Ramble on: A soundtrack for the season (part one)

By Aitor Zabalegui

Autumn is an exceptional season, especially when crunchy orange, yellow and red leaves trickle down and collect as nature takes its annual bow in benevolent fashion.

These traditional images immediately come to mind when making an autumn playlist. The songs chosen must reflect the emotions of the season, and despite the impending cold of winter or the chilly breeze at night, autumn is warm at its core.

As a guideline, songs with obvious seasonal references in the title are better omitted. Yo La Tengo's "Autumn Sweater" would be an easy pick, but the group seems to put too much emphasis on the title itself instead of capturing the essential autumn sound within the song.

To put the tracks in perspective, this playlist will be presented in the form of a narrative í-- a day in the life of Joe the trade school student:

Joe awoke on a Saturday with an uncomfortable chill. He had been too drunk the night before to remember to shut his window, and the nights were getting colder now. He lay in bed with his eyes closed, upset about this abrupt arousal, trying to create a smoother segue from his dreams to reality.

Joe's first goal of the day was to shower. He rocked his way out of bed, finally garnering enough momentum to make it into a sitting position.

He wouldn't call himself musically inclined, but he definitely preferred his life with a soundtrack. As he shuffled to the bathroom, he grabbed his iPod and selected "Never Going Back Again" by Fleetwood Mac before getting in the shower.

It was either the gentle guitar or the piping hot water, but Joe began to warm up and feel more optimistic about the day.

Joe was meeting Anna for breakfast. Not feeling particularly hungry, his appetite appropriately matched his nearly penniless state. "Just order water," he thought to himself as "Sunshine" by Jonathan Edwards strummed in on the car radio.

He had been seeing Anna for a few weeks, but he still got nervous before planned meetings. It's not that she made him feel uncomfortable, he had just never met anyone like her and never knew what to expect.

Anna was eccentric, but it suited Joe. Though not boring in his own right, he was refreshed by Anna's spontaneity.

"Let's go for a drive. I want to see some color," she offered in between bites of toast. Cat Stevens' "Oh Very Young" played softly overhead as Joe agreed without a thought.

As he gazed past Anna's eyes through the windows of the restaurant, Joe couldn't help but notice how green everything still was three weeks into the autumn season. "She's right. 'California Dreaming' doesn't really apply when you live here," he realized.

Without a plan or supplies, they opted to head north. Anna placed a generous tip on the table as they left. Joe embarrassedly withheld his last few bills, claiming a need for gas money, though he knew three dollars of gas was about as valuable as pissing in his tank.

Luckily, he had filled up recently. Although he couldn't explain why, he couldn't let her know how flat broke he was. Joe then painfully watched as she threw a couple more dollars on the table to cover his share of the already charitable tip.

Once in the car, Joe picked out Belle and Sebastian's "A Century of Fakers" as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Anna had walked to the restaurant, so they were to drive from there straight to the highway.

They headed north, looking for winding roads, falling leaves and gray skies. Autumn was upon them.

Contact Aitor Zabalegui at azabalegui@scu.edu.