Song Diary 2022
A completed account of the times in 2022 that certain songs just completely seized my brain for day.
Listen to her here.
15/12/2022
Die schönste Misere - RAR
What beautiful angst this song transmits. I am getting lost in its endless bass melody and softly screeching synths, like driving down an infinite but empty tunnel, as the lights pass over your head to the beat of this track.
03/12/2022
Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
Even though I am extremely happy and excited today, a day after my birthday, riding some type of wave of ecstasy on my way to Germany to see my favorite band, I find this rather sombre song by chance on TikTok. A musician covers it with a feature of his father on the trumpet, and the version is so damned beautiful, though more melancholic than the original.
The original is plenty sad, since it talks about a cancer death, but if you don't listen too intensely to the lyrics (as I tend to do lol), the song sounds mainly gentle and sunny. We're remembering the person that passed, and the beauty of their life, thus the song is like a warm hug, a comfort, a gentle forehead kiss, and a whispered "It'll be alright".
This song sounds like what waking up today felt like, the tender sun waking me through my window, as I come to in a body that seems to be made of golden light.
19/11/2022
GEIL AUF BETON - SALÒ
Yeah, hella hungover from a Friday night out. Trying to hang in there to make it to another house party later today and this song just appeared at the perfect time. I blast myself senseless with it. The headache is probably getting worse, but SALÒ is yelling at me so loudly that I cannot perceive it anymore. I am provided the raw energy needed to make it to the end of this hangover directly to my eardrums.
Also, I have no idea wtf this song even is. But who cares, I am surviving.
17/10/2022
Delilah (pull me out of this) - Fred again..
Fred doesn't fucking miss. I needed this new release today. It's brilliant. It's sort of the only thing keeping me going today on this random Monday filled with work and chores. Thank you, Fred.
08/10/2022
Broad Daylight - Gabriel Rios
As explained before in this list, the most appropriate songs seem to have a magical ability to find me in the moments I need them most.
Today I sit in the train from Tilburg to Rotterdam on a sunny Saturday, my body and mind filled with melancholy.
I am moving on to my next destination after spending some days celebrating the graduation of one of my best friends. I had such a blast and I am sad to leave, not knowing when will be the next time I see him. He is one of those old friends that knows me so well, we can simply exist together. Yet our friendship has not stopped evolving and enriching me, not once in the past 11 years. And I feel so much love and appreciation for him and our time together.
So when out of nowhere, this song comes on in my Discover Weekly list, I am once more astounded by how well it translates my emotional state into tonal compositions. It is bright, bubbly, makes me want to clap along as the sun shines on my face, with a sort of pep that is reminiscent of what I can best call music from the southern United States (I have no idea if that's correct...).
But it's not a happy song only, kids cheer and rejoice in the background, but the progressions of the chorus are distinctly melancholic. Just like I am. In the later part of the song, a lonely piano melody sets in, singing its own story that is softly lamenting. Perhaps it is lamenting a Goodbye. Just like I am.
And with this song on repeat I sit and try to cover my tears with my sunglasses, in the broad daylight. They're not even sad tears. They are tears that utter quite sounds of gratitude as each of them impacts the floor, for I count myself lucky to have so much love in my life, which makes difficult Goodbyes a frequent occurrence.
03/10/2022
Apollonia sitzt bei Edeka an der Kasse - SALÒ
I don't know who you are, SALÒ, but I think I'd like your sense of humor.
Why is this song about a cashier at a large German grocery store chain simply the best thing ever? She even makes an appearance in the bridge, agreeing to go on a coffee date with SALÒ after sharing the rumor that Austrians are the best lovers. What a song, honestly.
Another one of these happy to be alive songs. I'm so happy that I apparently have to continue listening to it on the bike through my airpods.
A mistake that will end up costing me 225€ (:
Lesson learned, bike time is serious time, with your ears sharply tuned into your surroundings and certainly not filled with love declarations to Apollonia. Damn it.
23/09/2022
In meinem Kopf - Kraftklub
MY FAVOURITE BAND IS FINALLY BACK WITH A NEW ALBUM IT ONLY TOOK 5 YEARS OF HIATUS AND BY GOD HAVE I MISSED THEM
The best singles I am already familiar with since they've been releasing them and they're all amazing and I love them so much and I can't stop listening to their entire discography.
