When I think of January I think of cold and darkness and the necessity of having a crush. And I do mean necessity. The winter in New York and anywhere else that experiences seasons is only endurable if you’re harboring a crush (or several). Trust me, I know. Yearning is fuel and a crush is the flick of the lighter you keep in your coat pocket. In the spirit of the season, here’s a playlist of songs that encourage crushing. Which is different from romance, though romantic rituals can be established in the crush phase (dabs of perfume on the wrists, a verse stuck in your head, an extra moment in the mirror). A crush is romance unrealized, or, for the lucky few, yet-to-be realized. Liner notes appear when absolutely necessary. Crush on.
“Being Alive” by Stephen Sondheim
Thank you to Christian for reminding me of this song and the winter during which I listened to it constantly in my forest green bedroom in Alphabet City. Winter 2019—the winter that Marriage Story was released, which put this song on my radar, and I was single and seeing someone casually for personal research purposes (do this, but only do it once—curiosity is a hotbed for feelings). A perfect crush song in that it captures the drama of wanting to be in love. And that’s how having a crush feels! Even though a crush rarely leads to love, if you’re doing it right.
“Candy Says” by The Velvet Underground
A major part of having a crush is walking around and thinking about it. This song is perfect for that. Also, it’s a winter song—I wrote about why for Wigleaf last year.
“Ooo” by Karen O
Literally from an album called Crush Songs, and it is. Marshall and I did our first dance to this song (our real one, the one in my granny’s backyard). Beyond our perfect first dance, this song will always be inextricably linked to a particular crush I had (one that did lead to love, and ouch!) in the winter of 2016. It was a crush that could only exist in the winter. We ran into one another at two house parties in the same weekend, which, to a romantic, is kismet. In memory, the crush phase of this relationship is a movie trailer. Sometimes that’s all you need. But I have a sick tendency to see things through. Go for broke. I wanted to dance with this to Marshall on the day we were married because it’s a song that feels like the optimism of a beginning.
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