Song of the Day: 1-4-2024

Pinegrove: "Old Friends"

Pinegrove’s “Old Friends” has layers of several genres and bands and what separates a track like this is the gravitas of the lyrics. Like Lady Lamb, you can feel the roots of the south in-between the lines. In the North these things often feel foreign—like the spring does after a long winter.

I know this town grounded in a compass
Cardinal landed in the dogwood

The genius here is the way the grief is layered within the lines and not centralized:

I saw Leah on the bus a few months ago
I saw some old friends at her funeral

In this way, in this way of layering, the grief can become central and it finds its true home in the way it reverberates through every line. Poetry at its highest level.

"Old Friends"

Walking outside labyrinthine
Over cracks along under the trees
I know this town grounded in a compass
Cardinal landed in the dogwood

I keep going over it over and over
My steps iterate my shame
How come every outcome's such a comedown?
Lately afternoon with the shades drawn down

I kept saying I just wanted to see you
Saying, "What's wrong with that?"
Needles shaking outlines in a compass
Every outcome's such a comedown

I knew it when I saw it
So I did just what I wanted
So I go through with this
I knew happiness when I saw it

I saw your boyfriend at the port authority
It's a sort of fucked up place
Well so I averted my stride on a quick one
He's coming back from going over to your place, huh?

I feel like I could forget about it
I feel like I could mellow out
I don't feel undone in a big way
There's nothing really bad to be upset about

But when I thought I was getting better
I woke up on the ground
An appointment or disappointment
A setback, oh, another comedown

As if I needed a reminder
Oh, I do only what I want to
So I go through with this

Walking out in the nighttime springtime
Needling my way home
I saw Leah on the bus a few months ago
I saw some old friends at her funeral

My steps keep splitting my grief
Through these solipsistic moods
I should call my parents when I think of them
Should tell my friends when I love them

Maybe I should have gone out a bit more
When you guys were still in town
I got too caught up in my own shit
It's how every outcome's such a comedown

And I knew it when I saw it
Oh, I did just what I wanted
So I go through with this
I knew happiness when I saw it

About the Song of the Day:

Another form of my favorite form of cycles are song-cycles—song-cycles of great albums, and of course song-cycles of mixes. I have made cycles of mixes for friends for years—Mix-tapes in high-school and college—Mix-cds in grad-school and beyond. Now that cds have lost a bit of their shine in the wake of streaming services, I’ve struggled to find my footing with sharing mixes with friends. My goal here is to share songs that culminate in mixes—one song a day until a mix is completed. I will then post the complete mix and then begin a new cycle.