This song in particular, though, transmits an aggressive happiness and excitement as they belt about a person they cannot get out of their head. And it makes me want to run around and break things, but in like an elated, ecstatic kind of way, because life sometimes grants you moments of pure and unadulterated joy.
And that last variation on the chorus. It gets me every fucking time. The last verse slows down the song, just before the flow gets interrupted by a jarring beeping sound like that of a heart monitor announcing your death. Only to then erupt into the most cathartic and euphoric chorus yet, that punches you right in the chest as the lyrics are amended from "in my head" to "in my heart".
It honestly makes me want to cry, flail, scream, vomit (all in a good way) and then fall down dead as soon as the last note suddenly fades out at minute 2:54.
I have died the happiest death.
19/09/2022
My High - Disclosure feat. Animé and slowthai
JEEZ I'm not over Disclosure's set at last night's BrunchBCN yet. What a heckin' party. Naturally, I cannot yet listen to anything else but their tracks and I can't believe that I have never heard this track before. It's goes so absolutely hard!
It pumps me up this morning to get up at 7.30am, and pumped me up last night to do the dishes at 1.30am. It's gonna pump me up for the rest of the day, and the energy is just right on point.
If I'm out watching Disclosure live, please don't fuck up my high.
14/09/2022
Mondalist - Lojay (the version without Chris Brown pls)
This hits the spot on the day that I return to Afrobeatz classes by the one and only Fatu.
It's like the perfect mix between smooth but also dancy at the same time and I vibe so hard all day.
I missed dancing, Jesus.
08/09/2022
Hartz 4 - Tarek K.I.Z
Nah like, what the actual fuck. This song goes so hard.
As per a previous entry, I have mixed feelings about K.I.Z and its members... Feels like a lot of their music is a toxic masculinity magnet.
But this BEAT though??? It absolutely obligates me to dance. In a rush to get somewhere? Put this on and suddenly you're strutting down the street at 50 mph. Or on a bicycle pedalling for your life and bouncing along to this, hoping there are no cops trying to fine you for wearing headphones while biking.
Listen to this on the way to the club, on the way back from the club, while brushing your teeth, while feeding your cat, instead of your evening meditation, idk idc it just slaps and the fact he raps about throwing his unemployment money through the strip club and being a general menace to polite society is admittedly entertaining at the very least.
06/09/2022
Wildberry Lillet - Nina Chuba
Yet another huge win for my discover weekly. Nina Chuba, with nearly 4 million monthly listeners, randomly shows up on my list with her song "Alles Gleich" and it's an immediate vibe. No clue who she is, maybe she's famous in Germany, cuz damn girl, that's a lot of streams! Who knew the rest of her (relatively young and modest) discography is also absolute fire, offering a genre-bending mix of hip-hop, trap, reggae, and dancehall.
Wildberry Lillet is the clear stand-out here, despite its content being a relatively simple song about ballin'. Ya know, living the good life of being rich and famous and buying your mom a house with the money you've made from your music (relatable, right?).
But I swear, listening to it will make you feel like the most powerful bitch, who is ready to take on the world. It's something about rap and trumpets that just gets me... I guess this is why I once upon a time made a whole playlist for exactly this vibe and it only just occurred to me to add this song to it. WONDEROUS.
And here: the aforementioned list.
12/08/2022
Louie Bag - Yebba
I don't know in what crevice of Spotify I found this song, maybe my Discover Weekly or some random front page recommendations, but I wisely added it to my monthly playlist for later reference.
And there it had to marinate a couple of days until I would happen on it again, now finally able to fully and truly appreciate it. I have no idea who Yebba is, but this soulful, chill R&B-esque track with its interesting lead melody is a great accompaniment to my relaxing at the pool today.
07/08/2022
Holding On - Julio Bashmore
Ok so Julio Bashmore is back. The loop that plays at the start of this song got stuck in my brain since it just popped up in there last night in the club. You know when songs do that, just a little piece comes to you and you need to figure out what larger composition they belong to? It was bothering me considerably until I could get out and double check. Yay me that I remembered correctly. That would have killed me otherwise.
