I decided to make a playlist based off my record shelf at the onset of shelter-in-place. That turned into picking one song off each album on the shelf (that is available on Spotify). It's either the song I most associate with the album, or in the case of some absolute classics that can't be parsed, the first track. The next challenge was to write a bit (~200 words) on each selection. This is an entry in that chronicle. This is a link to the playlist.

"The Future is Here" | Sleater-Kinney | The Center Won't Hold [2019]

Fuck me running is this is a perfectly written song. The verses suit my preference towards “specificity nodding to universal” and general concern about connection in the modern world—seeking it through “tiny screens” and lacking it in the sheets next to “me.”

It’s not really the verses, though (and is it ever?), that elevate this song above the rest on the album. The chorus is timeless:
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I need you more than I ever have
Because the future’s here
and we can’t go back

Put me in a big room or field with thousands of other fans singing along with Corin and Carrie, but make it not a coronavirus nightmare please and thank you. Everyone (fine probably not everyone) can relate to that chorus—why am I even trying to come up with a description? Let the song crank and feel it in your bones.

This band rips and I have Rachel to thank for getting me to really care about them. We watched them in a field together and sang along (when appropriate) and it was great. I miss live music. As I get older, there are definitely things about attending a concert that I have started to complain about, but no more (unlikely—I'll complain again eventually). I will cherish being in the church of live music.