I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST, Vol. 2: "Old Man Moon"
On acute seasonal nostalgia and the opposite of loneliness.
Welcome back! Prepare to (maybe) feel a few feelings. Sorry.
I’ve left Hot August in the literal and figurative red-dirt dust and have officially subscribed to Sentimental September. This month always tends to trigger every ounce of nostalgia I could possibly have for all the past pockets of my life all at once: family vacations, college, swim team, studying abroad, etc. etc. etc.
On top of this annual bout of wistfulness, I’ve been seriously homesick. And I rarely—rarely!—get homesick. (Unless you count the time I dramatically burst into tears on the streets of Paris when my mom was visiting me abroad for what was supposed to be a magical weekend adventure, but it was pouring rain and we couldn’t decide on a lunch spot and all of my pent-up missing her from the previous months caught up with me at the same time.)
Anyway, I’m well accustomed to being far from family. But when you throw in a pandemic that expands the already-huge gap between visits AND changes “maybe I’ll go home soon” to “I legit can’t go home”… yikes. The feelings escalate quickly, ya know?
So, what to do? Start with a playlist, of course—a sonic salve, if you will. Revisit old favorites. Read words of wisdom. Cook pancakes for breakfast solely to use them as carb-loaded vehicles for my grandpa’s maple syrup. Make my family’s favorite brownie-ice-cream-pie dessert and share it with some dear friends.
I sure hope you had a craving for some virtual comfort food, because GUESS WHAT—it’s comin’ in hot. Headphones handy? Here we go!
LISTEN
Give Me A Minute by Lizzy McAlpine
This ALBUM. Lizzy’s vocals are unreal, her writing is disarmingly mature (she is 20!!!), and the production (shoutout to producer extraordinaire Philip Etherington) is *chef’s kiss* perfection. If I had to choose a fave, it would be “Same Boat” (above), but I would also fight hard for “Nothing / Sad N Stuff” and “I Knew.” Listen through, give it a minute. You will not regret it.
Unrelated: There’s a wonderful Rolling Stone Music Now podcast episode from early pandemic times that features roughly seven minutes of Stevie Nicks gushing over Harry Styles’ Fine Line album like the world’s proudest aunt/teacher/grandma, and it continues to bring me happiness, so I’m passing it along here. Listen on the Podcast app or Spotify.
READ
Marina Keegan’s “The Opposite of Loneliness” (Yale Daily News + The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays & Stories).
I conveniently discovered this essay right after I graduated, a.k.a. the ideal time to read it, and I’ve returned to it many times since. It’s extremely “college,” which is mostly why I love it, so just take it with a few grains of grown-up salt if you’re farther removed (chronologically or emotionally) from your on-campus years.
My favorite part is Marina’s exploration of her title concept. As she explains, there’s no word for the opposite of loneliness, but I can tell you with certainty that it’s a palpable, wonderful feeling, one which I’ve (thankfully) experienced in so many parts of my life.
It’s not quite love and it’s not quite community; it’s just this feeling that there are people, an abundance of people, who are in this together. Who are on your team. When the check is paid and you stay at the table.
“When the check is paid and you stay at the table.” (!!!!!) I love it. It’s such a simple signifier that you’re with people you care about who bring you joy and make you feel at home.
Brian Doyle’s “Joyas Voladoras” (The American Scholar).
This is just a beautiful essay about hearts of all kinds. Well, mostly hummingbirds’ hearts, but also whales and humans. It’s been around for a while, but I read it for the first time a few weeks ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. The last few lines have enough emotional power to derail your entire day/evening if you’re not careful, but I particularly love this sprawling, lyrical sentence near the beginning:
Joyas voladoras, flying jewels, the first white explorers in the Americas called them, and the white men had never seen such creatures, for hummingbirds came into the world only in the Americas, nowhere else in the universe, more than three hundred species of them whirring and zooming and nectaring in hummer time zones nine times removed from ours, their hearts hammering faster than we could clearly hear if we pressed our elephantine ears to their infinitesimal chests.
