One song, I first heard as a high school student: a string of lyrics that caught my ears. I forgot about it, I wasn’t in the habit of googling melodies yet.

About four years afterwards, I’d just gotten into my first job and was walking around the mall after a long day. Matt Hales’ lyrics start blaring into the speakers, instantly recognizable to my ears. I noted words, googled it upon reaching home and found Aqualung’s “Brighter Than Sunshine”!

What a fairy-tale.

Love burns brighter than sunshine

It helps me remember: in the rush of things, the few elements remaining constant, they’re the essentials. I cling to essentials.

As for the second song, it’s Johnny Mercer‘s ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside‘. It represents, in my mind, others like Billy Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald and The Glen Miller Orchestra.

Music like this, it’s stepping into another page in history. Not a better time, not worse even–just, different. It’s an acquired, albeit, displaced taste. I’m slowly learning to accept that there’s nothing wrong with that.