The other day I was listening to my favorite classical music station when I heard a new classical song that I had never heard before.
“Seasons” by JustinChowMein popped up, and I immediately stopped what I was doing and closed my eyes, taking in the vibrations of the piano as it tickled my eardrums. While listening to the song, I felt a sense of longing, perhaps a longing for the past and my childhood, or for that of the future and the many adventures that I am bound to experience. After the song, I felt such a rush, and I realized that this was why music was invented: to make us feel.
Such an intricate pattern of notes and voices can let us tap into our inner spirituality and creativity. The possibilities are endless with music, letting us feel so many emotions packed into roughly three and a half minutes. With this being said, I would like to share with the world the songs that make me cry my eyes out to sleep, laugh and dance in the kitchen, and make me reflect on my life and feel the nostalgia of past and future times.
“Seasons” by JustinChowMein makes me feel like I am running through a grassy field with someone I love, frolicking through the prairie grass like I’m a kid again. I get an intense feeling of nostalgia in my heart during this song, the longing to feel like a child again, to run around a play outside. The feeling before my heart was broken for the first time, the feeling before I knew how dark the world could be, the feeling of a completely clean slate and not being so hard on myself for all the mistakes I have made. I envision myself lying on a fluffy cloud, smiling up at the warm blue sky, without a care in the world.
“Je te laisserai des mots” by Patrick Watson is a powerful orchestral piece, with a somber French singer in the background. I have always had an affinity toward French music, maybe because of my Mamy (french for grandma) who always spoke in her French accent reminiscing on times spent in the south of France. This song is truly heartbreaking and makes me feel a time when I had lost someone I loved. I imagine myself, losing the person that I thought I would spend the rest of my life with: a crushing, and devastating blow to the heart which is irrecoverable.
“Apocalypse” by Cigarettes After Sex is a song that makes me truly feel so many emotions it is indescribable. I like to lay on my bed with my headphones on, stare at the ceiling, and feel every emotion that I have buried deep inside. I let everything escape with this song, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I happy cry, ugly cry, and ache to this song.
“Moonlight on the River” by Mac Demarco is a psychedelic song that makes me truly let myself go. I imagine myself speeding down the highway at night, head out the car window, hair flying in the wind. This song makes me feel at peace with the confusion and contradictions within myself and my personality. In this song I am a present, spiritual being, going through my journey on this earth.
“Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star’s first guitar strum at the beginning of the song releases something inside me that makes me feel as if I am a free bird, flying above the clouds, with nothing stopping me. I feel as if I have just graduated high school without a care in the world, ready to take on any of the challenges that life throws at me. I am running in the grassy fields, feeling as if I could run forever into the sunset as the guitar fades away and we hear the last high note piercing through.
“Space Song” by Beach House is another song that makes me feel alive. I picture a warm summer night, bumming around my small town with the friends that I have loved since childhood. We’re laughing and joking around as the sun sets and mosquitoes come buzzing around. Everything is okay in the world, and I am surrounded by the people I love the most, soaking up the finite amount of summer nights I have left of my youth.
“Work Song” by Hozier is a deep and powerful song which is obvious from the beginning with the stomping and clapping at the beginning of the song. When Hozier sings the chorus, it makes me want to stand out of my sunroof and scream into the night as my car speeds down the highway. All the pain I have felt is released from my body as the chilly wind hits my arms and face.
“Beige” by Yoke Lore is a song that makes me nostalgic for past times when I have truly bonded with people. It brings me back to past relationships, and past friendships that were once so intimate. A specific memory that is unlocked during this song is a memory where my dear friend Annabelle and I had many car rides this past summer with the windows down, crying, laughing, feeling all the emotions, and truly connecting as humans. If you’re reading this I love you.
“Rivers and Roads” by The Head And The Heart is another song that makes me feel nostalgia, specifically nostalgia for realizing that I am growing up, and I only have a few months left with the people I have loved and known for all my life. After this summer, none of our friendships will be the same, and we will grow and change as people. A specific memory that comes to mind whenever I hear this song is a memory from this past summer when my friend Sophie and I spent a weekend in Chicago together. Sitting out on the patio of my uncle’s place on a Saturday night people watching as crowds of friends hanging out, and going to bars passed, laughing and filled with joy. We talked for hours on the patio about what the future may hold for us, our greatest fears, and ultimately the realization that in one year our lives would change more than we could imagine. If you’re reading this, I love you.
“Could You Be Loved” by Bob Marley may be the song that makes me feel the happiest. I imagine myself on an adventure with my friends, the warm sun on our skin, spending time in the great outdoors. We’re hiking and swimming around, not a phone in sight, just spending quality time together in nature.
Music can be an escape from the real world and let us live out our most mystical fantasies. If you ever need a break from reality, listen to a song, and truly FEEL.
