Summer 2009, in Music and Memory

above: Bruce doing the same shit that I did this summer

Usually around this time of year I'll write up the long narrative of my summer. Ya know, the great nights that went down, the low points that made me curse my school for sending me home, the shit that happened that made me feel like I was in a Bruce Springsteen album, et cetera, et cetera. But, I've made a blood pact with my therapist that I'm done with the "Joe Emo Posts" forever—all they ever did was get read by the wrong people—so this summer I'm going to try to tiptoe my way around it.

Here are my Songs of Summer 2009, and what memories from summer they will remind me of (even though mostly every song has absolutely nothing to do with the memory it evokes).

1. "Summer" by Modest Mouse

I officially fell in love with this song approximately seven hours before summer 2009 even began, when I was working on my final paper of the semester. So this song became my song of victory, since I loved and listened at the moment school was OVER, FINALLY.

2. "Lisztomania" by Phoenix

This is my feel-good song of the summer, so it reminds me of all the parties that were brightspots in an otherwise strange summer. Specifically, I'll remember dancing around in the rain at Cindy's party when I hear this tune.

3. "You Don't Know How It Feels" by Tom Petty (sans the Heartbreakers, apparently)

One of the things that made this summer a little less fun was my month-long stint in court-mandated alcohol class. I remember driving to this terrible waste of my time when this song came on the radio, which I figured was at least a little ironic, due to the fact that Tom sings about "roll[ing] another joint" and here I am about to be belittled for two hours by a sober woman I have zero respect for.

4. "Make Your Own Kind of Music" by Mama Cass

God knows why, but I think about my favorite job in the world when this song plays on the airwaves. It was my fifth summer at the retirement community, and after five years I'm still loving every goddamn minute I spend with those old people. Every fucking minute.

5. "I Want You Back" by the Jackson Five

Yes, Michael Jackson's death brought me back to this song, but it's not the King of Pop I remember fondly. Rather, it's a lazy Sunday morning, hanging with my best friends along Pennypack Creek, trying in vain to catch a fish. The most relaxing and fulfilling afternoon this entire season.

6. "Five Years" by David Bowie

My "other job" this summer was at the school library. I'll take it for what it was; no job will ever compare to the retirement home for the rest of my young life, but my gig at ol' the library at the very least put some extra cash in my pocket. Looking for books on a big list was the name of the game, and my iPod accompanied every minute of it—every minute that, as a whole, felt like five years.

7. "Love Game" by Lady Gaga

Once you stop laughing at my appreciation for Lady Gaga, perhaps you can try to understand what I think about when I hear this song. I first heard it at Beechwood Street. God, I can't even type about that yet. I'm not emotionally ready. Suffice it to say, the Beechwood situation was the nadir of my summer, and ultimately altered the remainder of my year, both in bad ways (commuting) and good (getting a car).

8. "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas

Yes, I like a Black Eyed Peas song too. I'm not embarrassed. True, it's a little corny, but it really is a great song to listen to when you are getting excited for a great night, of which there were many this summer. My cousin's wedding is the main memory I have, simply because it was the first time I heard this song. Also, that night truly was a good night (I had a feeling it would be).

9. "My Only Offer" by Mates of State

This summer I got really into baseball in many ways. Firstly, I've been deeply immersed in the Phillies this season. Secondly, a few friends have gotten together every Tuesday night at Fox Chase Rec to play some classic softball scrimmages. It feels great to be out on the field again.

10. "21 Guns" by Green Day

With shit like fishing and playing softball, my friends and I tried to doing lots of different things in the past four months, as opposed to just killing a case for fun. Our "summer of doing different shit" culminated in going to a polo match. Yes, with horses and rich people. Yes, we all dressed formally and drank champagne. Yes, we were the young hooligans hated by all those old rich snobs. Yes, it was definitely something different. And Green Day provided the soundtrack.

11. "Please Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes

Spontaneous drunken half-naked daytime Motown dance parties down the shore with my best friends will always, ALWAYS be a highlight of any summer.

12. "Letter From an Occupant" by the New Pornographers

A song I once despised, comparing it to a chorus from the Lollipop Guild, turned into one of my favorite songs ever. It's the song that will remind of the wonderful feeling I had when I purchased my first car and all the summer freedom that comes with it.

13. "Silver Moons" by Sunset Rubdown

I listened to this song more times that any other over the past four months, and it took me a while to figure out why. Spencer Krug sings about that melancholy sense that something is over, and this came to represent my summer? Unfortunately, it did. While this vacation was packed with a myriad of wonderful moments, it was also laden with a constant prevailing sense—how should I say it?—that childhood was coming to an official end. Changing my drinking habits and working two jobs and coming to the realization that living at home comes with some challenges... perhaps all these are ultimately good things in the long run, but for now, they all made my summer, to be blunt, pretty fucking beat. Overall, I had terrible luck and was somewhat downtrodden for a while there. But! You know me. The eternal optimist. I will remember 2009's summer for its good times, not its bad. "And I loved it better than anyone else you know."