Tara’s Emo College Car Rides Playlist

photo by lizzie rice

Tara’s Emo College Car Rides Playlist

fourth year tara parsa

It’s hard not to feel emotional with the school year ending soon, and knowing that after graduation my friends are moving across the country. Knowing that we won’t all be in Athens where somehow nothing is farther than a fifteen-minute drive. It’s the little moments where I’m reminded that this might be my last time going to Cook Out at 2 a.m. for an Oreo-M&M milkshake or showing up late to my 9 a.m. class after missing the Milledge Bus. I refuse to think about leaving Athens because every time I do, I start to spiral. Thinking about change and the unknown is overwhelming, and I’m not sure how to handle it. So, instead, I have to focus on something much more personal and intense: making Spotify playlists.

I have a playlist for nearly every mood. Recently, I’ve been playing my emo college car rides playlist, which is filled with songs that remind me of my best college memories and of my favorite people. It’s a playlist meant to be listened to at night, so I can stare up at the stars, in my feelings reminiscing on the memories and people I’ll miss. It goes a little like this:

To Build a Home

Remember the random late night texts you’d send asking if I wanted to grab a smoothie and drive to a parking deck to talk for hours and dance to this song under the stars? Or when we would call each other every day during quarantine, and it got to the point that anytime I was talking to someone my mom would immediately know it was you on the other end? When you were the first person I texted to ask if I should shave half my head when I felt the need for change and before you could even answer I was sending you live updates? You have become my home these past four years, so everytime I hear this song, I can’t help but think of every tight hug you have given me or every eye roll you make after I say something stupid.

Ribs

Nothing has been better than getting to live with you these past two years. I can’t thank you enough for the fresh baked cookies you’ve made when you knew I had a hard week or for washing my dishes when you see how exhausted I am. I hate cooking but making tomato soup with you is my favorite thing in the world. I don’t understand how we can spend so much time together and never get sick of each other’s company. Lorde couldn’t have said it better than “you’re the only friend I need,” because nobody else would let me text them every single thought I have during the day and respond with as much enthusiasm and sarcasm as you.

Someone to You

I have never had a bigger friend crush than after spending the weekend with you at a club retreat sophomore year. I have never met someone who was as kind and welcoming as you. Someone who resonated with so many of my experiences and made me love the taste of coffee after our weekly Walkers hangs. I am going to miss going over to your place to laugh at dumb reality shows with you and your roommates. I’m going to miss the feeling of walking into a crowded room every Tuesday night and feeling so overwhelmed until I saw you and immediately felt at ease. Thank you for replicating the feeling I get every time I listen to this song.

It’s hard knowing that these friends aren’t going to be in the same city as me in a few weeks. It’s comforting to know that when I’m listening to these songs and thinking of them, I can look up at the sky and know that wherever they are, they’re seeing the same stars as me. No matter where we are, we’ll still have that to share.