St. Vincent’s DeJamz

Daylight saving time is finally here, gifting us an extra hour of sleep and the delusions surrounding that hour’s actual impact that come with it. Autumn is coming to its official close as we brace for the unpredictable winter ahead. Now, sunsets are scheduled just in time for the early bird special at most restaurants. It’s exactly times like these that we reflect on all that has happened since we last forgot to change our clocks. This week, I have compiled four songs that are the perfect mix of both happy and heartbreaking nostalgia.

1. “Landslide” – Fleetwood Mac

One of the most easily recognizable songs to come from the era, “Landslide” tells the story of life and love with the backdrop of an avalanche, or landslide. Stevie Nicks references growing older and feeling the overwhelming feeling of time continuing on relentlessly. The gentle guitar strums accompanying Nicks’ soft voice make “Landslide” perfect for easy-listening as you reminisce about better days. Because as Nicks says, “Time makes you bolder / Even children get older / And I’m getting older too.”

2. “7 Years” – Lukas Graham

Danish band Lukas Graham became stars in the U.S. after the release of their wildly popular song “7 Years” in 2015. Told from the perspective of one person as they age, reflections upon their life, where they’ve been and what they’ve done transform mid- song into predictions about what is to come. From ages 7, 11, 20, 25, and beyond, Lukas Graham takes listeners on a lyrical journey through one life that feels universal. With a chorus as catchy as can be, “7 Years” is primed to be on repeat. Across 1. Valuable possession 6. Radar image 10. Deep wound 14. Prefix meaning “large” 15. “Peanuts” expletive 16. Bris or confirmation, e.g. 17. Annual Baltimore event 20. Biblical no-no 21. Trees for archers’ bows 22. Prosecutors 23. Gnawed to a fare- thee-well 25. Diarist Frank 26. Toxin fighters 28. Hooky-playing 32. Seance board 34. Petty quarrel 35. Poem that honors 38. Emulate T.D. Jakes 42. Coast Guard alert 43. Ancient inscription 44. Drive away 45. Like some air

3. “Time in a Bottle” – Jim Croce

Released posthumously after Jim Croce’s tragic death in a plane crash in 1973, “Time in a Bottle” is an eerily poignant song about the fleeting nature of life and the neverending pressure of time’s limitations. A short and slow song, coming in at just under two minutes, 30 seconds, “Time in a Bottle” is surely one of the greatest songs to come from a career cut much too short. Perhaps Croce said it best when he sang, “But there never seems to be enough time / To do the things you want to do, once you find them.”

4. “Time” – Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd’s “Time” focuses on how time can easily slip by with many people not realizing until it’s too late. Pink Floyd’s bassist and vocalist Roger Waters has said that he first got the inspiration for “Time” after realizing that at 29 years old, he was no longer preparing for the thing but was in fact already in the middle of it. It can be easy to lose track of time but use these lyrics as a reminder not to: “You are young and life is long / And there is time to kill today / And then, one day, you find / Ten years have got behind you / No one told you when to run / You missed the starting gun.”