For a few weeks, I struggled while thinking about what to write for this column. I’ve resisted writing about Beyonce’s brilliant Homecoming live-album and Netflix documentary, or the fact that Lemonade is finally on Spotify (but you should watch/listen to all of that). I’ve even written a failed column about “Old Town Road” that will hopefully never see the light of day. The main reason that these ideas failed, though, is the fact that this column will be my final contribution of the semester, so I’ve felt increasingly drawn to writing about summer and how the time of year affects my music listening.
I know that we’re still a long way away from summer, in terms of both break and the hottest weather, but it seems like summer has already hit our campus. Long gone are the winter jackets, replaced by shorts and t-shirts that appear anytime the sun is out. With this warmer weather, Hoboken has erupted in spring colors and I’ve already been hit with a dose of summer nostalgia. To me, things move slower in the summer (the chemical engineer in me would disagree, though), and life just seems more familiar and youthful. By contrast, winter seems unknown, unwelcoming, and offbeat.
I struggled to frame these thoughts in terms of music until I listened to Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head last weekend. For a bit of backstory, Coldplay was my favorite band throughout my childhood and high school. I did all the superfan things — buying merch, crying at their concerts; you know the deal. And even though I listen to them less frequently now, I still hold all of their albums very dearly for many reasons unrelated to nostalgia. However, when listening to Coldplay’s second album for the first time in a year, I was hit with this warm feeling of familiarity that I hadn’t felt when listening to any music for months. Despite the melancholic tone of early Coldplay, characterized by Chris Martin’s voice, the warm instrumentals through most of the album reminded me of the careless, lazy days of summer. I was struck by the youthfulness and timelessness of “Clocks” and “The Scientist,” and remembered listening to these songs so many times before. I realized that this feeling might be occurring only because of the changing weather.
In the winter, I find it much easier to listen to music that is more experimental and unfamiliar. While I don’t stray into anything really “out there” in the winter, I still find that it has been the best time for me to discover new music. Listening to warm, familiar songs in the winter just doesn’t feel the same.
I think that this might have to do with the scramble to define the “song of the summer” every year. With each summer comes the one unescapable song, like “One Dance” or “Despacito,” that brings with it a sense of familiarity and is dominant until the weather starts changing. These songs are almost always upbeat, youthful, and easy to listen to, so I wonder if they would have each seen the same success had they been released at other times of the year. We’ll never know the answer to that, but I challenge you all to keep track of your listening this summer, and enjoy every moment in the sun with the music you love.
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