wood song.

One of the campus ministers at SLU introduced me to this song a few weeks ago, just as I was in the midst of my final days of college. It sums up more of how I feel at the moment than I can even explain.

"Wood Song" by Indigo Girls

the thin horizon of a plan is almost clear
my friends and i have had a tough time
bruising our brains hard up against change
all the old dogs and the magician

now i see we're in the boat in two by twos
only the heart that we have for a tool we could use
and the very close quarters are hard to get used to
love weighs the hull down with its weight

but the wood is tired and the wood is old
and we'll make it fine if the weather holds
but if the weather holds we'll have missed the point
that's where i need to go


no way construction of this tricky plan
was built by other than a greater hand
with a love that passes all our understanding
watching closely over the journey

yeah, but what it takes to cross the great divide
seems more than all the courage i can muster up inside
although we get to have some answers when we reach the other side
the prize is always worth the rocky ride

but the wood is tired and the wood is old
and we'll make it fine if the weather holds
but if the weather holds we'll have missed the point
that's where i need to go


sometimes i ask to sneak a closer look
skip to the final chapter of the book
and then maybe steer us clear from some of the pain it took
to get us where we are this far, yeah

but the question drowns in its futility
and even i have got to laugh at me
no one gets to miss the storm of what will be
just holding on for the ride

the wood is tired and the wood is old
we'll make it fine if the weather holds
but if the weather holds we'll have missed the point
that's where i need to go

this is country music.

There are a lot of people who don't like country music; it's too twangy, too redneck, too... country. However, I'm not one of them; in fact, I absolutely love the stuff. I'm from a small town in the Midwest, so I suppose this isn't that surprising.

To me, country music is about a feeling, a time, a place. Country music takes me home again, no matter where I am. I love country music because it's real. It's honest--sometimes brutally so. Most importantly, country music is down to earth. And at the end of the day, country songs get a part of me that no other music does.

Brad Paisley's recent song, "This Is Country Music," hits the nail on the head of all of the reasons why I love country music.

Yeah, this is country music.
So turn it on, turn it up, and sing along
This is real; this is your life in a song
Just like a road that takes you home
Yeah, this is right where you belong

Here's a few more of my recent favorite country songs.

• Zac Brown Band: Colder Weather
• Keith Urban: Without You
• Tim McGraw: Felt Good On My Lips
• Miranda Lambert: Heart Like Mine
• Sugarland: Little Miss
• Sara Evans: A Little Bit Stronger
• Taylor Swift: Sparks Fly
• Jason Aldean: My Kinda Party
• Josh Kelley: Georgia Clay
• Locash Cowboys: Keep In Mind
• David Nail: Turning Home
• Brad Paisley: Old Alabama 

spring break 2011 playlist.

Bright and early tomorrow morning, I'm heading south for Spring Break! I'm driving from St. Louis to Orange Beach, Alabama to spend the week at the beach with three of my friends, and I'm so excited.  Here's a few of the songs from my playlist for the 12 hour drive.

• Lynyrd Skynyrd: Sweet Home Alabama
• Old Crow Medicine Show: Wagon Wheel
• Lonestar: Song of the South
• Benjy Davis Project: Sweet Southern Moon
• Alabama: Walkin' in Memphis
• Johnny and June Carter Cash: Jackson
• Rascal Flatts: Life is a Highway
• The Beatles: With a Little Help From My Friends
• Jackson Browne: Runnin' on Empty
• John Denver: Country Roads, Take Me Home
• Amos Lee: Southern Girl
• Dierks Bentley: Sideways

rainy day playlist.

It's midterm week, it's raining, and I just spent almost three hours straight working on Accounting homework. While there's basically no way to make that a fun situation, it was made much more bearable by the fact that I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop, drinking chai tea, and there was great music playing. All it took was one listen to Jack Johnson's "Banana Pancakes" for me to start thinking about my favorite rainy day music.

Some days just call for certain types of music, and today is one of those days. It's rainy and chilly outside, and all I want to do is curl up in bed and either take a nap, watch a movie, or listen to music. (Or all of the above.)  Rainy days are perfect for quiet, dreamy music with a healthy dose of nostalgia. Here's the playlist that will be playing on my iTunes for the rest of the evening.

• Jack Johnson: "Banana Pancakes" | The song that inspired the idea of this playlist. One of my personal favorite Jack Johnson songs.
• Maroon 5: "Sunday Morning" | "But things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do. And I would gladly hit the road get up and go if I knew that someday it would lead me back to you."
• Copeland: "Coffee" | This is one of my all time favorite songs. Listen to it if nothing else on this list.
• The Postal Service: "Sleeping In" | Appropriate for days that aren't in November too.
• James Taylor: "Fire & Rain" | A classic.
• Jewel: "You Were Meant For Me" | 90's flashback.
• William Fitzsimmons: "They'll Never Take the Good Years" | The entire CD is great. Listen to it.
• John Mayer: "St. Patrick's Day" | Old school John Mayer. Also in honor of the upcoming holiday. "Everybody, it seems to me, wants to be just like you & me."
• Taylor Swift: "Come In With the Rain" | T-Swift b-side. Can't beat it.
• The Bens: "Bruised" | A few of my favorite artists singing one of my favorite songs.
• Third Eye Blind: "Deep Inside of You" | 90's flashback, take two.
• Mat Kearney: "Fire & Rain" | Different song from the James Taylor version. Also great.
• Something Corporate: "She Paints Me Blue" | So dreamy.
• The Beatles: "Blackbird" | Because I can't make a playlist without a Beatles song.

I feel like I used to make a lot more playlists, but ever since I discovered Pandora, that habit has gone out the window.  Maybe this will be inspiration to get back to it; I'm seeing at least one spring break trip playlist in my future!

photo via we heart it