August 8th was a great day for new music. We got lots of amazing releases by lots of great artists. One of those artists happened to be Rebecca Porter, who released her debut album titled Roll with the Punches. Before I get onto each song, I want to say this album is amazing, truly one of my favorite releases of the year. Rebecca was kind enough to send me the album early, which was so kind of her. She really is an amazing person, and this really is an amazing album. I did want to say I wrote this all before the album dropped, so I hope y’all love this album as much as I do. Alright, let’s get into it.
Roll With The Punches (Prelude)
I want to start off by saying I love when I go to sit down and listen to an album start to finish and it has a prelude. I don’t know why I love it, but I do. I’ve always found it interesting. The reason I love this one is because I think it sets up the story the album tells. Rebecca is opening up and confronting her past. I believe the prelude really captures that with the lines in it, starting out with, “God bless the man who did me wrong too many times.” I personally could take this one of two ways, either in a good way, like God bless him, hopefully he is a better person and has changed, or in the way I would mean it: God bless him, hope he gets what’s coming to him. The next line, “left my fate up to circumstance too many times,” I personally am living that line right now, and it sucks, so I don’t know, that line heals me a little. The last line of the song, “I rolled with the punches, swallowed every tear I cried. I rolled with the punches and I almost died,” I think those three lines from the prelude capture what this album is about if you dig deep. I, along with some others, believe this is an album coming from a place of survival and making it out alive, and not an album of hatred. There is some vengefulness in the album, but to me it really is about the survival and not the hatred.
Now, before I jump into the songs of the album, I want to say when Rebecca sent over the album, she also attached an album bio that helps give a little bit of background to the songs. Memories was a song she wrote back during the pandemic and after the birth of her child. She dives into family trauma and how sometimes it can be a constant cycle, and wanting to break that cycle to give our children better. The music behind this song, I love the way it mixes with her voice. I think you get a very unique sound with this one. Now, Rebecca really gives a deep insight into her life with this one that I think a lot of us can relate to if you have been caught up in the family trauma cycle.
I’m not gonna lie, the first time I listened to the album I didn’t really dig deep, I never do the first listen, but the second time, this one hit me hard. I was sitting in my room, earbuds in, and cried a little with this one because it hits close to home for me and my family life. If you sit down and give this a deep listen and really hear what she is saying, I think you capture some of her life story. I will warn you, it’s not a happy story. She talks about the pictures on the walls and how what the pictures are not showing isn’t really the truth.
A better way to put this is, find a picture, any picture, and think about when that was taken. Does it really capture everything? No, it only captures a split second. I think of that like the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover,” because the picture shows only a small, simple shot of what’s going on. That’s not to say that behind every picture there is sadness, there are lots of pictures I have where it was some of the happiest moments of my life, but that picture doesn’t capture everything going on behind the scenes. Overall, with this song, I think it really shows off Rebecca’s amazing voice.
Payday Loans is an upbeat song, but the topic isn’t a fun topic. In this song, she’s talking about financial struggles and how that takes a toll on life. There are multiple ways financial struggles take a toll, whether making it hard to provide for your family, worrying about car payments after the rest of the bills, having a spending problem, a gambling addiction, or feeling like you’re working for next to nothing. I feel that because I bust my ass at work, but my checks don’t reflect that because of being paid hourly. I think a lot of people, especially ones in the trades, can feel that because you can bust your ass for an hour or not really have to do much in an hour, and you’re getting paid the same dollar amount no matter if you’re kicking ass or almost “relaxing.”
I love the line, “is this life even worth the trouble?” I’ve wondered that a lot lately, not in a depressing way or anything, more in an “am I worried over a bunch of BS” type way. Overall, I really like this song. I think a lot of us can relate to the financial struggles and worries that Rebecca covers in this song. Like I said at the beginning, it’s an upbeat song, it’s fun to sing along to, but when you take a deeper look, you’re almost like, “oh shit, this isn’t really a happy song.” But it is a great song overall, and I think if you’re going to sit and listen start to finish, this being the third track and second actual song is good. I really like the way she chose to place the songs on this album.
