89 Week 30 Day Song Challenge

I started this 30-day song challenge on April 17, 2024. We were on the return portion of our total solar eclipse road trip, and was slowed down by a blown-out tire in the oil fields of central Texas. Our restful days while waiting for a replacement tire were filled with watching AMC, swimming, and committing to this musical challenge. The challenge had coincided with a wonderful conversation I had with our tow-truck driver’s daughter, who was with him for the ride-arounds. We talked about her raising livestock, HEB and the best country fairs. The fabulous glitter slaps of cattle judge, Ryan Rash. We also covered her favorite band at the moment, “$uicideboy$.”

She shared this insight with excitement and a bit of trepidation. Not letting me know what was going on, but that the $uicideBoy$ were helping her get through 8th grade feels, along with Olivia Rodrigo. I saw myself in her for a moment, as the track that got me through 8th grade was “Superman’s Dead” by Our Lady Peace. Not familiar with any $uicideBoy$ track, I assumed their lyrics would have similar sentiment to, “Do you worry that you’re not liked. / How long till you break. / You're happy cause you smile / But how much can you fake.”

Music’s power to evoke and shape memory, good and bad, tethers us to a timeline. As illustrated impeccably well in Stranger Things. Recently, I went for a run, listening to the album “Clumsy” which helped me through those 8th-grade feelings. At thirteen, I was experiencing deep grief compounded with the awkwardness of being a girl in middle school. It made me thankful for the fellow awkward classmates and friends who tried to be supportive in all their own dysfunction and appropriate immaturity. I have no desire to make Our Lady Peace’s “Clumsy” part of my regular rotation. I can appreciate the soundtracks from different stages of my life. Currently, the more empowered album “Cartoon Darkness” by Amyl and The Sniffers is my go-to.  

Aside from my neurodivergency that delayed the time-bound completion of this challenge, I also took some selections very seriously. Stuck on “A song that makes you think about life” for months. I apparently used the song “La Ritournelle” by Sébastien Tellier twice. Chosen for “A song you’d love to be played at your wedding” and “A song that makes you want to fall in love.” The track was played at our wedding, but it also underscores a romantic period in my life that is independent of my partner. A time that was shaping my sense of self. Messy and full of the potential of “what could be.”

Now 89 weeks later from the start of this 30-day challenge, I close out the playlist with the song, “Seventeen Years” by Ratatat as the song that “reminds you of yourself”. Hesitant to select anything with lyrics that could improperly give meaning I do not intend. “Seventeen Years” is an instrumental piece with a sample of a man unapologetically letting go, before transitioning into electronic-rock riffs. A musical landscape of peaks and valleys, layered with unexpected turns.

I wish I had an iPod, but I think I should first turn this into a mix CD. 

Click here to open a Google Sheet with the list of songs from the challenge.