Great tempo for walking, though it's decidedly too warm for much of that today.
05/08/2022
LVL UP - Eli Preiss
Hear me out, Spotify tweaked their Discover Weekly algorithm and now it fucking slaps. OR I've just listened to and interacted with so much music on the platform that it would legitimately be criminal if Spotify wouldn't manage to throw me a bone.
In any case, this low-key German Hip-Hop/trap track is such a vibe. Like, I wanna ride around in a big car and hang out of the passenger window, blowing out smoke (I don't even smoke) while passing under flourescent lights. But in slow motion. Very important.
Guess I'll have to make do with walking through the rain pretending I'm the main character for now.
04/08/2022
Au Seve - Julio Bashmore
I don't remember where I re-discovered this song... I say re-discovered because it feels like it has unlocked this deep part of my memory that I could place somewhere in my teenage-hood. But suddenly it just showed up in my playlists, because I had placed it there weeks prior, and today I cannot stop listening to it. It's 6 and a half minutes of pretty repetitive beats and patterns, but somehow those filtered drum hits make it feel like I am at a rave with several hundreds of people in, maybe, the belly of a church, or some huge industrial building.
That sensation combined with this odd nostalgic character of this song make this a delight to let run on repeat while I work, or take a short walk through the neighborhood before dinner. It's missing strobe lights, though.
02/08/2022
So soll es sein - Faber
The post-concert depression of Faber is hitting me hard still, even 2 days on.
I used to much prefer his happy, peppy, dancey songs, with his sad and heartbroken ones not receiving the appreciation they deserved. Today that changes. All I want is to listen to the despairing tracks that make my eyes well up for some reason.
Maybe it's because I know his discography so intimately it feels almost like I know him, and that maybe if he looked into the crowd he could have spotted me and with a friendly smile invited me to a beer after the show.
Maybe it's because I had to leave the crowd early, missing how they danced and rejoiced in all those happy songs. And missed the ultimate encore where they waded into the mass of people and sang Bella Ciao unplugged.
Whatever it is, I am finding solace in this song, which talks of heartbreak and not being able to let somebody go, despite your best efforts. That's how I feel about Faber and his concert today.
I want to, but cannot forget, so just shoot me dead.
28/07/2022
DESPECHÁ - Rosalía
BREAKING: New Rosalía song and it fucking slaps and it's on repeat for today, this weekend, this month, maybe this year.
26/07/2022
Das Letzte - Faber
A typical Faber-tune, filled with trumpets and upbeat guitar riffs, juxtaposed with mildly critical and sad lyrics. The title "Das Letzte", literally translated as "the last thing", meaning something like "the worst", is referred to in the chorus that happily exclaims to live every day as if you were the last (worst) (instead of as if it were the last).
I listen in anticipation of next weekend's concert and dance through my house, enthusiastically singing along to the non-lexical vocables, or for normal people "na na na na naaaa na na na naaaaaa". I am living a euphoric moment with this song today.
13/07/2022
Lonely - Imagine Dragons
So, seeing Imagine Dragons live opened my eyes to how fun their music actually can be. This track in particular off their newest album was completely unknown to me until their concert and it certainly captured my attention when performed live.
Today this song's vaguely funky beat, bass and vocals provide me with a soundtrack to strut through the city to, as I run some errands. It's the perfect BPM, gives a bounce to my step, and the chorus is made for dramatic belting at random strangers' faces. Yes. 10/10
04/07/2022
Abalele - Kabza De Small, DJ Maphorisa, Ami Faku
I don't recall how I stumbled onto this Amapiano banger, but it certainly tops any Amapiano playlist that's ever been compiled. It just so perfectly conveys a sense of gentle melancholy and matches my mood very well right now. The Amapiano beats drive you forward, compel you to move, but the vocals plead with their subject, solemnly asking for forgiveness before breaking out into a chanting chorus that may well be spiritual exclamations. They certainly make me want to raise my arms and sing along as tears may or may not be rolling down my cheeks.
