I was walking back to my apartment after class today and I realized it was suddenly fall. In my mind, that is. It may have been fall for weeks now; I just haven’t really been looking around lately. It struck me when a large acorn-like projectile actually struck me in the head. I instinctively looked up, saw a scurrying squirrel and noticed that the few leaves still hanging above me were bright orange. I then realized I was really cold only wearing a t-shirt and that my neighbors weren’t the weirdos I thought they were for putting out carved pumpkins on their porch.
My favorite part about the changing of the seasons is the iPod song rotation that follows. Today I made my mp3 player seasonally appropriate. I stocked it with songs from Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Neil Young and some Being There tracks; nothing too surprising. I’d like to share, though, some of the more questionable, but still fantastic, songs that made it on this year’s fall playlist.
**“Turn! Turn! Turn!” by The Byrds**
Perfect for fall because of its straightforward lyrics: “To everything/ Turn, turn, turn/ There is a season,” this may not be my favorite song ever, but I’ve certainly heard it more than most tunes.
Though originally composed by Pete Seeger, the true source for this #1 hit single was the book of Ecclesiastes. I have a weird relationship with this song because it was sung during school masses at the Catholic grade school I attended. Whenever I hear it I see 100 uncomfortable middle school kids mumbling the words to this ‘60s folk ballad. But despite the awkward and miserable times I had slouching on those stiff pews, I still somehow like this song.
**“Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis**
I had a pretty boring summer; washing windows 12 hours a day doesn’t really leave you with any will or energy to do much else. That being said, I watched every episode of the long-winded reality television show So You Think You Can Dance. Am I a better person for it? Hard to say, but what I did take from the show was this Leona Lewis pop ballad . Written by, and this really surprised me, Jesse McCartney and the dude from One Republic, the song really struck me as something new and interesting in the world of slow-tempo, hip-hop inspired crap-pop. The melancholy in Lewis’ delivery of the morose line “you cut me open” is served nicely with the cold wind and the crunching of leaves on a half-asleep walk to morning class.
**“Monster Mash” by Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett**
This song is amazing. Not only is it my number one favorite holiday song, it also paved the way for other great novelty Halloween songs like Do They Know it’s Halloween and the classic Werewolf Bar Mitzvah. Has anyone heard Pickett’s 2005 global warming-themed version of this song, “Climate Mash”? If so, send this guy an mp3.
And that is just a taste of how delicious my iPod is this season. It’s almost as tasty as the slice of pumpkin pie I keep in my other coat pocket. But before I go, I must ask you what your favorite fall muzak is. Does it rhyme with Balifornia Steaming ?