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I didnt listen to much music in Senegal. This may surprise those of you who know that I spend inordinate amounts of time plugged into my ipod on a daily basis while studying, working and even—and I know this is not safe/horrible—while commuting to and from work on my bike. In Senegal, though, it was just too weird to listen to American music while walking the streets of Sor, so, for the most part, I’d share the occasional tune with a talibe (most of whom hated my music because it wasn’t rap or Vivienne) but otherwise, I’d leave the ipod in my bag. Sometimes, though, I really needed to listen to english and a little bit of home. In those moments, generally, I was drawn to stuff that I used to listen to as a kid—motown, classic rock, and folk. One day Genius took my request for a playlist of folk and handed me First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes. Now I’m not usually a huge Bright Eyes fan, although I do like Connor Oberst and Monsters of Folk, but this song totally caught me by surprise & got stuck in my head for days.
Fast forward a few months, and I’m back in the states working as a temp for my dad. Answering phones and doing paperwork is such a world removed from Espoirs de Demain that it’s almost possible for me to imagine that my whole experience was just a dream. Apart from random waves of intense nostalgia and/or anxiety worrying about the kids that I probably wont ever see again, I’ve been back in the states long enough to feel pretty much back at home for the most part. But then this morning, First Day of My Life popped up on my shuffle and I immediately was hit with an overwhelming feeling of “otherness” in my own room, missing the call of the muzzerin and the heat of the African sun. Later, when I got home, I grabbed the guitar and realized that the chords for First Day of My Life are actually totally do-able, even for me. haha. So here’s my little offering—I kindof get caught up in the words and trip up at a few points, but oh well. I’m just glad that I’ve figured out how to play it, even if it is a rather stripped down, simplified version!
