When I Drove

Lyrical narratives for life navigation in 10 Tunes

The only time I’ve owned a car was in 2011, the last year I lived in Vancouver. A black, two-door, 90s Chevy Cavalier. A common car in Canada at that time. Since the CD player was broken, I had an input installed, so I could plug in my MP3 player to the stereo. I didn’t like driving much, but having a car was useful for a gigging musician. Listening to music in the car felt like a long-lost luxury, after I had been reliant on public transit (and thus listening via headphones) for the preceding eight years. Songs have and always will transport me farther than any vehicle.

This photo is misleading, my car was neither a convertible nor this sleek. Photo by Jesse Collins on Unsplash

There was one band that I played in the car more than any other that year. Mostly driving alone, their music was my navigator, a comforting passenger in a time of uncertainty. After the high of the 2010 Winter Olympics, which I worked on, I was finished with Vancouver. I was ready for a change of direction, a new destination, but I wasn’t sure where to go or how to get there. (The following January I moved to the UK.)