This Is Not an Exit
Nickel Creek, The Wallflowers, Josh Ritter, and the music of endings
And all the wasted nights and empty moments in our lives
Are flushed away as we sway with the rhythm
—Saves the Day, This Is Not an Exit
This week’s Bonus Track is about life’s exits and the music accompanying us when we offramp from a particular season. It got Ben, Jonathan, and Kody in the spirit for nostalgic song selections. Here we go…
When You Come Back Down by Nickel Creek (Ben)
Nickel Creek was the first bluegrassy band I ever listened to. It takes me back to early college days — trying to flap my wings on my own and discover the great big world beyond high school.
Before I had a personal Spotify DJ or algorithmic suggestions, I asked friends what they listened to and an Allison Krauss fan recommended Nickel Creek. I’m not sure I even knew what a mandolin was, but I knew I liked what Chris Thile was playing. (Later to find out he’s possibly the best in the business). I had a chance to see them this week after not listening for a long while, and When You Come Back Down took me back to college. Even if it’s your first time hearing the song, you’ll sense in the lyrics a relationship where people are going different directions, and loyalty and hopes are expressed toward an unknown future.
One Headlight by The Wallflowers (Jonathan)
Second only to smell, music is the strongest trigger of nostalgia that can consume me. The sentimental longing or the not-necessarily-negative pain of not being able to return to a certain point in time can wash over me in a millisecond when a certain song hits my ears. I was telling the guys in our Swap text thread that almost all music can be nostalgic to me because of its emotive nature. But some songs are stronger than others, particularly the tracks from my high school years. My pick today is the one above all others in its ability to remind me of the reality that I can’t go back to those days. One Headlight, with lead singer Jakob Dylan’s vocals, would sometimes be heard twice on the radio on my short ten-minute morning drive to school. If I didn’t hear it on the radio, then the Bringing Down the Horse CD was playing on my Discman connected via cassette adapter in my 1988 Ford Ranger. This song gets me as close to those days as possible. And I guess that, for many of you, One Headlight has the same effect.
Roll On by Josh Ritter (Kody)
This song takes me back to my two short but sweet years in Phoenix, AZ.
West of her, there’s another place
The sun shines soft on another face
And a river falls on another sea
And west of her is where I’d like to be
When I hear this song I think of my “Roll On” Josh Ritter hat sitting on the dashboard as I rolled on down Scottsdale Rd. I did this several times a week following a 5:15am basketball run. Even that early in the day, I could feel the desert heat rising with the sun, and I loved it.
The song and the sun created the moments that made the West where I like to be.
Bonus Track: The End by Drew Meanor
There is something good and glorious about the end. Whether it is the end of an album, the end of a movie, or the end of a season in life, there is something beautiful and nostalgic about endings. And I have found music to be incredibly sweet in those moments. The music paints the picture perfectly. Certain songs for me capture those moments in a way I couldn’t articulate with words.
I love those moments. And I love remembering them through music.
Music has the power to make us feel nostalgic, sentimental, blissful, or even heartbroken when it conjures up the past. Music helps us recall memories and long for more moments like them in the future.
For example, I often think of the first time watching through “1917.” The final scene concludes with (SPOILER, but honestly it’s been four years, you should know by now) where Schofield meets the brother of his fellow lance corporal, Blake. Schofield tells him the news of how his brother died and how he was a good man. After the long-awaited meeting, Schofield finds a place under a tree to finally exhale after hours of fighting for his life to save sixteen hundred men from an ambush. As he finally sits down, “Come Back to Us” by Thomas Newman plays and man, it brings out all the feels. A moment of rest, and you finally can breathe after one hour and fifty-nine minutes of non-stop adventure. The fullness of the moment is portrayed because of the finale of Newman’s work. I could not help but be moved to tears because of the rush of the music and the moment. And every time I go back to listen to it, I’m transported back to the night of seeing it for the first time with my friends, Kyle and Sean.
I love a good album, and my favorite part of an album if captured well is the outro. One of my favorite outro songs is “More Heart, Less Attack” by NEEDTOBREATHE. “Rivers in the Wasteland” is an all-time album for me. There’s not a bad track on the album. “Oh Carolina,” “The Heart,” and “Where the Money Is” are all incredible. But “More Heart, Less Attack” time and time again hits closest to home. It has always been a song that reminds me of one of my favorite endings. It was the end of my four years at the University of Mobile. Every time I think of the day I moved away from Mobile, AL to Atlanta, I think about coasting down the main drive on campus, looking through the rearview mirror at the grounds where I spent four wonderful years of my life, and hearing,
“I’m down the river, I’m near the open;
I’m down the river, to where I’m going.”
Those four years felt like just the snap of a finger. Suddenly they were gone. And I was grateful for the wonderful memories and the people that filled those memories. Joy filled my heart, and “More Heart, Less Attack” captured the moment in a way nothing else could. I’ll never forget it.
As a Christian, I think the endings of albums, movie soundtracks, and certain seasons of life have always pointed me toward the very end: the day when Christian hope will be realized in the face of Jesus. The fondness we feel when we remember the ending of an incredible season of school or moving away from a place and people that we love is just an echo of the bliss we will experience at the greatest ending - greater than the best song in the best moment of the best season of life on this side of eternity. “Come Back to Us,” “More Heart, Less Attack,” and the moments that go with them pale in comparison to what comes next. I cannot wait for that ending.
What songs would make it on your “the end” playlist? I’ve compiled mine here:
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Drew Meanor is originally from Alabama and now lives in KC where he is finishing a biblical counseling degree in preparation for ministry. His all-time favorite band is Colony House. On his short list of artists to see live are Chris Stapleton, Leon Bridges, and Zach Bryan.
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It’s the end of the week! Listen to some music and make some memories.
-TheMusicSwap
"One Headlight" does have that vibe, doesn't it?
My band opened for the Wallflowers 2 years ago!