time for you to go out to the places you will be from

disclaimer: for those of you who read ArchVoices, i totally had this entry drafted before they released their edition friday.

well, i'm back in arkansas - certainly not where i thought i'd be, but definately where i need to be right now. being back here always leaves me melancholy and distant; sometimes i'm not even sure i can drag up the memories of this place. for the most part all that's left is the vague feeling of the typical drama associated with high school and the smell of chemical plants. it's a place i'll never again associate with 'home.'

i'm currently sans ipod (it isn't broken this time; i just left it with a friend and haven't gotten it back yet), so on the long ride from the airport to here, i turned the radio up as loud as i could and sang along (something which is hard to do in DC since i don't have a car). i haven't listened to the radio in years, so most of the time was spent on scan mode, but the songs i ended up hearing seemed to define my memories of arkansas. nothing says "welcome to the south" like 'sweet home alabama' (yes, i know DC is technically south of the mason-dixon line, but it's really a different world), and nothing reminds me more of summers on the lake in the ski-boat like garth brooks' 'rodeo.' and with the exception of sarah mclachlan's 'i will remember you,' nothing reminds me more of those last few months of high school like semisonic's 'closing time.' it's cliche, but it's amazing how a song can really encapsulate a moment in time.

semisonic . closing time