Music has been in her blood since birth. Mason could hear a song on the radio, march her seven year old self into the house, sit down at the upright piano inherited from her great, great grandparents, and begin to play the song she had just heard. She had an ear for music and could play nearly anything she picked up. After piano, came the guitar. Her grandfather was throwing away an old Conn, she saw it in the trash, and was mortified at the injustice of throwing away a piece of art. After rescuing it, she began to play, but something else happened. That old throw-away guitar thrust her into a whole new world of songwriting at the tender age of nine.
“Music has always been a part of me. I’ve been writing songs since I was nine years old and decided to learn guitar after attempting to teach myself chords on my grandpa’s old Conn until I couldn’t feel my fingers. I got my first guitar for my 10th birthday and the rest is history.”
Mason began to pour her heart, her pre-teen and then teen hurts, desires, wishes, angers into journals. She filled journal after journal with lyrics and melodies. She, her guitar, her pencil, and her journals could be found strewn across her bedroom floor most hours of the day. The pencil, paper, guitar, and her own voice gave her a venue to express herself and move on.
“Music is therapy for me. Sometimes songs come to me that I don't even know where they came from and sometimes they come from built up emotion that I was never able to put into words until the pen and paper somehow allow it.”
Growing up in the comfortable town of Magnolia, Texas, Mason has spent her teenage years like other teenage girls have for generations, but with a slight twist. She took all of those teenage experiences with boys and friendships and lost and gained relationships and put them to music. The result; songs that anyone of any age who has ever felt love, loss, frustration, joy, romance can relate to.
“The past three years have been filled with laughter and pain and heartache and love and growing up. I learned so much about myself and about the world. I've learned about relationships and about people in these past three beautiful, painful, and inspiring years and I poured every ounce of those emotions into this little album. It is absolutely terrifying and so exciting to let those emotions go out into the ears of others, but hopefully it will let those who listen know that they are not alone. I'm so thrilled to get to share my fears, heartbreaks, and stories with anyone that will let me.”
This five song album is her first to be released and is titled after her song, “Into the Song.” Mason will be the first to tell you that this album was inspired by five different guys who have come into and out of and sometimes back into and back out of her life over the last several years. She’s quite certain they know who they are, though she will never name names.
“People and love are so interesting to me so that’s usually what I write about. Music is my way of telling a story. It’s like a photo album of my life.. But with words. So anyone is welcome to turn the pages and make their own interpretations of my pictures…my stories. Stories with melodies.”
Mason’s family has been a huge influence in her life. With her mom, dad, and a brother who is just a couple years younger, she has experienced much of the United States from the backseat of a car. Her family travels as often as they can. Mason’s travels have given her a glimpse of people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, and she draws inspiration from these people and places.
“I’ve been all over the country in the back seat of my parents’ car with a cup of Starbucks and some kind of instrument. I love seeing new places and meeting new people from all different towns and situations. Oceans and people fascinate me. I could sit in a cafe with a cup of coffee and just watch people all day long or play ukulele on the beach forever and be perfectly content.”
Mason is often found surrounded by extended family, all with instruments in hand, wrapped in a big comfy quilt on a porch in the starlight singing, laughing, playing. Simplicity, faith, and family are of upmost importance to her.
“I’ve always felt like I was born in the wrong era. I’m like… 92% sure that I’m actually supposed to be living in the 50′s.”
All the relationships, travels, family, faith, laughter, loss, and love that Mason Ashley has experienced in the past sixteen years are encompassed in this album that speaks to the heart and soul. Life in the small town of Magnolia has drifted into a sea of melodies and lyrics that tell her personal story and the story of many at the same time.
“This record is for that nine year old girl on her bedroom floor writing way too many songs in the key of G. It's for the thirteen year old that thought she knew what love was. For the beautiful moments that you wish could last for more than just a moment. Finding out that loss is hard and that some ends will forever be loose ends. For the realization that relationships can be tricky and confusing and inconsistent and sometimes you like it that way. Above all, it's for those nights of just hoping that someone will stay and believing that if they do..you can dance yourself into the song. But even if they don't stay, you can still write an album about it.”
Death of Me
Mason Ashley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I don’t wanna talk
I don’t need your reasonings
Or a list of all my faults
You think you’re such a handsome mess
With your perfect hair and your fancy vest
Honey, worth ain’t based on the way you dress
I was never naïve
About the company you keep
But you made me feel so weak
Guilting me ‘til I believed
She’s just a girl you met
But you had your eyes set
Darling, love ain’t based around one red dress
But I wish you the best
Now we pass on the street
It’s all so clear to me
We’ll never be more than this
I should’ve run, I should’ve guessed
You were exactly what they said
We sure made a pretty little mess
But I wish you the best
Goodbye, goodbye
Please don’t pretend to cry
You played unfair now don’t pretend to care
Now I see what I should’ve seen
You would’ve been the death of me
The lyrics to Mason Ashley's song "Death of Me" speak to the painful aftermath of a failed relationship. The singer is tired of the constant communication from her former partner and doesn't want to be reminded of all her shortcomings. The first verse speaks to the singer's desire to disengage from the back and forth with her former partner. She doesn't want to hear any justifications or criticisms from him. The singer has already come to terms with the situation and is ready to move on.
In the next verse, the singer seems to be addressing her former partner's negative traits. She feels like he was manipulative and put her down, using his own exterior appearance to bolster his self-esteem. She calls him out on this behavior, reminding him that worth is not determined by material things like clothes. Despite his faults, the singer wishes him the best.
As the song progresses, the singer reflects on the illusion of the relationship. She wasn't ignorant of her ex-partner's questionable behavior but was convinced by him to think otherwise. Now that they've broken up, the singer sees things as they really are. The final verse ends with the singer saying goodbye and acknowledging that this was a painful experience that she learned from. The singer recognizes that if she continued in this relationship, it would have been the "death of me".
Line by Line Meaning
You say you need to call
You tell me you need to talk to me
But I don’t wanna talk
But I don't want to have this conversation
I don’t need your reasonings
I don't need to hear your explanations
Or a list of all my faults
Or hear you list off all the things that are wrong with me
You think you’re such a handsome mess
You believe you're attractive despite any flaws
With your perfect hair and your fancy vest
With your well-groomed hair and expensive clothing
Honey, worth ain’t based on the way you dress
Honey, a person's value isn't determined by their appearance
But I wish you the best
But I sincerely hope things work out well for you
I was never naïve
I was never foolishly innocent
About the company you keep
Concerned with the people you associate with
But you made me feel so weak
But you made me feel powerless
Guilting me ‘til I believed
Manipulating me until I believed something false
She’s just a girl you met
She's just someone you randomly encountered
But you had your eyes set
But you had your sights fixed on her
Darling, love ain’t based around one red dress
Darling, love isn't dependent on any one item of clothing
But I wish you the best
But I sincerely hope things work out well for you
Now we pass on the street
Now we occasionally see each other in public
It’s all so clear to me
It's all so obvious to me now
We’ll never be more than this
We'll never have anything more than this
I should’ve run, I should’ve guessed
I should have left and suspected the worst
You were exactly what they said
You were exactly the person I was warned about
We sure made a pretty little mess
We definitely made quite a mess of things
But I wish you the best
But I sincerely hope things work out well for you
Goodbye, goodbye
Farewell, farewell
Please don’t pretend to cry
Please don't pretend to be upset
You played unfair now don’t pretend to care
You acted unfairly, so don't pretend to care now
Now I see what I should’ve seen
Now I see what I should have realized earlier
You would’ve been the death of me
You would have caused my downfall
Contributed by Ella F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.