Post Three

Music sounds different in the car. It always has. Why? Because songs are mini time machines that you go through every time you plug your phone into the aux. I grew up dancing, so I hear music at all times. Every workout, and every time I have to dance it all out alone in my room, I have my headphones in blasting. Music is everywhere with me, but it still sounds different in the car.

Some of my earliest memories are of me sitting in my backseat booster, watching my Dad hold the wheel with his left hand and resting his right on the center council. We would be screaming the lyrics to U2's Elevation and the Cranberries' Dreams. I guess from those early developmental moments, I was raised to have good taste in music and always have the dial cranked.

I was raised with the lyrics of one the true genius’, Frank Sinatra. My Grandfather used to spin me around to Call me Irresponsible and My Way, which is why Frankie is always played when I need to feel like that little girl twirling in her pink tulle dress. I could physically be on the Taconic, but my mind is with Pop Pop on that dance floor.

I've been told that Twist and Shout was my favorite song as a two-year-old. My Mom would twist my chubby rolly polly legs, and it was the only thing that could make me cackle when I was in a bad mood. Can I just say- I had some fine taste in music at a young age. Not to mention, that when I listen to the song at full volume in my car, I just got to pretend I'm Ferris Bueller singing for the world to see… on his day off.

The Killers flipping kill me. Yes, Mr. Brightside is a song that we all live and die for, but personally, I think that All These Things That I've Done is one of the best pieces of music of all time. When I crank it up, I am a thirteen-year-old again who just got her first period coming back from school. Window down, screaming, "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier," over and over again. Fuck, it just is so good -makes you think of all the things you've done? Ha- sorry I had to.

One of the proudest moments was when my sister graduated from high school. When she threw up her cap, Mr. Blue Sky started playing. You just know I play that in the car when I want to revisit the happy year of 2014. Dancing with the Moonlight hit the same that year. I am taken back to middle school dances, me in my light blue dress, just having grown boobs, and having all the boys staring at them. I got asked to dance like four or five times, but I refused to because I was digging dancing solo. This memory makes me laugh, and if I find myself thinking about it while it blares in the car nowadays, I catch myself smiling in the left side view mirror.

Never Be Alone, and Fire and Flood are the songs that I listened to when I realized I was in love for the first time. Who doesn't want to feel like a lovesick seventeen-year-old, once in a while? Or better yet, listen to them when you feel that giddiness all over again for someone new.

I'm Scared by Duffy was played on repeat when my heart was broken. I play it now when I realize how far I've come because the fact that I don't cry during it anymore is proof to me that I am actually pretty fucking strong. You then have to blast it.

Cigarette Daydreams is best played at night in the car in California, with warmth in the air and a six-pack of beer in the backseat that we picked up from Ralphs. Wait a Minute is played when I think of the senior girl I had a crush on in college after hearing it was her favorite song. I would blast it walking outside of her room, hoping she would notice. Another song I listen to when I want to be reminded of my cringy existence. I can't forget that it is my dog's Ella favorite song too. So it has to be played quite frequently to keep her happy.

Thrift Shop is best played crammed in your cousin's Volvo in South Carolina. Six cousins inside all staring at me as I hit every R rated lyric perfectly. For example, "Nah, walk up to the club like, what up, I got a big cock.” I can still see all their speechless faces, and hear their booming laughs. Every time I drive, I can listen to this song, and I would not be me if I wasn't moving my hips and shouting every lyric.

To my girl Kats, slamming on the wheel while singing I Hope or Truth Hurts at the top of our lungs, driving out our annoyances at the world are some of my favorite memories ever. I am always in awe when you nail every word to Can't Hold Us; I can't keep up with you until we get to the lyrics, "And I'm eating at the beat like you gave a little speed to a great white shark on shark week. Raw, time to go off, I'm gone!" We shout that part because it is the only way it can be sang. Every coffee run is always completed with country. Every Other Memory and One of Them Girls are the anthems of summer 2020; we sing it with a twang in our voices and large iced coffees in our hands. Two crazy blondes with the top popped and the windows down.

I can go on. I really can. I thought of all these masterpieces as I made a playlist of all the best songs in the car. Why do they sound better in the car? Because you are playing your memories in your head like an old movie when it is just you and the road, thinking about the ones you care about most in this crazy world. Music sounds different in the car with your crazy blonde best friend by your side or your sister, who can sing every word to any musical. Music always sounded different, ever since I was that toddler in the backseat. So crank the dial and take your hands off the wheel.