The Wait Was Worth It
April 20, 2016
Ten years since her last album, singer/songwriter Gwen Stefani released her new solo album on March 18, This is What the Truth Feels Like is based from her divorce and her new relationship with the country singer and songwriter, Blake Shelton.
When Stefani announced her divorce she also publicized that she was working on something new, almost as if she was starting fresh. When she dropped her single off the new album “Used to Love You” you can hear how emotional and honest she was with her situation. She passionately sings these lyrics, “I don’t know why I cry, but I think it’s because I remember for the first time I used to love you.”
The cover of the album is a photograph of Stefani, but she was not satisfied of looking happy. She wanted to show her fans the truth of how she felt with her divorce. On the cover of the album, she drew tears on her face and a wedding ring on her finger with a sad face to show how she truly was feeling at the time creating the album.
The lyrics on the first song, “Misery” deliberated how much pain she was going through with her divorce. Her lyrics were so raw and honest it sent chills through my spine. Meanwhile, her tremendously powerful voice wails and cries out to Shelton for mercy: “Put me out of my misery,” and save her from her failed marriage.
The song “Red Flag” starts off smooth and slow then when the beat drops it just slaps you in the face. This song on the album stood out the most because it was infused with rap and pop. Stefani sings, “Big mistake, red flags fly. A little late warning signs punish me.” She talks about her ex-husband and all the red flags of his cheating she carelessly ignored.
“Truth” is the best song from the album. Not only does her voice sound raw and honest, just like the others, but her voice sounds powerful and strong, almost as if she is happy than ever before now with Shelton. She sings, “Woah it’s so strange, confusing and I’m so scared, but maybe I deserve this boy after all that I’ve been through.” She continues to sing, “Yeah this is what the truth feels like, and I’m feeling it, I’m feeling it. Something about this just feels so right.”
This album is different from her last solo album, The Sweet Escape because you can hear how much she has changed and grown as an artist and I’m feeling it.
This is What Truth Feels Like raised the bar higher for me with Stefani. This is her first album to make it on the Billboard 200 chart. This album has shown fans how she is more herself now than she has ever been and she has let down the walls of her emotional barrier. The album as a whole was perfect and was worth the ten-year wait.
“I want to become a more creative writer and open-minded,” Vega said. “If I do enjoy writing this year, then I would definitely choose to pursue it as a career.”
Similarly, AP student, Isaac Hernandez, hopes to have a fruitful senior year that does not include so much stress. He is currently taking three AP classes and is a club organizer for ASB.
“By the end of my senior year, I want to not lose my sanity while maintaining a cool demeanor as I juggle all my classes and extracurricular,” Hernandez said. “AP government is my favorite class so far because it serves as a good background for my career as I intend to go to law school.”
Both Hernandez and Vega share the same attitude towards not losing it while taking so many AP classes. Not only does Vega aspire to do her best, she also looks forward to gaining beneficial information from her classes and peers, while at the same time having an awesome time learning.
Andrea Laguna, another delighted Downey High School senior, is taking an engineering class in design this year. She views this class as an innovative and fun learning challenge that she hopes to gain a lot from.
“It’s [Engineering] a lot more work than one might think,” Laguna said. “I really hope that by the end of my senior year I will be able to design something so incredible, and that I will be able to build and be proud of.”
Vega’s motivation and enthusiasm are great contributors to her future success and they are what keeps her going. By the end of her senior year, Vega just hopes to find what her passion is and she is also exciting to move to a new city, wherever her future college might be!
“I learned how to become a leader,” Mandujano said, “through photography I learned not to be afraid.”
His passion for photography influenced him to take three extra curricular activities: ASB, Yearbook, and Newspaper. For these classes, he is required to shoot pictures of events. While shooting a swim meet at Downey High School, Mandujano captured one of the Santa Fe High swimmers during the 50-meter butterfly event. He entered the photo to the Stay Gallery Stay Young competition and placed second.
“It felt pretty cool to win second,” Mandujano said. “I didn’t expect to win that night.”
He is not the only one that had doors open his way.
Joaquin Oropeza,12, is able to connect with his emotional side better. He is taking AP Lit and Yearbook. With these classes, he is developing skills that he will pursue in writing.
“It helps me express myself in a way I couldn’t do so before,” Oropeza said. “It also allows me to be creative and to tell a story.”
Downey High School’s Yearbook adviser, Mr. Nunley, enjoys having Mandujano as a student and understands him well because they both have a lot on their plate.
“I’m inspired by how involved he is with this school and how he’s willing to help not just Yearbook, but dedicate his time anywhere he can to make Downey High School a better place,” Nunley said.
Mandujano’s long-term goals include continuing his photographic journey into University of California, Santa Barbara and major in communications. Once he majors in communications he will go into journalism and broadcasting. He stays positive through his work, so he hopes that more doors will keep opening his way.
![Marvel fan, Daisy Lopez, 11, shows full patriotism by doing a heroic pose in the back of B building with the American flag behind her while wearing Captain America apparel on May 10. “My favorite scenes from the movies are battle [or] fight scenes, I love watching characters go all out with their powers, weapons, and gadgets,” Lopez said.](https://www.thedowneylegend.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/IMG_0077_2 _72-324x475.jpg)
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