Credit: Libby Hamant
Songs I Wish I Wrote is a monthly column that assembles new and old songs for Ohio State’s music lovers.
Click here to listen to the “Songs I Wish I Wrote: Odes to summer’s end” playlist on Spotify.
As each season begins, it bears its own distinct beauty. I look forward to soon welcoming the joys of autumn, from the flame-colored foliage’s transient charm to the comforting tastes of pumpkin and chai.
In the meantime, the liminal period between summer and fall can feel a bit awkward. Though the sun still blazes upon us, summertime’s luxurious serenity and freedom are fading into the past, making room for a new school year sure to precipitate simultaneous stress and excitement.
I’ve long held conflicting feelings about August; it’s full of hopeful new beginnings, but it often feels like there’s little time to process bittersweet endings.
Below are my song selections to accompany the sometimes tumultuous final stretch of summer as autumnal joys and traditions appear on the horizon.
“Summer’s Almost Gone” by The Doors
Despite its straightforward title, this bluesy number’s lyrics — written by famously enigmatic singer-songwriter Jim Morrison — are rather cryptic.
The mesmerizing, luxurious music — Ray Manzarek’s sleek keys, Robby Krieger’s curvy guitar riffs and John Densmore’s subtle backbeat — is an apt vessel to carry listeners away to Morrison’s impressionistic landscape of sun-drenched psychedelia.
“Morning found us calmly unaware / noon burned gold into our hair / at night we swim the laughin’ sea,” Morrison drawls seductively.
Morrison ponders what’s likely concerning many listeners — “When summer’s gone, where will we be?” — but doesn’t offer any prediction. Only time will tell where listeners will be this autumn; it’s a shame Morrison isn’t around to poeticize those unknown horizons.
“Captain Badass” by Songs: Ohia
This summer, my musical forays included the terrain of alternative country. Particularly, I’ve been enchanted by the work of Jason Molina, the late indie-alternative singer-songwriter behind projects such as Songs: Ohia.
“Captain Badass,” a sultry slow burn that simmers like long, hot and dangerous August nights, is particularly gripping.
There’s something quite charming about how a song with an admittedly goofy title possesses one of the most striking lyrics I’ve recently heard.
“I am setting your heart on fire / so I will burn on in your soul,” Molina sings in a piercing tenor, sure to ignite something feverish in listeners’ hearts as the clock winds down on the sweltering summertime.
“Summer Skin” by Death Cab for Cutie
In this piano-driven dirge, lead singer Ben Gibbard encapsulates the sense of summertime’s sweetness slipping away.
He vividly depicts summer’s carefree bliss and its melancholic transience with picturesque scenes of “squeaky swings and tall grass” and “frolicking about in summer skin.”
“Holocene” by Zella Day (ft. Weyes Blood)
On “Holocene,” indie singer-songwriter Zella Day reflects on “hot summer dreams” as the seasons slowly cycle through.
The pairing of Day’s airy vocals and Natalie Mering’s — known by her stage name “Weyes Blood” — deeper, velvety voice makes for an absolutely ethereal pairing.
In tandem with the twinkling piano and earthy guitar strums, the pair evokes scenes of shimmering streams and golden-tinged leaves. This dreamy tune offers listeners comfort in contemplating the passage of time. “Time forgets no one,” Day and Mering assure.
“Thirteen” by Elliott Smith
With a whisper as fragile as fine china, singer-songwriter Elliott Smith profoundly embodied the innocence of “Thirteen,” a ballad originally recorded by influential power-pop and alternative-rock band Big Star.
Consisting only of his delicate vocals and acoustic guitar — which lends the holistic track a folky, early autumnal flavor — Smith’s rendition is unforgettably intimate and sincere.
When listening, it’s difficult not to recall the tenderness of youthful back-to-school days as Smith shyly asks to walk his crush home from school, professes his faith in rock ‘n’ roll and earnestly fantasizes about being an “outlaw for love.”
“Long Way Home” by Ray LaMontagne
Due to his husky voice and penchant for writing ballads that sound straight out of the early ’70s, much of singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne’s discography uncorks nostalgia for warm, easygoing evenings, and “Long Way Home” — the title track from his latest album, which was released Friday — is no exception.
Rife with imagistic, sentimental memories of “lying in a meadow green” and “dangling legs in a mountain stream,” LaMontagne’s words promote soaking in every moment of summer’s sweetness. Before “summertime must yield to fall,” take the long way home — literally or metaphorically — and cherish each ephemeral moment along the way.
