For me, favorite songs aren’t fixed in stone. They shift with the seasons, the moods, and the quiet playlists I piece together mostly late at night (like the one at the bottom of this post).
What feels essential in July, something loose and bright like “Reggae-Mylitis” from Peter Tosh’s Wanted Dread or Alive LP (EMI, 1981) doesn’t always hit the same when September creeps in and the nights cool down. That’s when I find myself reaching for slower, more layered tracks like Bill Evans’ “Peace Piece” or R.E.M.’s “Texarkana.” These aren’t just songs I enjoy; they feel like companions that match my pace, meeting me where I am.
The ones that stay with me aren’t always obvious. Sometimes it’s a small detail, like Nick Drake’s hushed guitar on “River Man,” or the way Jon Hassell lets a muted melody drift into silence on “Last Night the Moon Came Dropping its Clothes in the Street.” Other times, it’s something buried deep that never saw much of the light of a record store floor, but still lives on in my world, like Directions In Music’s “Echoes” (Continental Drift version) (Soul Static Sound, 1997). Another autumn song, at least in my mind, is “The Fly” by U2 from 1991’s Achtung Baby. That one makes me think of the fall foliage… maybe because that’s when I first heard the record? Anyway, those tracks remind me that favorites aren’t about consensus, they’re about the way a song sneaks into the corners of your day and makes itself at home.
There’s a certain beauty in letting a “favorite” remain flexible. I don’t need a permanent list carved out, I need songs that shift with me. One week, it’s Pat Metheny’s “Lakes” wandering delicately across my speakers with the incredible bass playing of Eberhard Weber, and another is the gentle atmosphere of The Blue Nile’s “Tinseltown in the Rain.” Lastly, it’s the sound of that snare from John McEntire’s drums on “Night Air” by Tortoise that always sounds perfect with every listen.
Each of these songs takes a turn, makes its case, and then slips back into my record stacks, waiting to be rediscovered when the mood strikes again. That’s the part I love most about music—it’s never static.
My favorites are less of a list and more of a rotation, a reminder that there’s always another song out there waiting to line up perfectly with a moment in time.
Do your favorite songs stay the same year after year, season after season, or do they shift like mine?
This Week’s Playlist
Thanks for reading. - JB 🍂