My Spring Playlist

Recommended Listening: When the Day is Done, The Samples

When the day is done

I hope you're still the same

I hope that nothing's changed, with you

Every year around this time I begin to remember the feel of fresh air through an open window.  I can almost envision the way a crocus looks in the cracked dry earth just outside my door.  The sun is a little bit kinder, and I am a little more apt to believe it is returning.  And then, amidst all this hoped for, I can begin to hear the soundtrack of my spring.

Music has been a dear friend to me since before I can remember, and I’m not certain music is ever so sweet as it is in the springtime. 

When I think back on spring, I remember the open window of my dorm room.  It was an old window, long and filled with charming cut glass panes.  My room was a pale blue, and in the midst of gathering quotes for yet another paper on yet another author, music found a way of freshening everything that had become dusty and aged.

On those blessed late March days, I turned so often to James Taylor and Joni Mitchell.  I loved the sounds of Blue, and could not wait to find my way back to Copperline.  Always I had to dig my way around the mess that was winter to find my spring treasures.  Winter music was always an assortment of classical and heavier, more substantial rock. 

But the spring was when I longed for the simple, graceful sound of an acoustic guitar.  I wanted nothing that could crush the petals of the crocus.  I longed for music that could float effortlessly on a spring breeze.

My spring playlist mingled with the voices of people who had once more discovered the merits of sunlight and fresh air.  Even smokers breathed easier on spring days in Ann Arbor, and I sent my playlist out to all of them. 

So today, as I prepare to believe spring is coming, I wonder what your playlist is?  I set about today to discover how mine might have evolved, but as I sat by the window playing songs on ITunes for Brody, I realized that my spring music has not changed much, if at all.  While I have added a number of musicians to my world, I have not yet welcomed many new ones into something so precious as my spring playlist. 

Spring, for all that is new, is also, for me at least, a time when I remember the past.  I remember great streams of water making their way down my driveway, and the feel of my spring jacket against my cheek.  I remember opening the window in the car and dangling my hands outside.  Spring is a precious time, and I have guarded my spring playlist in much the same way as I guard my memories, with a sentimental fragility that keeps me returning year after year.