As summer has come into full swing, many students find themselves back in their hometowns for the next few months. Although the sights are familiar, returning home often reveals to oneself how much they have changed while away at college. Sitting in one’s childhood bedroom, it is easy to feel as if one has outgrown a bygone era of their life depicted on posters or in photographs. While someone navigates the growth from adolescence into a burgeoning adulthood, these four songs cover a range of developing feelings towards the hometown blues.
“Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac
One of the most classic coming-of-age songs, “Landslide” perfectly encapsulates feelings of growing up. Stevie Nicks’ soothing vocals play over a simple acoustic guitar melody to create a vulnerable tale of change. Nicks’ lyrics show an unending feeling of anxiety over the passage of time as Nicks sings about “getting older too.”
Nicks realizes that the life she has built is fragile and any form of change to that lifestyle feels as uncontrollable as the titular avalanche. While Nicks originally wrote the song about her marriage to Mick Fleetwood, drummer and namesake of the band, the sentiment of growing too big for one’s hometown can be interpreted throughout a variety of the lyrics. “I’ve been afraid of changin’ / ’Cause I’ve built my life around you” feels all too relatable as one realizes they no longer fit their teenage self. No matter how scary it feels to grow up, change is inevitable.
“New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” by LCD Soundsystem
The last track on LCD Soundsystem’s 2007 second studio album “Sound of Silver” discusses lead singer James Murphy’s discontent with how New York City has changed. Although originally hailing from New Jersey, Murphy and the band formed in Brooklyn, New York in 2002. The song begins slowly as Murphy states that while he loves New York he feels it has lost its spark, with the song crescendoing into a loud climactic ending over the course of a bombastic five-and-a-half minutes.
In a dual criticism and love letter to Murphy’s home base, he laments on how New York is still a cultural powerhouse but is becoming lackluster due to efforts by transplants to clean the city up. Through the lyrics “New York, you’re safer and you’re wasting my time / Our records all show you were filthy but fine,” Murphy addresses New York as an entity that has become too sanitized. Despite this evolution, New York is still “the one pool” where Murphy “would happily drown.” The stripped down, rawness of Murphy’s vocals represents a nostalgia for a hometown that — while still loved — is no longer the same.
“Mrs. Robinson” by Simon & Garfunkel
Famous for its appearance on the soundtrack for the 1967 movie “The Graduate,” “Mrs. Robinson” has since become a classic Simon & Garfunkel song. While not originally written for the movie, the track has become synonymous with the film which portrays a recent college graduate as he is caught between adolescence and adulthood. The folksy acoustic guitar and aimless lyrics represent the discontent of returning home after a formative change, only to remain still unclear about one’s own future.
Although the song is about the bygone era of America —- referencing Joe Dimaggio and American politics of the 1960s — its association with the film imparts a deeper meaning almost inseparable from its original intent. The lyrics “Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes / Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home” evokes imagery of isolation from the people and places around oneself, regardless of how familiar they actually are. Similar to many students who are returning home for the summer, the song embodies feelings of outgrowing one’s familiar surroundings.
“California” by Joni Mitchell
While the other songs on this list discuss change and the discontent with one’s place of origin, Mitchell’s folk rock classic tells a story of yearning for home. The artist’s mystical vocals sing about her travels around the world as she finds herself coming back to the comforts of home. The song is simplistically structured with an acoustic guitar —- played on the recorded version by James Taylor — taking the forefront of the instrumentals.
“California” represents an alternative side of the hometown blues, with Mitchell feeling a longing for her home despite going through periods of transition. Despite her travels across Europe meeting “a redneck on a Grecian isle” and going “to a party down a red dirt road,” Mitchell’s “heart cried out for [California].” Mitchell discusses how lonely it can feel when “the streets are filled with strangers,” reflecting on how she will always be drawn back to her home state. The song hints at the fact that maybe there really is nothing like home — a realization many college students come to on their journey to a new place.
College represents a period of deep change and self-exploration that can create a feeling of alienation from once familiar places. Whether one feels as though they have outgrown their hometown, are in between stages in their life or have a newfound appreciation for what their home means to them, these four songs are bound to give the listener a wistful feeling of nostalgia.
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