Ashlee Simpson
Album: Autobiography
Song: Pieces of Me
Reviewed by: Krystal Burns
The Band
That’s right—beautiful, blonde Jessica Simpson’s little sister has come into her own. At nineteen, the native Texan Ashlee Simpson has already had her own reality TV show and a new album that released at the top of the charts. Ashlee has appeared on Malcolm in the Middle, The View, and Seventh Heaven. She also recorded “Just Let Me Cry” for the hit film Freaky Friday.
The Music
Ashlee’s Autobiography debuted July 22 of this year, and it’s immediate success has been extraordinary. Its title pretty much says it all. The album very much focuses on Ashlee’s life journey so far, dealing with issues like establishing her own identity, sexuality, romance, and friendships. As intended, the sound is completely different from that of her big sister, and some would even say its Avril Lavainge-ish.
The Song
Ashlee’s “Pieces of Me” is “a full-throttle rockier about a best friend who brings comfort at the end of a long, stressful day of work.” She says, “When I finally see him, all the other dramas fade away.” It sounds a little bit more like a love song, than an ode to a friend. But, hey, either way, the message is the same.
“Pieces of Me” talks about a friendship that is so deep you can say someone knows you better than you know yourself. It’s about a friend who loves you and sticks by you even when you’re “moody, messy…restless…senseless.” The chorus goes:
It seems like I can finally rest my head on something real
I like the way that feels
It’s as if you’ve known me better than I ever knew myself
I love how you can tell
All the pieces, pieces, pieces of me
Everyone wants a best friend. We want to feel loved and accepted, and we also want to share the ups and downs of life with someone special. That desire is reflected even in the shows we watch. The hit TV series up until last year was Friends, a show about five people who experience life together. Their theme song went, “I’ll be there for you, when the rain starts to fall…” Before that there was the 80’s hit Cheers, “where everybody knows your name, and their always glad you came.” We love shows like this because they tap into our deepest need to be known and accepted.
We can each have that hole in hearts filled by “a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). Who can know you and love you more than the One who created you? God formed you when you were still in your mother’s womb. He put each fiber of your being together, just as he wanted it. Therefore the Psalmist David wrote in Psalm 139:1-4:
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
I encourage you to read the entire Psalm so that you can begin to understand how special you are to God who created you. He really does know you better than you know yourself, and he loves you unconditionally where ever you and your heart are. Take advantage of the friendship you can have with him today!
So What Do You Think?
1. In what ways do you think Ashlee and Jessica are alike or different?
2. What do you look for in a friend?
3. Who is your best friend and why?
4. How does the fact that God created you and loves you the way you are
change your perception of yourself?