I let it fade out over and over, the instrumentation slowly decomposing layer by layer, just to start building all over again.
I think Abalele is Zulu for "they are asleep" or "those who are asleep".
01/07/2022
If it ain't me - Dua Lipa
My emotions are pretty all over the place at the moment, and somehow this song is helping me make sense of them. The theme and Dua Lipa's lyrics are sad and dejected, feelings I can identify with today, but they are set to a pop track, making their deeper meaning ambiguous. This song allows me to feel my feelings, while also preventing me from slipping too quickly too deeply to a place that I don't want to be stuck in.
It's upbeat enough to dance to, strut to, still feel good to, but sad enough to cry to if I allowed myself to.
Though the lyrics aren't completely applicable, I allow myself to lean into their dramaticism anyway, just for today.
30/06/2022
Who - Modeselektor
What an absolute GEM of a find. Good work Spotify. This song's distorted beat assaults my eardrums repeatedly, but I gladly subject myself to its abuse. This is combined with lofty and floating synths and celestial instrumentation that kicks in when the song finally drops. This makes you feel like you're levitating and pounding into the ground at the same exact time. What an absolute ride, this song.
It's my accompaniment as I land back in Barcelona's airport, walking through the terminal buildings and finally boarding the bus, all in the fallen night, as I happily submit myself to Who's beating bass over and over.
23/06/2022
Kaffee warm - OK KID
I am completely fascinated by this song today. Those quick, high synths that set the tempo as two layers of drum beats set in one by one, only to be drowned out by the sudden onset of the next set of syncopated, deep synths... all of that knocks me off my fucking feet.
I close my eyes and let the sounds drown me, let them build up and decay, and drop into immense depth once again. I'm dragged away, floating, as the member's of OK KID sing about an ending love story, their pain coursing through my veins in the form of sound waves. It makes me want to weep for lost love, even if it's not mine.
31/05/2022
Comingback - Parcels
Sometimes coincidences feel too appropriate and fitting to be true serendipity. Maybe we are all living in a simulation after all.
I am coming back from an emotional rollercoaster of a trip to Hamburg and Berlin. Berlin, especially, has made me notably contemplative, reflective, fervent and happy all at the same time this weekend. So much so that I am obliged to dedicate a whole essay to my stay. All good things come to an end, however, but as I land back in Barcelona I am not sad about it.
I am glad to return to sun and warmth and the cozy familiarity of my home.
So, when I sit down in the bus that will take me into the city and I pop in my headphones to listen to some music, I cannot believe my ears that the perfect song comes on when I shuffle my spring bike ride playlist.
It is LITERALLY titled Comingback, unbelievably appropriate for my homecoming. The song feels like it chronicles a happy yet emotional return, with bright instrumentation and hopeful vocals about perseverance. The bridge builds a beautiful anticipation before finally breaking back into the melody, marking the dramatic arrival.
I cannot emphasize how perfect it was that this song found me precisely today.
28/05/2022
Glücklich und satt - K.I.Z.
I didn't know how to feel about K.I.Z., but they were on the line-up of the mini festival I attended today. I enjoyed jumping along to their Hip-Hop beats, despite their inflammatory lyrics. On first listen, one could think their music is the type that radicalizes young men toward the conservative and right end of the political spectrum. But their album "Hurra die Welt geht unter" (Hooray the world is ending) makes me reconsider this.
This song, specifically, is extremely left-wing, anarchist, anti-establishment, socialist, even. Recounting how the poor and marginalized are disregarded, left to their suffering, while all the rest, the ones that hold power to change these circumstances. are content and satisfied. Therefore, nothing ever does change.
These powerful lyrics are set to a bouncing beat that is reminiscent of 90s and classic Hip-Hop. I bop along to it during my journeys on Berlin's underground system, quietly letting it infuse me with the will to fight.
05/05/2022
Joy - Salute
The song's title really says it all. It's pure joy.
It came up on a Blended playlist I have with my best friend and this was one of her contributions. And god damn did it do a number on me. I blast it on my headphones as I vacuum the house, jumping and shouting along in absolute elation.
Moments like these remind you how incredible life can be, even in the most mundane circumstances.