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Each week for the summer, our fabulous counselors will be contributing to a Spotify playlist with songs that they love and want to share with you – and that apply to the week’s theme! And each week, we will publish some of their thoughts about why they chose their songs.
Here’s the playlist to Week 2: Go Wild
And here are our counselors!
Charlotte Abrams
Only the Wild Ones (by Dispatch)– I remember hearing the General by Dispatch being performed when I was at hive and have loved that song ever sense. I was so happy when Dispatch released this song and it had at least a ~similar~ vibe.
I Love the Rain the Most (by Joe Purdy)– such a camp/folky/vermonty/sitting-in-your-tent-during-rest-hour-and-watching-the-clouds-move vibe
Have you Ever Seen the Rain? (by Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Beewin
Under the Quarter Moon (by Carla Sciaky): This song is about the first lake I fell in love with (Lake Superior), but I think it works just as well for Fairlee and Morey! In the first verse she mentions “ancient footsteps washed before mine” which acknowledges the passing generations of our community and how we are all connected!
Georgia Dare
Bad Dream (by The Mowgli’s): A few years ago, I drove across the US from Los Angeles to New York City. On our drive days, when we first got in the car, we would play this song. It helped kick start our day and got everyone excited about the sights we would see and the new city we were heading to! Even to this day, every time I hear this song I still think of that road trip!
Take Me Home (written by John Denver; this version performed by Toots and the Maytalls): Simply a camp classic
Roar (by Katy Perry)
Henry DeRuff
Old Pine (by Ben Howard): I chose this song because the guitar intro and airy vocals put me in the same sort of contemplative, reflective mood I often feel at Sunday Gatherings at camp. There’s a subtle, growing joy to the song that mirrors some of my favorite experiences at camp: special moments on overnights and trips come to mind. The song is literally talking about memories of a summer spent outdoors. It’s making comparisons & connections between the human characters of the song and their natural surroundings; that feeling, of being profoundly & deeply connected to my surroundings is the reason I return over and over to the outdoors to ground myself and reconnect with myself, others, and the world around me. On 5-day Adi Peaks as a camper (with Alex Sadie & others!) was the first time I remember experiencing that feeling.
Val Elefante
Breathin’ (by Ariana Grande): Ok, this song is SO GREAT and never blew up like the other ones on the album for reasons I will truly never understand. It makes me think of hiking a mountain and stepping to the beat, breathin’ to the beat, as you get into those high altitudes. Maybe I should’ve been a Woodchuck…
Meg Fitzpatrick
Sweet Disposition (by Temper Trap): I play this song at the pinnacle of all my hikes. It is so beautiful to listen to and look out over a gorgeous view!
Hal Juster
No Matter Where We Go (by Whitney)
Green Garden (by Laura Mvula)
Eliza Kissick
Compass (by Lady Antebellum)
Homegrown (by Zac Brown Band)
Alex Lipoff
Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day (by Jethro Tull): This song is from the 70’s, I believe, and is actually about climate change! The lead singer, songwriter, and flute-player extraordinaire — Ian Anderson — is talking with optimism about facing the changing world and a changing climate to which we have to adapt, bravely and decisively. These themes still resonate today, of course.
Sara Liptrot
Here Comes The Sun (by the Beatles): This song reminds me of being on a beautiful hike and seeing the sun filter through the leaves. Everything is alright because you are with good people, somewhere beautiful and it’s summer. It is so joy-filled and reminds me of the euphoria of reaching the summit of a mountain after a hard hike – and long winter and spring – and finally getting to bask in the sun and take in the view with all your friends.
The Wind (by Cat Stevens): Just a beautiful song that reminds me of the joy of the simplicity of just having a backpack and a map in your hand. It’s a delicate, short song that to me sounds like a beautiful soft breeze blowing though the leaves and it soothes my soul.
Charlie Mayhew
Sunflower (by Vampire Weekend, feat. Steve Lacy): When this song was first released as a single I was NOT a fan — and they even shot the music video at my favorite NYC breakfast spot, Barney Greengrass (now cleared to reopen following a failed health inspection!). I GREW to love “Sunflower.” Much like a real sunflower grows in a garden, in fact.
And It Stoned Me (by Van Morrison): It’s about being outdoors. In a rainstorm. Fishing. Not a whole lot else to say.
Matt Smith:
Corner of the Sky, from the Pippin musical soundtrack (by Matthew James Thomas): I promise my choices won’t be soundtracks every week! I get the unshakeable image of standing on Eagle’s Bluff when I listen to this song. You gotta listen to it to get what I’m feeling I think, but there’s this sense of urgency in the song of trying to find a place to be free, yourself, and whole. As I listen to just this one voice hitting impossible notes and dancing through the lyrics, I picture a lot of Hillside and Lakeside hikes and canoe trips, and I recall all the freedom of running around the athletics field for a Free Evening soccer game until I’m tired and itchy from the grass. The entire musical is about finding one’s identity in a world that asks us to be different versions of ourselves all at once, and how we navigate those moments when the role we’re supposed to play feels different from who we’re supposed to be. In this song, Pippin just wants to leave that all behind, and go find a place to be himself, his own “Corner of the Sky.” For me, that place has long been the Vermont outdoors, and all this song makes me want to do is shout a tremendously loud “LANAKILA” off the top of Eagle’s Bluff.
Lindsay Stelljes
Wildflowers (originally by Tom Petty; this version by The Wailin’ Jennys): Wildflowers has always been my favorite camp song and some Aloha counselors performed this version in 2018 on Rainbow Sunday. So, this song always makes me think about camp and how beautiful our home in Fairlee is!
Morgan Towle
Dancing in the Moonlight (by King Harvest)
Indiana (by Adrianne Lenker)
