“Anxiously excited to introduce a friend to something you think is amazing."

Recently, I’ve been rediscovering and sharing old songs from my youth. I mostly listen to lo-fi music these days, but I used to be obsessed with song lyrics. My favourite lyricist is John K. Samson from The Weakerthans. His lyrics are a perfect blend of emotion mixed with the most hilariously-banal Canadiana. He brilliantly uses curling as a metaphor for indecisiveness in a relationship, and a commuter bus line to reminisce about said relationship ending.

Sharing his lyrics with my friend is easy - not so much for other artists I used to love. Looking back on some of my favourite lines with 20+ years of experience, I’m anxious that some of the words might ring a bit … shallow. There are a lot of pop punk songs about yearning to escape a small town, or the horrors of your parents not-completely understanding you, or the most standard of break-ups. These songs meant so much to me back then, but now I’m not sure if they will hit the same with someone who had a radically different life than me.

Then again, I could be wrong. The desire to escape, to be seen, to express loss - they are pretty universal no matter where in the world you grew up.