From the Archive: 321 flashback

on music that grows with you

I like to think of myself as an original person, but I can trace each major jump in my personal taste to an important relationship that either centered around or started because of music. There are good explanations for this experience; music can be distilled to a cultural phenomenon, and then even further to a psychological one. Music speaks directly to our emotions, transcending the constraints of language. Also, my friends have good opinions.

Relatively often, I remember a specific time, person, or place when I hear a song. I feel nostalgic and recognize familiarity influencing interest, but the rarer thing is when my understanding of or association with music changes over time. I say that music sometimes “grows with me” and can expand to fill multiple contexts. I felt that rare thing twice last week, at two shows.

On Thursday, I saw Alabama Shakes at the Greek. I’d seen Britany Howard a few times before, but Alabama Shakes broke up back when I was still a kid. I remember when I heard “Don’t Wanna Fight” and how much it felt even then like a song I might know forever, like meeting a good friend for the first time. Sound & Color (2015) defined a period of my adolescence, and unlike many of the records I liked back then, it stuck around. When I was in college, I got really into “Gimme All Your Love” and “Shoegaze.” I’ve been especially fond of “Future People” in the last few years. I appreciate new aspects of the songwriting all the time, as it reveals itself to me in new ways.

I don’t know exactly what makes some music sticky and other, equally technically good music not. I’ve felt that Sound & Color has spoken to my sensibilities as they’ve changed. Additionally, the record has provided a place to couch an indescribable feeling related to change and self-reflection. There is also undeniable talent in every corner of every song on the album.

I also saw my friend Madeline (and Ben and Stephen!) play last week. When people ask how I know her personally, I proudly tell them that I am a fan first, always will be. I first met Madeline at a show when she was touring Sucker’s Lunch (2020), and although we’re now close friends, I never lose the real, actual awe I have for her and her music (luckily, I feel real, actual awe for a lot of my friends).

The band is playing a new arrangement of “Sucker” on this tour, which feels both true to the emotional world building done on that record and totally new. At my show, Stephen played a really interesting and beautiful guitar part that totally captivated my attention, where I’ve always been very focused on Lambchop (bless him) before. I thought about how I had wanted to hear “Picture of You” or “White Window Light” before coming to the show, but how glad I was to hear this version of “Sucker” instead. I thought about how this song had belonged to a different time, and how it was actually changing with me, as I saw Madeline play it and will continue to do so hopefully forever.

I’m approaching 1000 playlists. I started this sharing format with an ex boyfriend I don’t speak to anymore and I turned it into a life project. I’ve been feeling especially grateful for the part of me that refuses to let go of a good thing, the intuition that recognizes something worth cultivating. I see it in the music that’s grown with me, in the through lines of my life that have at times felt like they were moving in all directions but which now feel harmonized again.

Thanks for being here.