The Soote Season (Themed Playlist)

Henry Howard

"The soote season, that bud and bloom forth brings 

With green hath clad the hill and eke the vale; 

The nightingale with feathers new she sings; 

And turtle to her make hath told her tale. 

Summer is come, for every spray now springs; 

The hart hath hung his old head on the pale; 

The buck in brake his winter coat he flings; 

The fishes flete with new repairèd scale; 

The adder all her slough away she slings; 

The swift swalllow pursueth the flies small; 

The busy bee her honey now she mings; 

Winter is worn that was the flowers' bale. 

And thus I see among these pleasant things

Each care decays, and yet my sorrow springs."

To me, this poem is about observing how life goes on about you, but you still feel stuck; you can see and even appreciate the beauty of the world, but you, yourself, are unable to progress, time passing you by with the same ball-and-chain still weighing you down. 

This playlist is not entirely depressive (though a certain kind of melancholy pervades). Ever since we went over this poem in my Critical Literature Theory class, it's been stuck in my head and I found externalizing it in music form useful.

I'm mostly picking these for their feel and aesthetic, not always for their lyrical content.

1.  The Microphones - I Want Wind to Blow  ||  Released 2001  ||  Indie Folk  ||  poetic, nature

2. American Football - Never Meant  ||  Released 1999  ||  Midwest Emo  ||  bittersweet, introspective

3. The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes  ||  Released 1969  ||  Pop Rock  ||  soft, melodic

4. PJ Harvey - Silence  ||  Released 2007  ||  Chamber Folk  ||  lonely, cold

5. Black Country, New Road - Bread Song  ||  Released 2022  ||  Post-Rock  ||  melancholic, breakup

6. Archive - Shouting Within  ||  Released 2022  ||  Art Rock  ||  introspective, lonely

7. The National - Humiliation  ||  Released 2013  ||  Indie Rock  ||  longing, sentimental

8. Portishead - Roads  ||  Released 1994  ||  Trip Hop  ||  lush, depressive

9. The Beatles - I'm Only Sleeping  ||  Released 1966  ||  Psychedelic Pop  ||  melodic, poetic

10. Sia - Breathe Me  ||  Released 2004  ||  Chamber Pop  ||  sad, passionate

11. The Flaming Lips - See the Leaves  ||  Released 2009  ||  Experimental Rock  ||  heavy, ominous

12. Universal Hall Pass - Dragonfly  ||  Released 2004  ||  Trip Hop  ||  playful, nature

13. Jon Brion - Ok  ||  Released 2008  ||  Modern Classical  ||  existential, atmospheric

14. James Blake - Unluck  ||  Released 2011  ||  Future Garage  ||  cold, calm

15. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands  ||  Released 1987  ||  Alternative Rock  ||  atmospheric, romantic

16. Björk - History of Touches  ||  Released 2015  ||  Glitch Pop  ||  love, sentimental

17. Radiohead - All I Need  ||  Released 2007  ||  Alternative Rock  ||  lush, atmospheric

18. Arcade Fire - Wasted Hours  ||  Released 2010  ||  Indie Rock  ||  mellow, melodic

19. Chelsea Wolfe - Flatlands  ||  Released 2012  ||  Dark Folk  ||  poetic, autumn

20. The Field Mice - Letting Go  ||  Released 1989  ||  Dream Pop  ||  surreal, hypnotic

21. Slowdive - Alison  ||  Released 1994  ||  Shoegaze  ||  poetic, sentimental

22. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea  ||  Released 1998  ||  Indie Folk  ||  cryptic, bittersweet

23. UNKLE - Rabbit in Your Headlights  ||  Released 1998  ||  Trip Hop  ||  dark, sarcastic

24. Peter Murphy - Loctaine  ||  Released 2014  ||  Post-Punk  ||  dark, rhythmic

25. The Glands - Ground  ||  Released 2000  ||  Indie Rock  ||  melodic, bittersweet

26. Fleet Foxes - The Plains / Bitter Dancer  ||  Released 2011  ||  Indie Folk  ||  philosophical, melancholic

27.  Flotation Toy Warning - A Season Underground  ||  Released 2017  ||  Chamber Pop  ||  cryptic, introspective

28. The Smile - Skrting on the Surface  ||  Released 2022  ||  Art Rock  ||  abstract, mysterious

29. Coldplay - We Never Change  ||  Released 2000  ||  Post-Britpop  ||  mellow, melodic

30. Jon Brion - Something You Can't Return To  ||  Released 2008  ||  Film Score  ||  sad, existential

31. Chelsea Wolfe - The Way We Used To  ||  Released 2012  ||  Dark Folk  ||  melancholic, sentimental

32. The Smiths - There Is a Light That Never Goes Out  ||  Released 1986  ||  Jangle Pop  ||  death, love

33. Emancipator - Soon It Will Be Cold Enough To Build Fires  ||  Released 2006  ||  Trip Hop  ||  cold, calm

34. Julien Baker - Blacktop  ||  Released 2015  ||  Singer/Songwriter  ||  depressive, somber

35. Grizzly Bear - Disappearing Act  ||  Released 2004  ||  Psychedelic Folk  ||  surreal, raw

36. Nick Drake - From the Morning  ||  Released 1972  ||  Contemporary Folk  ||  calm, poetic

37. Max Richter - On the Nature of Daylight  ||  Released 2004  ||  Modern Classical  ||  sentimental, soothing

38. Radiohead - Decks Dark  ||  Released 2016  ||  Art Rock  ||  cold, lush

39. Chelsea Wolfe - Survive  ||  Released 2015  ||  Darkwave  ||  apocalyptic, depressive