I guess you could say I’m a “nothing new under the moon” kinda gal.
I have long bought into the idea that if I am feeling a thing, oceans of others likely have too. One might consider the catalyst of this mindset being that I was a daughter of rural America — stuck in the middle of nowhere — with nowhere to go — but a bedroom floor — with nothing but big, small-town feelings — and then on comes the songs of '90s country radio. And all at once, I felt seen.
I could constellate a coming-of-age tracklist using only the best choruses that decade’s genre had to offer. Much like wines with the right courses, I would pair each song appropriately with a short-lived high -school romance or a tragic rival football game.
Because when Tim McGraw spent “$48 last night at the county fair,” I felt cooler in my blue jeans. When Deana Carter said “he was working through college,” I knew I wasn’t just a silly girl. And when the Dixie Chicks sang about “hugging her friends and kissing her mama goodbye,” I knew a move to Nashville was inevitable for me.
They all told me that they had been there before, and so I would be fine.
But '90s country didn’t just make me get on an airplane for the first time or save my babysitting money for county fair concerts. '90s country made me feel like I wasn’t the only one.
Cameron Powell
So, here we are finding ourselves all alone together in a year called 2020, where quarantine has brought me right back to that middle of nowhere town. I’m all alone on my bedroom floor — with nowhere to go — and nothing to do — but feel all my big, small-town feelings again. And for the past few months, I’ve taken all my loneliness, frustration, confusion, and misunderstood-ness out on the patio. And then I’ve poured a generous glass of adulthood and let the lyrics of 90s country pour out of my speakers. Until I don’t feel quarantine crazy anymore. Until it makes me feel like — once again —I’m not the only one.
QUAR MEMORIES PLAYLIST
Listen now on Spotify.
“Fix the sink, mow the yard, isn’t really all that hard… if you get paid.”
In Quarantine means: Ok, so this is why they say being a stay at home mom is the hardest job on the planet. Gotcha.
Song: XXX’s & OOO’s // Trisha Yearwood
“She’s on a roll and it’s all uphill.”
In Quarantine means: You might not be accomplishing much in life, but this is a really good time to take the training wheels off the kids’ bikes.
Song: Wild One // Faith Hill
“Another supper from a sack….”
In Quarantine means: Postmates is now my sister wife.
Song: Where The Green Grass Grows // Tim McGraw
“Send a fax or send me a letter or gimme a call that would even be better.”
In Quarantine means: Anything but another Zoom.
Song: I’m Alright // Jo Dee Messina
“Just get yourself lost with a sad country song…”
In Quarantine means: Just because you don’t have anywhere to go, doesn’t mean you can’t get in your car and go nowhere for hours.
Song: Shut up & Drive // Chely Wright
“She’s always lived for tomorrow. She’s never learned how to live for today.”
In Quarantine means: COVID-19 is not a productivity contest.
Song: Is There Life Out There // Reba
“We ain’t done nothing wrong. We’ve just been lonely too long.”
In Quarantine means: You don’t really need to get a divorce. You just need to go on a date.
Song: Lonely Too Long // Patty Loveless