Retracing Old Roads with A Playlist

Complete with a picture from one of the many car rides my family and I take together, this playlist reminds me of something my dad always says, “Home is when the five of us are in this car together.” Home is a complicated word in my family because none of us has quite felt it. Born in the UK, with an American accent, of a Palestinian and Italian heritage, I have never felt I belonged to a place. I’m out of place in London with my generic American accent; I’m out of place in America with no citizenship; and Palestine and Italy are distant and unfamiliar to me. For me, home is on the road with my family.

The songs in this playlist aren’t necessarily associated with the word “home,” but they bring me memories of bickering in the back seats, frustration with missed highway exits, and a distinct Sousou car smell of coffee and mentos. When I was little, my brothers and I sat obediently in the back seat wishing for top pop chart songs by Taylor Swift and Sean Paul, but little did we know, we were being musically educated by the great names of the musical world.

Creedence Clearwater, Fleetwood Mac, and James Taylor are three of many artists that I slowly learned to appreciate, and soon enough, love. Whenever “Susie Q” by Creedence Clearwater came on I would roll my eyes, but my parents would crank up the volume, belt the lyrics, and hum the instrumentals.

Fleetwood Mac’s "Rumors" would always, without fail, be prefaced with my father saying, “I would listen to this album on repeat in college.” At the time, I wanted to listen to the angst on Avril Lavigne’s album “The Best Damn Thing,” but now “Rumors” is an album I often turn to for comfort.

Roads is a playlist that signifies home. The classics on the playlist will always be the five of us driving anywhere on the road feeling like we belong to Creedence Clearwater, Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, the Eagles, Neil Young, and many more.