The Laundry Pile is another more upbeat song with an almost old-school country sound, and I really dig it. I think it’s easy to find the metaphors for the laundry pile stacking up. It’s like the weight that gets stacked up on your shoulders over your life and the emotional baggage you carry through life. This song was written when Rebecca was having a moment of reckoning with an actual pile of laundry. This one really makes you think about life between your burdens, relationships current and past. I think if you take a good listen, you’ll see what I mean. Just sit back on this one and reminisce a little like I did, and you’ll get overflown with emotions.
This song overall is one a lot of people can relate to with their personal “laundry piles,” and I look forward to seeing where this one ranks after the album comes out.
The Devil is one of, if not my favorite, tracks off the album. You can easily pick up on what I call the “Johnny Cash sound,” which is the almost train sound you hear in a Johnny Cash song. There is reasoning for this in the song, which I’ll get to in a minute. The Devil is a song about personal battles within one’s head and how we sometimes let that take over our lives. There’s also something to be said about “the devil” being a person in your life, because the devil can be something inside you or something outside the body. Maybe it’s your job and your workload. Maybe it’s a loved one who is abusive in some way. Either way, there is a devil in everyone’s life, and it sucks, it really does, but I do think that helps us grow into who we are today. It makes us better. It makes us stronger as a person, and that shows a lot about you as a person because you have beaten that devil. Maybe there is a new one, and I’m sorry if there is. I personally have one right now, but I’ll keep fighting the devil until I win, and I hope you will too.
Moving on, my favorite line from this song is, “how far into hell are you willing to go?” That’s my favorite for a few reasons. One is I have asked myself that question. In a way, I’ve asked myself, “how much hell are you willing to go through for…” I’ve filled the blank with multiple things before, and it’s a question I think you should ask yourself sometimes. How much hell are you willing to go through for a friendship or a relationship? Are you willing to endure the pain that comes with that? Are you willing to go through all that to come out losing? Another reason I love that line is because a lot of us deal with depression and don’t want to ask for help. I know for me it took a long time, and I really think that line reflects: how far into hell are you willing to go before you realize you need help? That’s just something I thought of a lot with that line and honestly with this song as a whole.
Before I wrap this song up, I want to circle back to the train sound. Like I said before, I was given an album bio, and it gives a little background to each song, and I love the symbolism behind it. In the bio, the reasoning given for the train beat is this: “The song, with its train beat and unwavering pace, reflects the relentless chase to outrun, or face those forces, whether they are internal or external.” I love this reasoning, I really do, and I believe the choice to make the beat a part of the song was a great choice.
Shadow of Doubt is a ballad, and I do love a good ballad. This one really gave me a lot to think about in life spiritually, which the bio on this one actually did say: “Porter’s lyrics delve into the complexities of abandonment, despair, and the search for redemption, offering a glimpse into her own struggles with spirituality and healing.” Like I said, I feel that in my own life spiritually.
My favorite line from this song is, “I feared my love wasn’t good enough.” I think about it two ways, one spiritually and one in relationships, but I really like the spirituality of the album, so I want to talk about that. When I think about the word spiritual, it makes me think of God. I’m not here to push my feelings on religion onto you or anybody, but for me that line hits deep because I feel like sometimes my love I have for God and for others isn’t enough, and that line just made me think a little about that.
That is my favorite line, but the line that caught my attention was, “His pleasure resided in my pain.” I think this is a good example of what this album is about. Rebecca opens up about her past a lot with this whole album, and that line right there is, I think at least, pretty clearly talking about how abusive people in our lives get pleasure from seeing us in pain. That really caught my attention.
Overall, this is an amazing ballad talking about struggles in life, abuse, your spirituality, and healing. I really love it and think a lot of people can relate to this one.
Let Me Go is a song about letting go of pent-up emotions, and I can see that in multiple ways. One way is finally letting go of the memories, in a way like she’s letting go of what happened to make herself free again. Another way I see it is finally getting over the betrayal felt after leaving the relationship. This is a song about growth as a person in my eyes, a song about how she was suppressed until she was finally free from the relationship and is growing from the lessons learned.
