“It was like these songs were puzzle pieces kept in the dark with truths I didn’t know I needed to hear about myself. The dusty corners no longer so dusty. The tracks hurt. But hurt in a way that feels earned. Mine, but also theirs. Yours.”

I was fully in my burned-cd-Good-Charlotte-scrapbook-studded-belts-emo-haircuts era and no one could stop me. I dressed in as much black as I could– stripes and studs, spikey earrings from Claires– you know the ones. If anyone asked, I’d say in the most deadpan and serious tone, “I’m PUNK. I’m GOTH.” and vanish like a bat in the night with melodrama and flair. 

They also don’t tell you that even though you may have the perfect playlists and the most perfectly worn Doc Martens and drug store eyeliner, the becoming in the coming of age isn’t just a film reel montage.

As we always say here at the band-aid mixtape, music=memory. Music is deeply personal for the past, present and future. This track has actively created new memories and sensory experiences in real time.

The chorus rolls and settles in your bones like desert fog— soft, steady, and a little haunting,