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Mood Ring: Spring

Spring is on its way, shining through with all the rainy days and confusing weather. It is a time for regrowth and new beginnings. The sun is warming, the flowers are blooming, and school is almost done for the year. Everything feels new, and it is like you are ready for a fresh beginning. It is a perfect time to bring up these feelings through music.

Through a new Spotify Playlist, I am putting together songs that evoke Springtime, representing growth and new beginnings–whether through the lyrics, sound, or overall feeling. It may seem odd to try to relate songs to a season, but sometimes you hear a song and you just think–Spring! The music itself can just feel like “growth”, “renewal” or “peace” (or any words that stereotypically describe springtime).

(image via Pinart)

Lyrics 

“Outskirts of Paradise” by Bad Suns has a hint of summer fluttered throughout the song, even the title hints at the idea.

Rolled down the window now
I’ve lost my way within this town
The tranquil glow of the song I know, it guides me
I’m stuck in strip mall times
The mood swings under porcelain skies

As I hear the first verse I can imagine the moments. It is one of the first days that the weather is warm enough to roll down the window as you drive home from school. You are used to this town and you’ve seen it change throughout the seasons your whole life, that’s how you know it is finally Spring. It is a feeling of consistency, but at the same time– change.

The mood swings under porcelain skies is a great line that represents the mood swings of people (in my storyline, a teenager fresh out of school), but it also relates to the weather in this lyric. The porcelain skies and mood swings go together and remind me of Spring’s rain and shine.

Sound 

“Open Your Eyes” by STRFKR sounds like springtime. It has a slow beginning rising up with the season. The whole song crescendos into a sort of calm upbeat rhythm. The consistent flow of the guitar riff sounds like a progression of time and mirrors the rebirth of the season. Joshua Hodges, the vocalist, has a smooth voice, singing throughout with ease and a calm reassurance of optimism.

Watch the music video to here this great song and see an awesome video!

Overall Feeling

“Morning” by Beck defines spring more than anything else to me. The lyrics and the sound all come together perfectly, making you feel reborn and fresh with the turn of the season. The lyrics:

(image via Amazon)

Woke up this morning
Found a love light in the storm
Looked up this morning
Saw the roses full of thorns
Mountains are falling
They don’t have nowhere to go
Oceans of diamond
Always shines from your glow

These lyrics sound like poetry and describe a gaze out into nature. Found a love light in the storm; Saw the roses full of thorns; Mountains are falling, each of these words create concrete imagery of nature: the mountains, roses, and storm. Though, it isn’t necessarily about just that.

I read the lyrics as a love poem, the singer waking up next to the person they love. It feels natural and new, but peaceful, Spring in a metaphor.

(image via NPR)

The sound is exactly how I imagine Springtime. It starts off subtle, with the strumming of the guitar, then more and more melody gets added in.

Soon Beck’s voice, angelic as ever, comes in. It feels like a peaceful renewal; a new beginning where there is little worry. The song goes in and out of oscillating volume, switching from a hypnotic chorus back to the calm and consistent melody of the keyboard. It reflects the change of weather as
spring rolls in.

It is important in my mind to set moments with songs, and explaining the connection is forever intoxicatingly challenging. The warm days are on their way through, rain and bloom is beginning. Spring is back again.