Most people are surprised that spring is my favorite season. Others often tell me I seem “more like an autumn” person (whatever that means). Honestly I’m simply surprised spring isn’t everyone’s favorite season. The sun comes back, but not too much, plants peer up from their sleep in the ground, bugs and animals reamurge from migration, hibernation, or God knows where else, and everyone just seems happier. There seems to be more of a calm in the air, a rest point between the dark cold winters that threatens power outages and the unforgivable heat of summer that burns forests down leaving a fog of ash. Here are four songs that I think dose my favorite season justice.
“Turn!Turn!Turn!”- The Byrds
This song was originally written by folk artist Peter Seeger with lyrics taken almost verbatim from the book of Ecclesiastes, as found in the King James Version of the Bible, (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). But I grew up listening to the more popular version by The Byrds. The song is about the turning of time and seasons. Whenever I hear this song, it reminds me of spring because of the reference to the changing seasons and renewal.
The chorus was taken directly out of the bible, “To everything turn, turn, turn/ There is a season turn, turn, turn/ And a time to every purpose under Heaven.” The song stands as a reminder that everything is changing, growing, and dying. With this, my favorite lyric is in the last verse, “A time to gain, a time to lose./ A time to rain, a time of sow/ A time for love, a time for hate/ A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late.” The song shows that there is always a time for everything. There will be times you are deeply depressed, and times you are ecstatically happy. Either way, both are inevitable.
This is representative in the regrowth of spring after the cold barren winter.
“The Tulips on the Table”– Dan Reeder
In this song the narrator watches as spring arrives leading to the end of his relationship. The chords sound simple, but you can hear the sorrow in his voice as he repeats the chorus, “My baby don’t love me anymore.” The disdain his lover feels for him is obvious and hurts him. They can’t even watch a movie without fighting.
My favorite lyric is, “Tulips on the table mean that spring is on the way/ And the sun shines through the window like it hasn’t shown in days/ And lately you don’t listen to a single thing I say/ My baby don’t love me anymore.” Spring, for most people, is a happy point. But for him, it only brings the sorrow of rejection from the person who is supposed to love him the most. I think what makes this song so sad is the fact it’s never stated that they break up, simply they are just currently stuck together and completely miserable. Change isn’t always a good thing, it can be upsetting like the end of a relationship. Either way I’m under the optimistic philosophy that everything happens for a reason and just because something looks bad in the moment doesn’t mean it’s bad in the long run.
“Simulation Swarm”– Big Thief
Debatably one of their most popular songs for good reason. The song is an ode to her older brother “Andy” who her mother gave up for adoption before Adrianne Lenker was born. It follows a loving relationship between the two and encapsulates their bond with poetic metaphors. The song is upbeat in a peaceful way like spring. Her voice feels light, like a flower, and the metaphors feel reminiscent of a spring day.
My favorite lyric is the third verse, “Once again, wе must bleed new/ Even as the hours shakе/ Crystal blood like a dream true/ A ripple in the wound and wake/ You believe, I believe too/ That you are the river of light/ Who I love, that I cling to/ In the belly of the empty night.” The lyrics are her wish to be reunited with her brother, and to become whole again. I like the imagery of the song; it feels like scattered ideas of a mosaic eventually coming together to make one whole image. The first line saying, “once again, wе must bleed new”, reminds me of the continuous cycle of the seasons. Spring will restart and end every year just as the other seasons do..
“Crop Circle”– Odie Leigh
The song follows Odie Leigh as she proclaims she is going out of her way to keep others away from her. She is pretending to be older, worse and is desperate for a change in her life. By the end of the song she winds up begging for change. I love winter, but I find myself almost having a “stockholm syndrome” reaction to it. By the time spring comes around, I realize how miserable I was, and how much happier I am when I can see the sun and the plants.
My favorite lyric, “And I, I don’t think I’ve changed/ No and I’m too scared to stay the same/ So, my carpet’s got crop circles/ My carpet’s got crop circles these days.” I think her “crop circles” in the carpet are representing her pacing around in circles. Most people shy away from change but she needs it to continue her life. The tragedy of the song is that she belts out that she’s, “crying out for change,” in the last verse just for the last line to repeat that she hasn’t changed. I think this can be reflected in the desperate search for spring after a cold depressing winter.
Spring is marked as being a metaphor of growth, change, and renewal. I often see this in myself and others around this time. Even the most adamant lovers of winter and fall seem a little happier or take pleasure in their gardens, hikes, or simple walks to the store instead of driving. This is why I love spring because of the regrowth of my garden and the reemergence of animals in everyday life.
