know that Anberlin will have a place in my life for the next breakup and always will.

DJ: Arianna Nevins

Station: Griffin Radio (grossmont.edu/ griffinradio)

Shift: Small Town Girl program, Tues. 9:00–11:00 a.m.; Wed., 10:00–11:00 a.m.