Don't Stop

I was driving down a volcano in Hawaii when I realized how much I like stops in songs. It was spring break of my 8th grade year, and I had just made a playlist of my newest favorite songs for that week. One of those songs was "San Diego" by The Cautious. Of the 10 or so songs on that playlist, during that two-hour-long, dark, exhausting car ride, this was the one I kept coming back to. The only explanation I had for it was the "stop" in the middle of the song.

When I say "stop", I don't mean long pauses of silence. I mean quick, dramatic moments in the song where either everything stops for a second, or all the instruments stop for a moment while the vocals keep going.

"San Diego" was just the first song with a stop like this that I fell in love with. After that trip, the only thing I looked for in a song was a stop like that one. I can't really even explain why I like them so much, but they get me so excited. When I know a stop is coming, I'm looking forward to it for the whole song. When playing one in the car, I will hush everyone else present before it comes so I can listen to it with no distractions. My whole body freezes until the song resumes. In that one moment, I feel more excitement, love, and passion than 10 non-stop songs provide me with. It's my favorite genre of song.

By the first semester of my freshman year in high school, I had accumulated enough stop songs to make a playlist. I've found them in many genres spanning all decades; Fleetwood Mac, Futurebirds, John Mayer, and Taylor Swift have all made more than one appearance, and the list is still growing. I've even had songs dethrone "San Diego" as my number 1 - you'll just have to listen to get it. My current front runners now include “Blue Letter” by Fleetwood Mac, “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” by REM, and “Killing Ground” by Futurebirds. Once you notice them, you’ll never be able to not notice them, and it is my absolute favorite surprise in any new song.

Here is my full playlist, let me know if I’m missing any!