STEPHEN TO ANNE MARIE:

SB: What is your favorite song?

AM: Sjowgren - I Don’t Know!

SB: Have you heard any of these tracks before?

AM: Nah.

SB: Birthdays are always an interesting day. Sometimes you're able to escape. Sometimes you're trapped at work. But at some point, you take 2 minutes to reflect and (hopefully) celebrate. Is there a type of music you usually play on or around your birthday? Does it change with the year or do you have a secret b-day playlist that you dust off each time? If new, what are you thinking are going to be your go-to's this time?  

AM: This question kind of put me to shame because a “birthday vibe” seems like a great playlist to do every year and I don’t do it but I should. You’ve given me much to think about. Around my birthday I get more introspective than normal (if that’s even possible) and, sometimes because of that, I play music that is tied to great memories. This year, I can take you on a retrospective of the birthday jams that inadvertently got airtime…

—During a long drive with my man Sunny we peeped your November playlist…ok, that wasn’t inadvertent. We specifically planned to listen to it.

—I do bossa nova in the mornings when I’m washing dishes, sipping coffee, and thinking about all the things.

—We did a lil Ariana Grande action because last year we smushed into a buddy’s car in Tahoe and played it ironically, except it wasn’t ironic and even the guys were bobbing their heads… so when I play her now I think of that car ride and it makes me happy.

—Iris by Goo Goo Dolls got a lot of play but I can’t for the life of me remember why now.

—James Bond theme song. A birthday tradition.

—Sad folk music courtesy of Sunny, a la Phoebe Bridgers.

ANNE MARIE TO STEPHEN:

AM: What is your favorite song?

SB: Going with Afro Blue, I mean what a vibe!

AM: Have you heard any of these tracks before?

SB: JAWNY is the only repeat for me.

AM: I’m flipping your question from last month. What lyrics have really gotten you bad? Snuck up on you and were a shot to the heart. Made you immediately feel like “I’ve been there” or “that’s so real”?

SB: Ok, you know this is a tough question for me since I rarely listen to lyrics, even on some of my favorite songs. That said, there are a few songs/artists that stand out. I'll start with Kathy's Song by Simon and Garfunkel, specifically, "And so you see I have come to doubt all that I once held as true I stand alone without beliefs, the only truth I know is you." This one hit hard in my senior year of college. Lots of crazy stuff happening around me, but there was this once constant that made it hurt less. And, yeah, I ended up marrying her.

Next up, I'll go with "I left my heart to the wild hunt a-comin', I live until the call, And I plan to be forgotten when I'm gone, yes I'll be leaving in the fall" by The Tallest Man on Earth. Death's obviously a morbid topic, so much so that people usually don't put it into songs. But despite the heavy lyrics of this one, it still feels optimistic to me because it's talking about enjoying the adventure while you can and that always resonated with me.

The final one is Murder in the City by The Avett Brothers. But in this case it's an alt lyric that they played during a live show. The lyric goes "Make sure my sister knows I loved her, make sure my mother knows the same, always remember, there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name." However, right after Erin found out she was pregnant with Norah, I heard the live version from Bojangles' Coliseum which was recorded in 2009, and in that version, Scott Avett changed the lyrics to "Make sure my daughter knows I loved her, make sure her mother knows the same..." because his daughter had just been born. And when hearing that the crowd goes crazy and it just destroyed me. It was the first time I had ever thought about how I'd want them to remember me after I'm not around to take care of them any more. So yeah...there you have it!