Wishful Thinking

Technically, there’s less than a month left before spring begins. The eastern portion of North America will eventually thaw — eventually. For the time being, here are some songs that make me think of driving with the windows down, without getting hit in the face with arctic air, ice and snow. The list easily could have been twice as long and purposely leaves out some staples — no Beach Boys, no Bananarama, no Springsteen — for the sake of variety. Feel free to tell me what I’ve missed.

“Santeria” by Sublime. Nearly any Sublime song could work on this list, but this one’s a favorite. Apologies for posting a link to the song that’s not the official release, but the “official” one blurred out lyrics, unnecessarily in my humble opinion. It’s out there if you want it.

“Santa Monica” by Everclear. It’s catchy, it’s simple, it’s about California and the ocean and swimming. Older Everclear is fun, critics be damned! “I just wanna feel some sunshine,” Art sings. We can all agree on that about now.

“Summertime” by The Sundays. This is all sugar, all pop, all sweetness and light.

“Home” by Marc Broussard. Swampy stompy goodness from a Louisianan with a deep blues voice. Turn this one all the way up. Yes please and then some.

“Bustin’ Loose” by Chuck Brown. The Godfather of Go-Go, Chuck Brown was beloved in Washington, D.C. but could be relatively unknown elsewhere, but this song is easily recognizable. I had the incredible privilege of meeting and interviewing Mr. Brown a while back, maybe two years before he passed away, and it’s still one of my favorite music memories.

“Rockaway Beach” by the Ramones. This is just two minutes of thrashy fun.

“Blister in the Sun” by the Violent Femmes. My love of this band knows no bounds. This song started it all, for me, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to whoever was responsible for the musical choices on “My So-called Life” for introducing me to the Femmes back in ’94.

“In the Meantime” by Spacehog. There’s something reminiscent of a sun-washed daydream in the intro.

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