seasonal music

Holy 2-month break, Batman! Turns out aimless blogging and grad school do not mix. But don’t despair, I have some ideas about non-aimless blogging which may come about soon, but probably not-so-soon. (This post does not reflect those, but I felt like writing it, so.)

I have really strong feelings about music, specifically when exactly particular music is played, partially because music holds such strong attachments to memories. Hearing a familiar song immediately transports you back in time, to a certain day or season of your life, in an almost magical way.

I’ve always been bad about music repetition. Or so other people tell me, because I obviously don’t have a problem with it. Back when I used to have a car, I would leave the same CD in the deck for MONTHS or until my sister forced me to pick a new one. So now, as I listen to my iTunes on shuffle, I’ll spontaneously think, “spring of senior year!” or “driving Colleen to Pilates!” and then wonder where that memory came from, always realizing that it was sparked by a song from an album from that particular time period (Matt Nathanson’s Some Mad Hope and Jon McLaughlin’s OK Now, respectively, if you’re interested… ha).

Now that I don’t have a car, I mostly listen to music while reading or writing. And it’s just easier to pick an artist and listen to their music over and over and over (at least I think so). This leads to the same phenomenon perpetuating itself throughout my life, and my memory is frantic now when I listen to music. “On the train to Berlin! In my apartment in Dresden! Writing my senior thesis!” etc etc etc.

Here we have some of my music fixations…. some are seasonal, as I believe that some songs just go with times of the year. And of course any expat Texan needs a good Texas nostalgia playlist. Enjoy, and happy exam-paper-cramming-before-the-holidays season!

First: because homesickness happens when your thesis is about Texas 😉

Next: Sometimes artists themselves can feel season-specific, or at least they can if you obsessively listen to them while doing research for long enough!

And finally, because my favorite time of the year is approaching, and it requires an eclectic playlist!

Enjoy!