September

September is one of my favorite months, for multiple reasons. 

It’s my birth month, as it is for so many of my friends and other people in the world.

Although the heat of summer is slow to leave September days, the nights offer cooler temperatures that fill me with excitement for what’s to come.

It’s Virgo season, which means to-do lists, organizing my shit, meal planning, and feeling the pure joy that comes with all of that.

The vibe of September’s playlist is honestly all over the place, because that’s how I’m feeling of late. Joy, excitement, and creativity are all there but mixed with the high notes of anxiety, low notes of depression, and middle notes of exhaustion. What I keep coming back to is nothing’s “good” or “bad”, it just is and it won’t last forever. So, I’m doing my best to soak up the joy and let go of the anxiety and all she brings. 

As September brings in the change of seasons, it’s a reminder that change is the only constant in life. So, let’s sit in these feels and let them flow through us when they’re no longer needed. I hope this collection of tunes can help.

Enjoy September’s playlist and, as always, let me know if something strikes your fancy.

Listen on Spotify – Listen on Apple Music

1. Virgo’s Groove – Beyoncé
   • Happy Virgo season!
2. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) – Talking Heads
   • A cover of this song came on a playlist while I was cleaning the house, so I went back to the original. It’s one of my favorite unexpected love songs.
3. Honey – Maggie Rogers
   • I saw Maggie in Portland this month (my third time seeing her, but first time on the Surrender tour). The whole album is a fresh sound from her, but I really love the rawness of her vocals in this one.
4. Counting – GC O’Hare
   • This is my favorite song from the Break the Plates EP that I helped GC produce over the last year. It reminds me of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”.
5. Walking Backwards – Ben Howard
   • From his newest album. His sound shifts every time he releases new music. I wasn’t too keen on the album before this one, Collections From the Whiteout, so I was worried about Is It?, turns out I love it and couldn’t stop myself from adding two songs from the album to this playlist.
6. Prescription (Extended) – Remi Wolf
   • One of my favorite YouTubers, shoutout to HTHaze, turned me onto this song during one of his live streams. I love Remi’s passion and how her voice squeaks when she’s really feeling it.
7. Home By Now – MUNA
   • God damn I love sad pop music. MUNA has scratched that itch for me so many times, but especially with this song.
8. Peace – Taylor Swift
   • As much as I love Tswift, sometimes I get over-stimulated with how long her albums can be, so occasionally I’ll miss some good tunes because I don’t make it to the end of the record. “Peace” is one that made it into my heart much later after folklore was released and it’s a testament to her lyrical growth.
9. Moonraker – Ben Howard
   • I have yet to dive into the lyrics of this song, but the melody is so yummy.
10. Hey, Ma – Bon Iver
    • In early August, I checked off an important item on my bucket list by seeing Bon Iver in concert. I’ve been a huge fan of his since his first album, For Emma, Forever Ago, came out. It’s been wonderful to witness his growth as an artist.
11. Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve – Taylor Swift
    • Did I mention I like sad pop? This song makes me emotional every time I listen to it, not because I have direct experience to relate to the lyrics, but because I can feel her emotion and how much she’s struggling. For those who don’t know, this song is about her relationship with John Mayer when She was 19 and he was in 30’s. Since Swift has been rerecording her old work, I have a theory that she wrote this song around the time that she was recording Speak Now, which includes the song, “Dear John”, also about Mayer. There’s so much emotion and symbolism in “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” that I could write an entire thesis on it, but instead I’ll let one of my other favorite YouTubers, Ally Sheehan, talk about it.