music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything
- plato
asked to make a playlist of what I listened to on the francigena, I have two ideas. the first is to share playlists I made when I left new york, very simply, the titles of these songs are "anywhere", "runaway", "no roots", "free as a bird", and "my way". but there is another list of songs discovered along the way. they are not as thematically clear, but became they became the soundtrack to some of my favorite moments. this is a list of those.
phase: northern france I terrain: rural, flat, sunny, wheat fields
sign of the times - harry styles
lyrics to belt out: JUST STOP YOUR CRYING IT WILL BE ALRIGHT - when you want to stop at 25km but lack of accomodations forced you another 4 hours of walking to next town- ALL MY FRIENDS ARE TURNING GREEN - when you hardly spoken to a soul all day and are surrounded everywhere by shimmering jade stalks of wheat
phase: juras I terrain: forests, fields of cows with bells, tall grass
stupid girl - the rolling stones
lyrics to belt out: THAT’S WHY I MOVED AWAY I NEED PRIVACY SURROUNDED BY THE TREES - this sounded about right - I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE CLOTHES SHE WEARS, LOOK AT THAT STUPID GIRL - when i took a wrong turn to road walking on winding mountain highway with no shoulder and resorted to tiptoeing on the concrete barrier just alongside, I didn’t feel very smart.
phase : lac leman I phase: cool city, lake beaches, roads, rain
yes i’m changing - tame impala
lyrics to belt out: ARISE AND WALK, COME THROUGH…THERE’S A WORLD OUT THERE IT’S CALLING MY NAME, IT’S CALLING YOURS TOO - in Orbe, I woke up in the middle of a dream with this stuck and my head and I was coming to terms with an injury, this motivated me to start again - petit biscuit was introduced to me on the road; no lyrics, just a vibe
phase : alps I terrain: climbing, forest, snow-capped mountains, sound of music hills
lyrics to belt out: I START TO HESITATE, RIGHT WHERE THE LIGHT ESCAPES, BUT YOU KEEP TAKING ME HIGHER - from martigny to GSB, it’s all climbing, and between these words and the beat drop, I liked to pretend I was being pulled up by a higher force - THERE’S NO MOUNTAIN YOU WON’T CLIMB UP, COMING AFTER ME - this is an intentionally spiritual song about the love and presence of God, when I hardly saw a single soul in the woods hiking for hours, it comforted me
phase : pavia hospital I terrain: uncertainty, off-trail, cities, rice fields
you’ll never walk alone - roger and hammerstein
lyrics to belt out: WALK ON, WALK ON WITH HOPE IN YOUR HEART, AND YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE - this took me through some tough times, when I wasn’t sure if back pain would force me to stop
phase: tuscany I terrain: surreal treeless fields and rolling hills
fearless - pink floyd
lyrics to belt out: YOU SAY THE HILL’S TOO STEEP TO CLIMB, WELL CLIMB IT - pretty self explanatory. my friend shared this with me on an uphill, and it instantly resonated. bonus is the sample of the Liverpool stadium singing “WALK ON” at the end.
phase: viterbo to rome I terrain: cities, fig trees, road walking
lyrics to belt out: HOW CAN WE GO FORWARD INTO SOMETHING, WE’RE NOT SURE OF - each time I passed into a new country I felt some trepidation and uncertainty, but on the last days of the francigena I started feeling this as I looked forward to reaching Rome.