One of my favorite pastimes is creating a playlist. I have very specific rules for the creation of a proper mixed CD/playlist. The one I’ll mention is this: No repeating an artist; this should be a basic rule everyone follows. Aside from that, I’m not going to go all High Fidelity here.
Mostly when I create a playlist, I do it purely for myself, what I will enjoy listening to, no matter how strange the set seems. Which is why my playlists tend to have a lot of out of left field choices, some that make people say, “Oh, that’s a great song, great mix,” and some that make people go, “Ummm…” To be honest, the second response is a bit more satisfying.
In honor of my last 48 hours in SF, here is a loose playlist of songs about leaving. Leaving is a vague idea, a concept that can be taken literally or figuratively, so these songs reflect that. This is obviously not meant to be the definitive leaving playlist. I don’t have the patience for that shit. These are just the songs for the moment in time. (When I moved from Philly to Socal, Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California” made an appearance on a similar playlist; for obvious reasons it doesn’t make a reappearance here, though still being no less an amazing song.)
Enjoy. Or make your own.
1. Curtain Calls ~ Old 97’s
2. Elephant Gun ~ Beirut
3. Cannonball Days ~ Ryan Adams
4. Freedom Of The Road ~ Martin Sexton
5. Ticket Taker ~ The Low Anthem
6. Leavin’ On A Jet Plane ~ Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies
7. I’m Free ~ The Who
8. Talking In Code ~ Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s
9. Nobody Has To Stay ~ Mirah
10. See America Right ~ The Mountain Goats
11. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea ~ Neutral Milk Hotel
12. At Last ~ Neko Case
13. Passenger Seat ~ Death Cab For Cutie
14. Leaving For Paris No. 2 ~ Rufus Wainwright
15. How to Disappear Completely ~ Radiohead
Bonus
16. Theme From ‘New York, New York’ ~ Frank Sinatra
(I’ve put the final song on pretty well every travel mix I’ve ever made because it’s a great song, and NYC is the finish line.)
10 Cities/10 Years 