Swingin' Party

If bein' afraid is a crime, we hang side by side-The Replacements

This song makes me think of college. Not because we were listening to The Replacements a lot at that point, but because this seems to capture the boredom and ambition and waiting for life to start feeling which seems palpable in so many of my memories from that period of time. Wikipedia says the songs on the album Tim are "an assortment of alienated narratives from a motley crew of low-lifes and losers, often tragically unable to function as responsible adults." Which is a pretty apt description of all of us at eighteen. But there is also a sweetness here, like this should be the soundtrack for two girls walking around campus collecting empty beer bottles, ostensibly because one of the girls decided she had a crush on a guy who said he was sleeping on a sofa in the SU and surviving off of the bottle deposits, but mainly because it was something to do on a Friday night. Two short girls in vintage dresses and clunky shoes, giggling about boys between serious discussions about culture and art. Who we hang with is as much a coincidence as it is a choice and the universe knew what it was doing when it conspired to bring Tracy and I together. Because even with the distance of years and geography, even with the responsibilities of family and work, all it takes is a phone call and we are back there, eighteen years old, talking about books and waiting for our lives to begin (it's a good thing we can still fit in the dresses and never threw away the shoes).