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this song is beautifully idealistic yet heartbreaking at the same time. the actual instrumentation feels extremely uplifting, but the lyrics are so bittersweet. on one end, they tell a story of chasing dreams and growing from past mistakes when things don’t work out. on the other, however, it can also be taken as a tale of regret.
depending on how i’m feeling, i’ll focus on just the brightness of the song, but if i’m wistful, i’ll really listen to the lyrics.
both an uplifting anthem and melancholic tearjerker, Chicago packs a one-two punch as a song.
Feb 18, 2025
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This song belongs to that genre of music that briefly flourished around 5-10 years ago. The sort where artists stepped into the stream of consciousness and embraced the meandering wanderings of their lyrics to create something akin to spoken word.
As such, this work of art transcends a simple song and becomes a literary masterpiece. Finn's writing (of The Hold Steady) really shines through on this one. It’s more like a short story, or rather a vignette, set to music. Every word is perfectly chosen, and gains an added heft of meaning.
Having lost someone in my own life too soon, I always tear up when he describes the feeling in the house, remembering my own experience of that oppressive spiritual and emotional pall that can take over a family. But the story he paints only goes on to get better from there, depicting the beauty, connection, and absurdity of life in such simple yet piercing ways. Go ahead and give it a listen, you won't regret it.
Mar 6, 2024
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For when you wanna kill urself but also can't stop thinking about the undeniable beauty in the world
Jan 26, 2024
my favorite ending for an album that i feel, is in large part, about the various modalities of longing and lament. it feels weary and wise, almost recollective like one might be at the end of a life. reminds me of a stanley kunitz poem 💙
May 21, 2024
Top Recs from @verygoodvalentina
I adore finding a random video from like 2005 and reading through the comments the way a historian would examine an old manuscript from the 1700s. Are these people still active YouTube users? Or are they forgotten accounts? What did @jjlwis mean by "awww im gonna miss rob too!!!" ? Who even is Rob?? Anthropology in the digital age... so many questions... it's fascinating.
The important thing for me is not to add new comments. I feel like I'm disturbing an old archeological dig site and my sticky modern commentary will make the video crumble away into oblivion. More importantly, I don't want the algorithm to suggest the video to a bunch of people who will spam the comments section– major yuck 🤢
Jan 25, 2024
early 80s to early 2000s truck models are the perfect sizes imo. current trucks are transformer-sized behemoths that could easily crush normal vehicles into smithereens upon impact and i legit don’t know how those things are even street-legal. also, idk if it’s their design, reliability or the nostalgia factor per-se, but there’s a certain sazón those older trucks have that newer ones don’t.
2024 Ford F-150? 🤮🤢
1980 Ford F-150? 🫦🫦
Feb 9, 2025
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with social media being this pervasive entity that has weeded its way into our daily routines for the past 20ish years (plus a global pandemic that really solidified those habits), many young adults today have spent a large amount of their lives living online. it has become the new norm and i’m not gonna pretend i’m above any of this because it’s so easy to fall into it (i am literally writing this rec on my phone whilst it’s a perfectly sunny day that i should probably go out to enjoy).
with that being said, in the larger scheme of life, being in your 20s is still in a weird way the beginning stages of your life. it’s a period to try new things, make mistakes, learn from them and develop an identity that’s independent from the environment and people who raised you. though you can learn to do some of those things online, they don’t hold a candle to actually experiencing those things for yourself in real life.
all in all, the best way to not sleep thru your 20s is to prioritize in-person experiences that allow you to get a better understanding of yourself and your values. whether that be getting your first tattoo, moving to a new city or country, exploring your personal style or taking up hobbies you couldn’t or would‘ve never done as a kid, this is an important formative time to venture out and get a sense of who you truly are.
Sep 30, 2024