Songs For Your Day

One of the most vulnerable and shaping moments of my day is my drive to work in the morning. Still partly asleep, I amble my way from my front door to my 1996 Hyundai Accent hatchback, wedge my travel mug full of coffee between the parking brake and the passenger seat cushion (the cupholders are tiny), roll down my window halfway, and plug my ipod into the FM transmitter and hit play.

For a brief moment I’m floating backwards in reverse as I work my way out of my parking spot, throw it into first and I’m off to whatever joys and frustrations my day will bring. The intro for Explosions In The Sky‘s “The Birth and Death of the Day” starts and I’m given a slight rouse. For the next two minutes I take my first sips of coffee while I wait for the little girls who live a couple doors down from me board their schoolbus at the end of the driveway.

I pull into traffic and pass by the municipal airport on my left, take the on-ramp to the highway and hit freeway speed around 4 minutes. As I pass by the busy smokestacks at Capital Brewery I’m joined by the swarm of other morning commuters, 30 seconds or so pass but are only a taste of what is to inspire faster speeds when the song reaches 4:33.

I spend the next couple minutes drifting along in the left lane, watching the sun continue to rise and flare across my worn windshield. I find my exit and follow it, just before the song hits 7 minutes. The end transitions perfectly into the next track, “Welcome Ghosts” which will be the only remaining song to finish completely on my way to the campus 1 parking garage.

And honestly, this morning, it’s all I need to put me in a good state of mind as I grab what’s left of my first cup of coffee, lock the door behind me, and make my way to the office.

I can’t help but love this genre called “post-rock” (whatever that means) and this Austin, TX, band does it incredibly well. Their music is epic at its best and cinematic at its worst.

-Andrew