Music is a Time Machine
Do you ever hear a song that transports you to a specific moment?
Sometimes it can trigger pain or trauma, like when Pat in Silver Linings Playbook hears Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour.”
But sometimes a song can bring you back to some of the most beautiful moments of your life.
Whenever I hear Maxine Nightingale’s “Right Back Where We Started From” it takes me to Discos Lattimore in Seville. Riding the high of a week abroad and exploring a city that we may never return to again, my wife and I stumbled in to see what a Spanish record store offered. Maxine came on and found us perfectly right where we were, and we started dancing through the aisles as if we were main characters in a rom-com.
“Sunflower” by Post Malone and Swae Lee, makes me think of the wedding of two of my best friends. It takes me to their first dance, but also to that feeling that bounces off the walls and floors of a wedding. It’s where joy is unavoidable and a smile can’t be shaken off your face. All you can help but do is dance like no one is watching and embrace the people around you as if you may never see them again.
Zach Bryan’s version of “You Are My Sunshine” takes me to the birth of my son. When the nurse handed him to me, tears were uncontrollably flowing down my face, a result of watching my wife suffer and persevere for over 30 hours. A result of experiencing the overwhelming happiness and fear and relief in that moment. I held him close, and in an effort to console myself and this being that was only a few minutes old, I hummed the first song that came to my head.
Music can be grounding. Next time you’re listening to a song and it makes you feel 10 out of 10, take a deep breath and soak that moment in. You never know, maybe one day you’ll be able to transport back to it.
Starting Five
Album of the Week
2014 Forest Hills Drive by J. Cole
10 years ago today, J. Cole took us to Fayetteville, NC on this legendary album. The impact that a childhood home can have often isn’t appreciated until it’s left, and here Jermaine opens up about where he’s from, how far he’s come, and how he can use that experience to drive him to where he wants to be. With a lot of production done by himself and no features on the record, Cole let his craft stand on his own.
He gives us tracks that go hard (like “Fire Squad” and “A Tale of 2 Citiez”) and others with inspiring choruses (“No such thing as a life that’s better than yours”). He also gives us the perfect snapshot of the pressure, anxiety, and vulnerability of losing one’s virginity on “Wet Dreamz.”
Featured Tracks
If you want a deeper dive into 2014 Forest Hills Drive and J. Cole, check out Road to Homecoming on Max.
Fuck it, I made a Christmas Playlist. I love Mariah and Bublé, but they won’t be found here.
Tune in next week for My 10 Favorite Albums of 2024.
Peace, Love, and Positive Vibes.