Well, we made it. It’s the first day of Spring.
Yeah, this past winter has felt like an eternity but if I am being honest, it hasn’t even been that bad of a winter in these parts. It was relatively mild and we suffered through very few snowstorms, up until February, when, of course, all that went out the window. Even still, we’ve been seeing more mild weather again and the mounds of the white stuff have all but melted away.
And yet… and yet… it still felt like a long winter, didn’t it?
Well, it is officially over as of today. Mother nature be damned. And we are going to celebrate with a new playlist, the first of four seasonal themed mixes that I have planned for this year, all based on a theory my good friend Andrew Rodriguez has oft posited: there are certain songs that just “feel” like a given season.
Indeed, these are 25 songs that, even if not overtly Spring themed, they at least hint or evoke that certain mood. The playlist follows a chronological path, from the tentative first steps to the splashes in the rain puddles of April, from the traipsing through meadows of flowers to finally, a bit of a dance into June and the excitement of the summer beyond. Unfortunately, the song I really wanted to start this mix off with, The Gandharvas’ “The first day of Spring”, is not actually available on Spotify but I wanted to tip my hat to it nonetheless and replaced it with a similarly named track by Noah and The Whale.
Other highlights on this mix include:
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- “April fools”, the first track I ever heard by Canadian singer/songwriter, Rufus Wainwright, and it’s a whimsical ditty
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- “Rain”, a hazy number by The Clientele that evokes raindrops hitting against a steamed up window
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- Emily Haines and Metric covering the Lou Reed classic, “Perfect day”, no other explanation necessary
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- “June hymn”, off The Decemberists’ pastoral sixth album is a call for us all to go out into the woods and breathe deeply
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- And of course, “Spring and by summer fall”, is a ray of sunshine by Blonde Redhead that leads us off into the new season
For those who don’t use Spotify or if the embedded playlist below doesn’t work for you, here is the entire playlist (complete with YouTube links) as I’ve created it:
1. Noah and the Whale “The first days of Spring”
2. Kurt Vile “Wakin on a pretty day”
3. Rufus Wainwright “April fools”
4. Fontaines D.C. “Oh such a Spring”
5. Blind Melon “No rain”
6. The Jesus and Mary Chain “April skies”
7. Frank Turner “The opening act of Spring”
8. The Clientele “Rain”
9. Ex Cops “Spring break (birthday song)”
10. Engineers “Come in out of the rain”
11. Sea Wolf “Dew in the grass”
12. Camera Obscura “Honey in the sun”
13. Crocodiles “Endless flowers”
14. Arcade Fire “Month of May”
15. Metric “Perfect day”
16. Neutral Milk Hotel “King of carrot flowers, pt. 1”
17. Cults “Go outside”
18. Sam Roberts Band “Spring fever”
19. Dum Dum Girls “Trees and flowers”
20. The Decemberists “June hymn”
21. Hey Rosetta! “Yer Spring”
22. Unkle Bob “Birds and the bees”
23. U2 “Beautiful day”
24. The Like “June gloom”
25. Blonde Redhead “Spring and by Summer Fall”
And as I’ve said before, I’ll say again: Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are safe and continue to be well. Until next time, enjoy the tunes.
For those of you who are on Spotify, feel free to look me up. My user name is “jprobichaud911”.
My (life in) music lists 