What song makes you feel like you're part of something bigger?

My friend Gabriel and I went to see Live in concert. We knew all the words; the crowd knew all the words. It felt like the music was coming from our own bodies, our own throats. We both cried. I can't hear it without thinking of Gabriel and he's no longer here and that's both okay and really, really not okay, all at once.

What's your favorite opening line from any song?

Dearly beloved We are gathered here today To get through this thing called "life."

Share a song that makes you feel invincible.

Driving into the city (San Francisco) with the car's (Toyota Echo) windows down (no AC) across the bridge (Golden Gate) and feeling like nothing in the world (my tiny life) could be wrong (or right) ever (again).

What song do you turn to when you need to cry?

I mean. This one, and even more after I read about why Sufjan Stevens wrote it.

Kae Tempest floors me. Every time.

Songs are wormholes. I heard this track today and was immediately transported back to a library in Edinburgh where I was trying very hard not to dance while shelving books. And probably failing.

What's a song with lyrics you didn't fully understand until you were older?

It has been a long travel day and I am extremely sleepy, but in honor of being back in Chicago, here’s a song from a memory of riding around the north side with my cousins on a warm August night with this song on the radio.

I feel very confident that I had no way of knowing what these lyrics meant at the time. But I will always enjoy this song.

Bouncy anxiety hip hop. I'm into it.

Don't @ me, I'm sorry Don't happy, be worry

Describe the perfect song for a road trip and why it works.

This was an ice-breaker at a work meeting not long ago, and the only song I could think of was "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears, one of my favorite songs, and listening to any of my favorite songs would make any road trip better, but that's really stretching the definition of "perfect" and what is perfection, anyway? Why are we all striving for perfection? Isn't it better to be real, to be messy, and to be vulnerable? Why would we want to choose one song for any activity? What if we change our minds? We are innately mutable, capricious beings and I guess this is what it's like being in my head all day so you're welcome. Music.

What song would you use to describe your current relationship?

There have been a lot of schmoopy prompts already! But OK, I'll choose another one: "New Year" by The Go Find. FunkyPlaid made a mix for me when we got back together in 2007, and put this song on it, and every time I hear it I think about the giddiness I felt when we had found our ways back to each other.

I still feel that giddiness every time I remember that this is our life. "This is the new year I've been waiting for."