it feels like home to me

So, I have been traveling for work of late, and for the next 6 months, such will be my life. And while my bed is missed and giving up my apartment is going to be so bittersweet, I am beyond grateful for this amazing opportunity.

After the initial sadness of giving my notice to leave the first "home" I've ever had on my own, I realized that home isn't necessarily a physical place, it's more of a feeling. It's a feeling of comfort and familiarity and love. 

And surprise, surprise, certain music feels like home to me. 

She makes the sound, the sound the sea makes to calm me down. 

I love ∆ (alt-j), a ridiculous amount. I sometimes find myself getting upset because they don't have enough songs, though even with the limited amount, I still can't come close to picking a favorite. Each one evokes an entirely different set of emotions than the one before, but only one feels like home. That song would be Dissolve Me.

Now dissolve me, two tabs on your tongue. A herd of shepherds to herd the sheep, sleep now my only one. 

The next song is one that I play every time there is a pretty day in Memphis, sunroof open, the sun shining, coming down Madison, ready to take on the city come nightfall. It's predictor of good things to come. It's Portugal. The Man's Modern Jesus.

Don't pray for us. We don't need no modern Jesus to roll with us. The only rule we need is never giving up. The only faith we have is faith in us. 

When I listen to this one, I tend to replay it two or three times before venturing to the next song. I seriously can't get enough of it. I imagine it makes me feel like home because of the aforementioned reason, but also because when I listen to it, I feel like I can seriously do anything. So in a sense, because I know who I am and what I'm not, it empowers me, and makes me feel at home, at peace.

We know that we're helpless, at least we always assume. But we don't need to prove nothing to you.

And then there is Ocean Breathes Salty. The actual lyrics don't really make me feel like home, but the music itself does. It also helps that Modest Mouse is my brother's favorite, and what is a better reminder of home than that?

And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both grow old. Well, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. I hope so.

Alright, last one.

Dumbed down and numbed by time and age. Your dreams the catch, the world the cage. The highway sets the traveler's stage. All exits look the same. 

Maybe this one is self-explanatory, but it still applies. The Avett Brothers have my heart, so anything they've ever done will feel like home, ('cause home is where the heart is...bah).

Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in. Are you aware the shape I'm in? My hands they shake, my head it spins. Oh, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in. 

While traveling is fantastic, it's as equally exhausting. When I'm on that last plane home, the feel of my own bed so close, but still out of reach, this is the song I gravitate towards. And it's perfect in general.

Though I have no lyrics to post, Explosions in the Sky may be the best example of music feeling like home to me. I can put them on, and my stress dissipates, I sleep better, and some of the ache of being homesick eases. I feel their music in my entire being, sending a warmth through me, a musical hug of sorts. And that's the best thing about being home: the hugs, and hugs are the easiest way to feel loved, to feel like you're home.

She makes the sound the sea makes knee deep in the North Sea.