Oct 9, 2020 | LIFE | By Kristen Richards | Illustration by Jubilee Rivera-Hernandez
Music is the home of movement. Any time, place, or person can be associated with a specific song, or even a single lyric. Since moving from Massachusetts to Colorado Springs, I have found music as a constant in my life, reminding me to stay hopeful in discovering home in a new place.
Here, I have compiled a list of songs that have been my companions throughout my transition to Colorado Springs. This list focuses on lyrics that point to a specific aspect of home, belonging, and hope.
1. “Fields of Knowing” by Skyline Motel is the song that brings me back to my first night in Colorado, walking south on North Cascade, my moon-shadow like a flashlight. The lyrics and instrumentals in this song create a nostalgia in me, some memory and fluttering of hope.
The lyrics “the moon is in our house tonight” has impacted me in a way almost no other song has. It is a recognition of existing in the liminality of nature and society, bringing me hope of finding a balance between the rejection and acceptance of this civilization.
2. “Sparrows and Lilies” by Pat Barrett is a quarantine song reserved especially for embracing the sensory experience of taking a burning hot shower in the dark after a long day. The lyrics “so hold on love, things are gonna get better, things are gonna get better, I know it’s hard” helped me see past the 14 days I spent in solitude in my room, reminding me that the difficult moments are just that: moments.
“Sparrows and Lilies” is the perfect song to listen to if you need motivation and positivity. Though the song is relatively solemn, the message is incredibly optimistic.
3. “House of Spirits” by Allman Brown is reminiscent of the idea of home and belonging. Brown sings “Yes, I’m heading back to that house of spirits, and I pray someday, it’ll feel like home.”
This song brings me hope that Colorado Springs will become a home for me, and, in a lot of ways, it already has. It points to the difficulty of transition and existing again in the in-between state of not visiting a place but not completely calling it home yet.
4. “It’s a Longer Road to California Than I Thought” by The Wind and The Wave is a recent and more upbeat addition to my own musical discovery of home. The lyric “blue skies and the moon out in the distance and a sunset few and far behind” puts distance between humans and nature in a terrifying and realistic way.
5. “We Got Love” by The Talbott Brothers is a song that points directly to traveling West. They sing “packed our bags and we headed West … nothing here really feels like home, home is who you’re with when you don’t feel alone anymore.” Here, The Talbott Brothers point to home not as a place, but as a person.
This list of songs signifies movement and the hope of finding home. While this list could include dozens of other songs, the five outlined above symbolize what I believe are the strongest attributes of home and hope.