Memories of my visit home: 2 songs.

My one friend from high school who now runs a women's shelter had always had hippie-ish inclinations and listened to Pink Floyd and whatnot growing up, but then when she started doing her Ph.D. she discovered that she really liked to listen to Top 40 during her commute, and she really does have a genuine love of it.

When we were driving downstate - her and her husband always give me rides to and from the train station, since they live near it - the song "We Are Young" by F.U.N. came on, and she was like, "This is the sort of song where just listening to it you feel you've accomplished something."

(I think she meant that it is so inspiring, you felt like you had just accomplished something great, you were so high after listening to it.)

When "Empire State of Mind" came on, she said to turn the stereo up, and I mentioned how I loved how Jay-Z rapped above the beat and mostly on offbeats, and she was like, "You know, that's my favorite part of the song, it just sounds so cocky," and then we discussed how hard it would be to actually rap like that, but he makes it seem so effortless.