[songs + memories: first half of fellows]
aka- lots of driving, lots of sunsets
Decimal by Novo Amor: I thought I had an idea of what my perfect day would look like, until one unassuming Saturday came along back in September. I woke up, no plans for the day, to a text from Brooke saying “It’s your weather my girl it feels like fall”, to which i immediately went out to the porch with a blanket and coffee and just sat in the unexpected chilly weather. Eventually I moved inside, reading, listening to Billy Joel through the record player, the sun coming in just right through the window. Morgan and I ended up going downtown- walking around, buying plants and flowers, sitting in the park under a perfectly blue sky. On the drive home Morgan queued up Decimal, and hearing that play while driving up Glenwood, light streaking in through the trees, perfectly tied together just half of one of my favorite days this year. // AND this song playing while Brooke, Austin, and I sat in silence on the rocking chairs at Camp Oak Hill, the sun setting over the trees and the lake, everything glowing a perfect golden-orange hue? Amen. Song of the semester.
Forever by Distant Cousins: Maddie and I drove around Raleigh one night, just talking and looking at houses and getting lost. On our way back home, Maddie had on her old high school playlist and this song started playing. Almost immediately all the windows were down, the sunroof was open, and we blasted this song while we drove up a quiet, dark, empty street. The tunnel scene from Perks of Being a Wallflower? That’s what this felt like for a moment!
King Street by Eleni Drake: Walking around Shelley Lake park around sunset. The tops of the trees glowing yellow and orange from the setting sun, the lake mostly still, air surprisingly chilly, King Street playing through my headphones but quiet enough that I could hear the crickets chirping all around me- having to just close my eyes for a second to take it all in.
Bones by Ben Howard: Night drives down back roads with Morgan with the windows down, no need for words or much talking- being alone but together.
Raising Cain by Gregory Alan Isakov: I don’t particularly like rain. And sometimes I don’t particularly enjoy the long stretches of silence and emptiness of the library (especially when it’s still early in the day and I haven’t fully woken up yet). But this morning the silence and the stillness and the lack of the hum of the printer felt comfortable, and wanted, as I just watched the rain fall, read out of Every Moment Holy, and listened to Gregory play in the background.
Downtown by Macklemore: Driving back from the Micah 6:8 retreat with Austin, Tommy, Morgan, and Sarah was probably one of my favorite drives so far. The windows were down, the music was fun, we danced, the sun was shining, the backroads were lined with trees in perfect fall colors the entire ride home. The chorus blasting through the speakers + all of the previously mentioned stuff combined was just a perfect little moment from a really, really good weekend.
Iris by Phoebe Bridgers and Maggie Rogers: Sarah, Morgan, Brooke, and I went to Falls Lake one evening right before sunset. We knew of this big random grassy space by the water, and we sat around on blankets listening to the best cover of Iris to exist as the sun was setting and the trees surrounding the lake were glowing amber and red and the clouds in the sky looked like pink cotton candy.
Evermore [the album] by Taylor Swift: Taylor announcing a new album out of nowhere means freaking out about it all day with your roommates, and then staying up until midnight to listen to it the second it's released. Morgan, Sarah, and I took a midnight drive around Raleigh, playing Taylor’s new album while also trying to look at Christmas lights, and I just don’t think there’s a better way to do it then that.
Defying Gravity by Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth: The best way to show someone your favorite Broadway music is to put in your headphones and perform the song yourself; complete with improv choreography and spoons as microphones. I’ll always laugh thinking about Brooke and I’s Broadway hour in the kitchen one night, and ending with a grand finale of doing Defying Gravity together (one airpod per person, duh) right before our friends came over for Bachelorette Wednesday.
monthly music recommendations: coney island (ft. the national) by taylor swift, souvenir by julien baker, home by noah gundersen, skydive by postcard boy, afterthought by joji, c u by benee, still unbeaten life by gang of youths
— jen kunin