These songs have great personal significance. One of my favorite parts about the human brain is its ability to reinstate long lost emotional states after hearing just one chord from a song. Suddenly current feelings are completely replaced by nostalgic ones from some particularly painful or blissful period of life that was accompanied by a song on repeat.
I spent three weeks of my freshman year of high school lying on my back on the floor of my bedroom listening to "Parachutes" on repeat. It's my favorite Coldplay song and it's only 42 seconds long. I always resented that.
Remember Elliott Smith? I just re-downloaded his entire discography last night. "X/O," "Either/Or" and "Figure 8" were three of my favorite high school albums. He used take $600 of drugs in a night to cope with his brain hurricane. How didn't he die? I'll bet that when the pills hit their peak, he would reach the eye for about 15 minutes and then crash back hard through the eye wall. How did he kill himself though? He thrust a dagger in his heart. Frat? Hi, Arnold Engel.
Sufjan Stevens -- "Romulus"
The Decemberists -- "Red Right Ankle"
Bright Eyes -- "Messenger Bird"
Wilco -- "How To Fight Loneliness"
Nick Drake -- "Know"
Elliott Smith -- "Somebody That I Used To Know"
