My first playlist came out of the commute to highschool freshman year: a 30-minute road trip on a highway dotted with trees, U-Pick farms and suburban subdivisions. My older brother sped his 1993 Toyota Camry down the road, blasting songs, albums and discographies, as the year went on.
I don’t remember much about the drive, but I do remember the music -- Death Cab for Cutie guitar solos filling up the car, Arcade Fire bass thumping beneath my feet, Guster choruses weaving through my ears and seeping out the slightly open window.
At the end of the year, I compiled the tracks into a giant playlist on iTunes, a curation that tells the story of that year better than words ever could. Since then, I’ve done the same for every school year, watching my taste progress and emotions grow out of crevices coated in fluid harmonies and poetic lyrics.
These weekly playlists serve in a similar manner: documents of the preceding seven days, archiving my experiences as a member of this community. Today’s playlist looks back on an eventful week, packed with the first football game of the season, the last few days of summer and the post-Labor Day haze.
Take a listen. Enjoy. And remember.
