A quick explanation:
The idea here is to make a compilation album charting the course of a particular month—September, in this case. Part of the idea is having a good arc to it—this is why it’s an album and not a playlist; there’s a Side A and a Side B—and part of it is trying to capture the different emotions of a month in music. The biggest part, though, is that songs are a good jumping off place for writing about things that aren’t songs, at least for me. Consider this the on-site creative writing gym for The Barking Crow.
This month’s tracklist is as follows, and if you use Spotify, you can listen to it in playlist form here.
Side A
1. “Shotgun” – George Ezra
2. “Goodmorning” – Bleachers
3. “Fluorescent Adolescent” – Arctic Monkeys
4. “Sweet Pea” – Amos Lee
5. “Rain King” – Counting Crows
6. “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” – Bruce Springsteen
Side B
7. “All the Debts I Owe” – Caamp
8. “Lovers in Japan – Osaka Sun Mix” – Coldplay
9. “I Got You, Honey” – Ocie Elliott
10. “Tyson vs. Douglas” – The Killers
11. “Mt. Joy” – Mt. Joy
12. “Parachute” – Guster
Now. Track 4:
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One of the lovely things about September is the abundance of time that remains. A whole quarter of the year follows this month. The academic calendar—which we’ve mentioned as so tied to our lives—has hardly yet begun. It’s one of the sunniest months in the United States, adding that general pleasantness to things. We know that colder times, more pressured times, more tired times are coming. But in September, they’re only that: On their way. They’re not yet here.
I get that sense from Sweet Pea, but in a way that’s focused on love. It’s not a blissful song—there’s fighting and inner frustration and possibly a whole premise of desperation (the only reason??). But it’s a happy song. It’s an easy song. It’s a love song, for love in a pleasant time. When the colder times, the pressured times, the tired times are coming. But they’re not yet here.