Sara Benincasa’s “Thanks for Nothing” (Human Parts, Medium).
Oh my gosh, this is GOOD. (And Phoebe Bridgers thinks so, too.) It’s about a road trip, but actually not about a road trip AT ALL. It might make you want to punch a wall. Or a guy. Either way, I support you.
FOLLOW
My fam loves a good National Park adventure so I recognize my bias here, but this is one of my absolute favorite accounts on IG. Amber Share of @subparparks captures the worst-of-the-worst Trip Advisor reviews and turns them into hilarious poster art. Imagine going to, like, YELLOWSTONE, or any park, really, and returning to tell the world that “the scenery wasn’t very good”!!! I can’t.
PLAY
You made it to the playlist! Congrats. This one is called “Old Man Moon.” To me, it feels familiar and comforting, but the songs don’t necessarily remind me of home. (That category is where I bring out my personal big guns like Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, John Mayer’s “Why Georgia,” and Taylor Swift’s Fearless or Speak Now.)
Instead, these songs offer up a more universal message—literally from Old Man Moon himself, if we’re hearing things from Brent Cobb’s perspective—that even through all our wandering and despite thousand-mile distances between people and places we love, we’ll find our way back to who/what/where matters eventually. (Apologies for the major cheese sandwich but this is my newsletter and I can do what I want!)
It truly is a heartwarming little journey full of (in my opinion) expertly-crafted songs that pack many a lyrical punch if you listen closely. And they’re not too sad, I promise!!! Listen on the road, listen on your porch during a September storm, or listen (like I do) after you hang up from a family FaceTime call and your internal compass needs an extra pull in the direction of home.
Old Man Moon
Traveller - Chris Stapleton (“I'm just a traveler on this earth / Sure as my heart's behind the pocket of my shirt” …STAPLETONNN. )
Old Soul - The Highwomen
Other People - Joshua Speers
King Kong - Aron Blom
Closer to You - Brandi Carlile
All the Salt - John Craigie
Steady as the Rising Sun - Robert Ellis
Who Hung the Moon - Jamestown Revival
Traveling Poor Boy - Brent Cobb (Brent forever, honestly—the second verse of this song inspired the whole dang playlist!)
Comin’ Around - Andrew Duhon
These Days - Chantal Kreviazuk (‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ hive, wya?)
invisible string - Taylor Swift
So Glad (I Got You) - Ed Patrick (literally THE comfort food of songs—Ed is magic)
Save Us - Lennon Stella (listen for a little Donna Lewis surprise)
Bugs - Lonesome Rhodes
Apple Pie - Lizzy McAlpine (background vocals at 1:49 are just the loveliest)
Changes - Ruston Kelly
Universal Sound - Tyler Childers
Speed of the Sound of Loneliness - John Prine
Mama’s Eyes - Justin Townes Earle
seven - Taylor Swift
Starting Over - Chris Stapleton
Canyon Moon - Harry Styles (the happiest!)
If Not for You - Bob Dylan (this too!)
Mercy Me - Rob Baird
Cairo, IL - Natalie Hemby (listen to her entire ‘Puxico’ album)
Queen of Saint Mary’s Choir - Sean McConnell
Heavenly Day - Patty Griffin
Oh, What A World - Kacey Musgraves
Landslide - Dagny
Leaning On You - HAIM
Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying - Whitney
The Wolves - Mandolin Orange
Horses - Rob Baird
High Hope - Patrick Droney (so spacious but so warm—how?!)
Listen to the whole thing here:
(If you use Apple Music, you can find it here.)
Okay, au revoir! I hope your heart feels whole today and I hope you get to go eat outside at a restaurant sometime soon and linger long after the check is paid with people you love! Happy listening :)
Natalie
P.S. I’m new here, so feedback is more than welcome. If this is your first Substack rodeo, here’s a fun fact: you can reply directly to this email, and it will go right to me! How convenient!!!
P.P.S. If you live for new music the same way I do, follow my Baker’s Dozen playlist on Spotify. Updated every Friday—no genre limits, no themes, just 13 good songs.