Welcome to 2020! Today in Seattle is gray, cold, and rainy, so it feels like a good idea to sweep in with a timeline cleanse.
Today’s cleanse was inspired by a particular song that shuffled through my playlist that made me want to wrap up in it like a well-loved blanket to wait out the storm. I realized I have a few songs that fit that bill. So today I’m going to share them. Here is a cleanse populated with some of my self-care & comfort songs. Share some of yours in comments if you like!
Kicking things off with the song that inspired the list, Aimee Mann’s “Red Vines.” Here’s a dang near perfect live recording from just over 20 years ago.
I’m not quite sure why this Indigo Girls song stuck with me in the way it has, but “Come On Home” has fits today’s bill.
My cohort introduced me to Gregory Alan Isakov a few years ago, and this song from his excellent album The Weatherman has resonated with me for some time.
From there we transition to Hem, which is the epitome of comfy quilt music for me. While “Half Acre” isn’t my favorite song of theirs, it is a perfect fit here.
Listen, I know John Mayer isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I know he’s said some hair-brained shit in the past. But his Born and Raised album came around at a perfect time for me and served as a bridge between myself and my best friend who was stuck all the way across the world at the time. And while I love most of that album, this song in particular has always stuck with me.
Going to close out with some Counting Crows. “Goodnight Elizabeth” from their superior second album Recovering the Satellites is perhaps one of my all time favorite songs of theirs. They put on a great live show and goddamned those lyrics give me life.
Tales from the Ragged Edge 
It’s like lullaby music! Like in that good soothing way. Do you like the live versions in particular or they are just what was easiest to find? (It seems like a lot of live versions.)
As a general rule, I like to default to live or alternative versions when I post if it’s a good recording. I like the live energy, and it can be a fresher take for someone who is already familiar with the song/artist from the studio albums. But if there is a good actual music video, that always gets a strong consideration–I just tend to like songs that don’t often get music videos made for them.