Hüsker Dü - Makes No Sense At All

I remember the first time I heard this song. It was Thanksgiving Break 2002, three days after my parents got divorced and my mom moved to South Carolina. I was in the basement with my dad where he kept all of his records, and where sometimes we’d listen to the Talking Heads or Tom Waits and I’d learn invaluable lessons about the publishing industry or what not to do when you’re married. He’d even play the Ramones, and, occasionally, spin an XTC record that I probably didn’t know how to appreciate at the tender age of 12. But that night, I listened to Flip Your Wig with my dad in what was the only time I’ve ever seen him cry.

The second time I heard any part of this album was a year ago, just after my mom died. It was way too cold and way too early to be awake, I was in a car being driven back to Cook with a guy I barely knew, and out of all the songs on his iPod, he played this one. I remember spending the next week or two listening to Flip Your Wig on repeat. It became that album that will always remind me of that ride home, or the way Cook looks in mid-November, of how much I lost last fall and how much I gained. Anyway, “Makes No Sense At All” came on today while I was walking to Bio lab, and I figured I’d begin my October contribution to songjournal with the song — and album — that marked two different beginnings in my own life.

Enjoy the fall weather and stay warm tonight, tumblr.

- Sarah