Assignment 23 - Isabella Matthews

We're all at the age where we're beginning to dive into the world of "adulthood" and in doing so beginning to experience large gains in freedom and independence. One way we can see this change in action is through everyone starting to drive. I created the playlist "night driving" in an attempt to encapsulate the feeling you sometimes get when you're driving through our tiny city late at night. The feeling you get with the windows rolled down and the music blaring through the speakers as you pass under the streetlights, the rest of the world blurring together until all that's left are the street lights and the orange glow and you in your car. This is when I'm reminded most of how much everything is changing, how much change is coming, and how much I love this city despite how much I want to leave it.


#1 - Hwy 18 by Mark Diamond
"If I had it my way I wouldn't be lost and alone driving down this road"
As we approach college it isn't uncommon to feel lost in all the decisions. We must choose where we want to spend the next four years of your life and what you want to spend them doing, decisions that could greatly impact the rest of our lives. This song gives the allusion of being lost both physically and metaphorically and serves as a reminder to stay grounded throughout all the confusion.

#2 - I Call to You in Dreams by The Brazen Youth
"Wanna let go, wanna hold on, wanna take a second but it's already gone"
A 10 minute song full of key changes, interesting rhythms, and lyrics that are perfect for getting lost in any activity, particularly driving. It talks about being lost (in the world, in your mind, in decisions, anywhere), growing up, and getting over things.

#3 - Going Back to Bowenville by Stu Larsen
"Now I'm a little older and I feel more like a man, now I'm a little wiser and can find my way back home again."
I've always known that I wanted to leave Lexington for college. But this song reminds me that even if I don't live here, Lexington will always be a home to me and will always be a safe place, as any home town should be.

#4 - Please Notice by Christian Akridge
Although this song doesn't add much to the theme of changes and leaving and small towns that the rest of the playlist has, the raw emotion evident in the singer's voice during the chorus radiates whatever emotions you're feeling.

#5 - Cool Blue by The Japanese House
"These things, they slow. Maybe, they should"
High school passes by so fast. These are days we will forever look back on fondly but for the time being we must focus on what's happening in the moment and relishing all the memories we are making in our youth.

#6 - Idle Town by Conan Gray
"We all vowed that we wouldn't stay... in our idle town"
Listening to this song while experiencing the feeling I previously described brings up an indescribable love for this town. It's small and beautiful and perfect and despite how trapped it sometimes makes me feel it has been the perfect place to grow up and I have so much more love for it than I realized.

#7 - True Care by James Vincent McMorrow
"Used to feel so much that it would ache"
The year is over and it's nice to look back and see how much we have changed since it started. I'm not the same person I was going into junior year and I laugh thinking that less than a year has changed me so much.