In the bio for Let Me Go, it’s said that this song was written over several years, and to me that makes sense. Could you possibly write a song like this in one sitting, several years after the relationship ended, looking back and saying, “Wow, I learned so much from this past relationship”? I think the way it was written over several years is better. It’s like a coming-of-age story almost, meaning as you start to heal, you start to see things in a different perspective. I believe this would have been a completely different song if it had not been written over several years.
This song hit me in the gut a little harder than the rest because of some personal experiences I’ve had and been able to grow from and learn from over the years, so I really love this one. It’s an amazing song that I believe you can really understand if you’ve been through some trauma in a relationship and you’ve started to heal or have already healed. I know I talk about reminiscing with songs a lot, so sorry if it’s annoying, but I did sit back and think about my own personal trauma with this one, and I think this almost shines a new light on it.
This song is the one that solidified what this album was about for me. This was the song where I took a step back and really looked at the big picture that is Rebecca’s past, and how this album isn’t from a place of hate but a place of personal growth. I just really love that, and I love that for her.
Holy shit. No Evil is what I would call a banger. This is an anthem where you get a southern rock sound that reminded me, in a way, of Whiskey Myers’ cover of Brent Cobb’s Bar, Guitar, and a Honky Tonk Crowd, and I love it. But this anthem has a motive behind it, which I love, a good motive.
In the bio, it says this song is “a bold and unapologetic stand against racism and discrimination. Written as an act of defiance against a world that often silences marginalized voices.” And hell yes, I love that. I try not to get political. I’m pretty middle of the road, you do you. I agree and disagree with both sides, but I’m not blind. I see the bullshit in the world. I see the way people treat others, and it pisses me off.
I love that this is a song about standing up for what you believe in because it takes courage. And even if you’re standing up for something I don’t believe in (not the case here, I believe in this one strongly), I’ll still support you because if you feel strongly about something, stand up against the oppression.
Now, before people want to say this is getting political, really take a step back and look at how our country was formed. Look back on American history and tell me, start at the Revolutionary War. That was standing up to oppression. Look at the women’s rights movement, the civil rights movement, and tell me, is that not standing up to oppression? Is this not how our country was built? So stand up for what you believe in, folks, that’s all I’m saying.
None of my examples are meant to take away from what this song is about. I’m just trying to get my point across. But what this song is about is something that needs to be talked about, and that’s why I love this song. It’s Rebecca standing up for what she believes in, and she has my full support. Attack me for what I said, I don’t care, you won’t hurt my feelings. But this song is amazing, and everyone should go listen to it.
Wings is a song about mental health through and through, whether it’s doubting yourself and what you’re capable of or feeling trapped because of your feelings. There’s something to take away from this song because while it is about all that, it’s also about overcoming your struggles with mental health. My favorite line from this song is probably, “My hands can’t do much, but I’ll work them to the bone. With a heart that yearns for love, but feels safer left all alone.” I really feel that there are times in our lives when we feel like there’s not much we can do, but we still fight like hell to make it work, maybe it’s with relationships or work. I know there have been times I felt like I can’t do much, but I still try and try and try like we all do, so I feel that line.
Now, the second half of that, I really feel my heart wants love, and right now I have love, but then there are times I just want or need to be alone. I get in my head and think I’m better off this way. I think we’ve all felt that way at one point or another. Overall though, I really like this song. I can really feel it, and I know I’ve said that a lot in this article, but maybe that’s for a reason.
The Mountain is another song about oppression, almost in the same way as before. It’s a song about once being oppressed but pushing back and fighting. It’s another stand up and take back what is yours. Maybe it’s your life. Maybe you’ve been in that relationship where you aren’t you. You can’t live your life, you’re living the life they want you to. This is a song about overcoming that “mountain” and fighting back, taking control of your life.
I know I’ve used the word relationship a lot. I don’t mean that in just a romantic way. It can be a friendship, a business relationship, your boss, a coworker, your parents, your siblings, it isn’t just one thing. Abuse can come from anywhere. But this overall is about overcoming.
