Submitted by Amanda T. on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 02:16

playlist

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When thinking about telling the story of my freshman year, a few issues came up. I had made a mix tape of songs during that year, adding one or two songs at a time, and by the end it was full. I wanted to reconstruct that for my playlist. As luck would have it, however, I lost the tape. To reconstruct it, therefore, I had to start with songs that I knew were there and try to make mental associations with what came before and after those songs. I also had to listen to all of them to try and remember what was happening when I added that song to my tape. Through that process I managed to put that tape back together (with only a few holes.) What I discovered throught this entire memory-taxing process was that my freshman year was not a nice, neat narrative but rather a jumble of experiences and the only way I remember in what order they occured was through the order of the songs. So I have put a selection of songs from that original list on my playlist, in order of course. I have presented them as scenes or mini-stories.

The Steinway Ben Folds Five "Evaporated"

At Vassar there is a Steinway in every dorm parlor. As I was moving in there was a girl playing this song on the piano--just fiddling around. And of course Ben Folds Five is a Chapel Hill original--everyone thought it was cool that I had actually stood on the corner of "Columbia and Rosemary" like the lyrics in one of his songs. First Day.

On the Hudson Line Eagles "Desperado"

Have you ever seen a cloud with an actual silver lining? I would take the train down to NYC on Metro North and the tracks are literally a few feet from the Hudson River waters...In November the clouds would race across the sky in front of the sun over the water. I used to sleep on the train and I often had this CD (Hell Freezes Over) in my discman--"Desperado" was the very last track and so I always had it in my head along with the last images of clouds and sun.

Roommate
David Gray "This Year's Love"

Roommate issues. What more can be said? My roommate always had her boyfriend over in our room so I got kicked out frequently...I would go down the hall to a friends room and sometimes sleep there. She used to play the David Gray CD with this song on it everynight to fall asleep. I would sleep on her roommate's bed who was always elsewhere with her boyfriend. Musical Beds.

Happy Xmas
John Lennon "Happy Xmas"

Christmas, of course. Except this was a melancholy one...my family wasn't doing so well. This is one of the last songs on Lennon's "Legend" album which I got as a present and listened to on repeat all the way back to school.

February Bob Dylan "Not Dark Yet"

February is a dark dark month, especially in Poughkeepsie NY. No sun, rain or snow, brooding Gothic architecture of the Vassar campus...sometimes you could only sit at the window and watch the branches rattle in the very cold wind. Listened to a lot of Bob Dylan on those days.

Waltzing Matilda Tom Waits "Tom Traubert's Blues"

In the month of March (not as dull as February) I went to a dance performance and they did a piece to this song...I thought is was one of the most gorgeous things I had ever seen. And I only like this version of the song.

Years End Jonathan Larson "Seasons of Love"

End of the Year...everybody at Vassar was a Rent-head. But this song felt so fitting. One of the a capella groups sang it at their final performance.

Pack Your Things
Peter Gabriel "Solsbury Hill"

I was actually glad to go home...and this song is probably one of the most appropriately triumphant going-home songs I have every heard. It was the very last song on the original mix tape, and I know this for sure because on the tape it got cut off just a little before the end and to this day hearing the final note of the song sounds strange.

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