Death Cab for Cutie sang about the sound of settling, but I'd like to discuss the sound of traveling!
Most of us probably have very clear memories attached to certain songs. You may remember when you first heard it, who shared it with you, or what experience you listened to it during.
As a bit of a wandering girly, myself, here are five cities and the songs I'll forever connect them to.
It's late winter 2023, toward the tail end of my friend and I's birthday trip to Hungary and France. We were just truly beginning the French portion, having just arrived in Paris from a weekend in Nice the night before, when I woke up that first morning with a sudden and torturous stomach bug. I was so annoyed because it was so nice outside and I wanted desperately to go adventure with my friend, but I was confined to my room, laying incredibly still, and sipping ginger ale I ordered on UberEats.
My companion during that incredibly lonely and long day? Matt Martians.
On the 17th of March, he released his two-minute and twelve-second single, "Waiting For." Three days later, it was the only thing that could keep me sane. I'll never forget that sudden illness (that I recovered from the day after), but I'll always remember the tune that got me through it.
I don't recall why I was studying this song, but I distinctly remember spending an entire hour or so, practicing the lyrics incessantly. Perhaps he had announced the release date of Igor (2019) and I felt a tour coming, so I wanted to focus on getting the lyrics down from any songs on Flower Boy (2017) that I didn't know 100%.
All I know is that it worked. My little evening of study has me, to this day, reciting that particular song with impeccable accuracy all because of an hour-long bout of focus and rehearsal.
I'm reminded of how simple my life was then. Just studying in Japan, going to class, adventuring, and rehearsing songs in my little dorm room. Good times.
I spent around 30 hours in Canada to go see a band I've wanted to hear live my entire life. OK Go was performing and I faced my fear of renting a car to cross the Canadian border to do so (at the suspicion and confusion of the border control officer).
It was an amazing show. I cried. I wanted to cry during The Writing's on the Wall, but I held it in. This Too Shall Pass was more than I could control and the tears came rolling down. Those songs meant so much to teenage Thalia, who was maturing and navigating girlhood against the soundtrack of indie rock bands. I realized that every concern, every fear, every source of stress that younger Thalia faced was overcome. The song had not lied, it surely did pass. And it was incredibly encouraging that anything I was facing in that moment would pass too.
My first time leaving these United States, I went to go nanny eight-year-old twins in the suburbs of Katowice, Poland. It was an enlightening trip, illuminating that I did not actually want to work with children. I curbed my dream of following my parents into education during this experience.
But the only respite I had was when I took a bath (no showers in the house). The children were very noisy and the parents argued incessantly, but during the day, it was just me, the cat, and the golden retriever, Bella. And in this silence, I would take a bath with Free Room playing on repeat, for some reason, on the bathroom counter.
I don't really listen to Ravyn Lenae much anymore, but I'm grateful to have had her music as a friend during such a sonically chaotic month of my life.
During my first spring break in college, me and my four friends stayed with my roommate and her family in Topeka, Kansas. It was an incredibly fun and delicious (Kansas' burgers are crazyyyyy) time! But when we had our moments of alone time, it was Rex Orange County there in my ear. Perhaps I had just discovered him after being featured in Flower Boy (2017) the year before, but these two particular songs truly remind me of that really random, yet memorable week in the Midwest!
And for you, dear reader? Who has sung you through your most transformative experiences? If no one is coming to mind, I urge you to keep your ear out for who’s on repeat whenever you feel a memorable moment coming on. I’m certain it won’t be very easy to forget.
Thalia loves music, travel, and storytelling and is grateful to combine all of those together at will.