There are a few lines I want to talk about, one being, “how good is a person without their word.” To me, that means how good is a person if they say a lot but don’t mean any of it. The following line, “it’s not a conversation if I go unheard,” I’ve had this conversation recently about how if you want to have a conversation about something, you both need to express your feelings, and you both need to hear each other out. That doesn’t mean you have to answer. No answer is still an answer, always remember that.
Roll with the Punches is the title track to this amazing album. Now, before I jump into this, I want to say I actually haven’t listened to this one yet. I decided to wait until the day of posting to write about the final song. Everything else has been edited and ready for a few days, but right now, at 5:17 on Tuesday, August 12th, I am starting the song. I won’t edit anything here. This is my raw, true feelings about the closing song to this amazing album.
Starting out, I love the sound from the beginning. It gives me a desert vibe. I love the opening line, “I watched a man lay his hands on my mother too many times.” I think this closes the circle on the abusiveness people can have that is talked about throughout the entire album. The line that just hit me hard: “wore the weight of shame, took on all of the blame too many times.” There are some things in my life I have worn the shame of, and honestly it was for no reason. I wore it because I felt I needed to, even though everyone else had forgiven me and didn’t even care. I still wore it when I didn’t need to. There have been things that have happened to me that I’ve been ashamed to admit happened, that I’ve let eat away at me, one of them I thought I buried deep inside until recently and it came back to haunt me. I’ve taken on blame in this life for things that weren’t my fault at all. It’s almost killed me.
I was talking with Kynny last night actually about how I need to stop living in the past because it’s in the past, it’s over, it happened. I learned and I grew from it, which is something you’ve read me talk about a lot over this whole article. This album helped heal me in a way. It made me cry, and I’m not emotional. However, it also helped me move on. It helped me get over some of my demons I’ve been battling. This album made me realize even though this is Rebecca’s story, I can relate, and I’m not the only person who has had to deal with some of the BS I’ve dealt with.
So going back to the prelude, I had a good feeling “I rolled with the punches, swallowed every tear I cried, I rolled with the punches and I almost died” was going to be a part of the chorus. That was part of the reason I didn’t talk about it then; I wanted to talk about it here at the end of this article. So here we go, getting deep like I do with every article.
Depression has taken over my life many times. It’s something I don’t talk about with anybody because I don’t want to burden people with my life. I know I can. I know I’ll get texts saying how I can talk to people, and I know I can and I have. But sometimes I need to deal with my shit on my own. I love my friends, most I don’t say it to, but my friends I’ve made through this and through music, I say it to a lot. I know they struggle too. I know they’ve got their battles they are fighting, so I tell them I love them. I used to never say it to anyone besides family until I lost two of my closest friends in a car accident. So now I say it. But this line, why did it hit hard? I have rolled with the punches. I’ve taken everything on the chin and it affects me, and I try not to show it. That’s me swallowing the tears I’ve cried, and it’s almost killed me before. I’ll say it, I try to be an open and honest person. So yeah, this line over every line, over every song hit me the hardest because I feel it deep down.
This album is special to me. This album has already solidified its spot for the year. It’ll rank very, very high for me. But more than that, I finally have found a mental health album. This is it. This album means something. It’s Rebecca sharing her story, but everyone can take something from her story and relate, and that is something I figured would be hard to do as an artist, but she did it. She opened up and shared and let us in and gave us a part of her life. I think it goes to show that you are never the only one. There is always someone who’s dealt with something similar, if not the same thing. This song is amazing overall, and I truly love it.
Thank you for reading my article on Rebecca Porter’s debut album, Roll With The Punches.
I highly, highly, highly recommend you go listen to this album if you haven’t already. And after you do, go post about it, spread the music to everybody you know. If you post about it, @ Rebecca and let her know how you felt. If you want to, @ me too. Hell yeah, I love to see what people think about albums.
But on a serious note, I know our mental health is a struggle sometimes, so if you ever need anybody to talk to, just know I’m always here to listen, along with many others in the music community. You aren’t alone ever. Just know that, and know there is always someone there to listen. So if you ever need to, just shoot me a DM on Twitter or Instagram, and I’ll listen. I’ll be there. I promise.
Y’all stay Western and stay tuned.
Get Western 
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