FAVORITE SONG OF THE DAY
Diplomat’s Son - Vampire Weekend
summertime. nostalgia. synthesizers. story-telling. variety. for 6 minutes, i get lost in this song, in a lovely day-dreamy sort of way.
FAVORITE SONG OF THE DAY
Diplomat’s Son - Vampire Weekend
summertime. nostalgia. synthesizers. story-telling. variety. for 6 minutes, i get lost in this song, in a lovely day-dreamy sort of way.
If I’m gonna write our first post, I have to start it the right way… With a song that we both love.
My husband and I are making an effort to reconnet, rediscover, and reinvent our relationship with music. Our car stereo has been stuck in a radio-only rut for over a year, many of our cds are scratched, borrowed or lost, and much of what we do like often goes stale fast. It’s tougher to just sit and chat with people about music now that the college days are long gone. Pandora works alright for expanding a little - if you know what you like. But it’s more than just finding another band that reminds us of something we already know we’re into…
I used to listen to music from Brazil, and a serious amount of old school hip hop, and Al Green, and David Bowie, and Bjork. Among, well, everything… I used to stand in music shops and sample through 20 albums in a row. I used to anxiously await the release of something new from my favorite artists, and search and scavenge for new artists to love. I had an appetite for music, and there was a banquet to be had. So many flavors to sample, so many tastes to cultivate. A plethora of never-ending choices.
And then… Piece by piece, step by step, little by little… It got hard. I hit a musical roadblock. It became more and more difficult to find anything new, and I got lazy. Or maybe I got lazy and then it got difficult. Who knows. But either way… Music has become narrow. For both of us. It’s time to branch out, to expand again.
This is our favorite song. I discovered Beirut towards the end of spring, when Nick and I started dating. There was something really unique and satisfying and fresh about the songs I had stumbled upon. What particularly caught my interest was when I heard Postcards from Italy, and the horn section. I had just started dating a tuba player… I had a feeling he would like it too, and the prospect of connecting over a new band with the handsome musician I was rapidly falling in love with was incredibly exciting. And this one had brass instruments! It was perfect.
When I hear this song, I think of cruising in my car with the windows down, which for me, really, is the epitome of any great song. (The lack of musical control I have in my current car is a bit spirit-crushing for this reason.) More specifically, I am reminded of afternoons driving to my future husband’s house - passing rows of green trees, everything bathed in the orange light of the setting sun, wind rushing past, birds and cicadas passionatly chirping, traffic lights flashing… Ordinary things that were glowing and buzzing warmly around a girl in love. There was a magic to that time, and a magic to this music.
Four years later, it still makes us feel good and sweet and special and all the other things that a great song or great musician or great performance or work of art should. For us, this song is as “real” as it gets.
I want to start this project here, because this is the goal: music that makes a place within your soul. That is what I’m looking to find.
- Katie
