I’ve never felt like I’ve fit in. I used to be under the delusion that this was a singular feeling, that I was the world’s only misfit. The older I got, the more I realized how presumptuous of me that had been. I felt stupid, sure, for my feelings of isolation, but mostly I felt like I was Lucy discovering Narnia for the first time. I had spent my whole life thinking I was alone but suddenly, one day during my adolescence, I realized there was a whole world of misfits out there! And they wrote songs!
Nothing’s better than the feeling of being completely understood in four minutes or less by some attractive guy or gal with a guitar. I was sitting on the porch at my friend’s house not too long ago and she was playing me music as we chain-smoked cigarettes, something that I’m noticing is a recurring theme in my stories these days. It was one of our first times hanging out one-on-one and it was proving to be a great night because, with her playing DJ, it was very easy for me to judge her based upon her musical tastes and boy, she was busting out some jams. After some Iron Horse and The Hold Steady, she asked me if I’d ever heard of Laura Marling. I had, I said, but what I didn’t say was that I wasn’t that crazy about her. Of course, I hadn’t heard “Alas, I Cannot Swim”.
