Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student assistant Luis (class of 2025) and features songs to help you decompress after a busy day.
Letting Go Of My Thoughts
This a playlist of mostly indie and indie pop artists with a few classic older songs from bands like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Jim Croce. I find that listening to these songs helps me decompress when I’ve had a long day and allows me to ease all the thoughts in my head.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
The first time I listened to a song on this album was my first time visiting New York, again after moving to Connecticut. Fittingly, I was sitting in a deli enjoying New York’s finest bagels and Jim Croce’s “New York’s Not My Home” came on. Soon I was engulfed by Croce’s lyrics and every sense of nostalgia. I guess you could say, my similar feelings towards New York made me first start listening to Jim Croce.
In 1968, Jim and his wife, Ingrid Croce, were encouraged to move to New York City by a record producer. They recorded their first album in the Bronx and drove around playing in small clubs and colleges. After being disappointed by the music business in New York, the couple sold all of their belongings except for one guitar to pay their rent and moved back to the countryside of Pennsylvania. Here, Croce was forced to pick up jobs like truck driving and construction work to pay the bills while he continued to write songs. What I like most about Croce’s songs is that many of them tell the stories of these odd times in his life that I find very relateable.
I also enjoy Croce’s style which I view as a mix of character, humor, and love that creates the most heartfelt and relateable material, especially in this album. In my personal opinion, this album is the best to listen to after a long day to help unwind. The common man feel to this album drops the crypticness of most of today’s folk songs but paves poetic lyrics that tells us a story.
