#MorningMusic with Stephen Furda

Development and Communications Assistant Stephen Furda's #MorningMusic playlist always puts him in a good mood. You can listen to his playlist here and read his thoughts on his selections below. 

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Song: “Bertha”

Performer: Grateful Dead

Album: Dick’s Picks Vol. 15: Raceway Park, Englishtown, NY 9/3/77

“The Grateful Dead often opened their sets with ‘Bertha,’ a joyous song with ambiguous, often funny lyrics about, in the words of lyricist Robert Hunter, ‘birth, death and reincarnation. Cycle of existences, some kind of such nonsense like that.’ For me, this song sounds like the beginning of a long and exciting and freeing journey, and it always puts me in a good mood.”

Song: “Medley: It’s All Right / For Sentimental Reasons”

Performer: Sam Cooke

Album: Live at the Harlem Square Club

“This Sam Cooke live album is a permanent fixture in my top 10 albums of all time. For me, it’s one of the greatest testaments to music’s ability to personally express what words cannot, and to performance as a euphoric experience. I picked this particular song because there’s a moment during ’For Sentimental Reasons’ where Sam says off-hand, ‘Oh, I like this song,’ as if he’s just realized that he’s experiencing that exact kind of euphoria.”

Song: “This Life”

Performer: Vampire Weekend

Album: Father of the Bride

“With their latest album Father of the Bride, Ezra Koenig synthesized the classic Vampire Weekend sound with the influences of all of the uncool 70’s records I like - the guitar sound on this track is right out of the Jerry Garcia playbook. And much like the Dead’s ‘Bertha,’ I like how this song mixes upbeat music with much more melancholy lyrics. I think they’re some of the best lyrics Ezra Koenig has ever written.”

Song: “What’s That Perfume That You Wear?”

Performer: Jens Lekman

Album: Life Will See You Now

“Jens Lekman is another one of my favorite songwriters. I got to see Jens perform while I was visiting his home country of Sweden in 2017, at a seaside restaurant/hotel called Slussens Pensionat, where the vast majority of the audience was hotel guests who were there to eat their dinner and were not familiar with his music. Throughout his performance, he won them all over. It is likely the greatest concert experience I’ve had. Afterwards, I told Jens that we had traveled there from Brooklyn, and that we had spent the day prior visiting his home city of Gothenburg, where we saw a few of the sights that he mentions in his songs. Jens promised to give me a tour of Gothenburg the next time I was in town. Hopefully I’ll be back soon!”

Song: “visions”

Performer: Charli XCX

Album: how i’m feeling now

“Charli XCX’s quarantine album is the first work of art to meaningfully portray what life is like in our new reality, particularly the strangeness of having all of your important relationships now confined to the digital realm. This album is also, like a lot of Charli’s work, very exciting, dance-able, and forward-thinking about the possibilities of modern pop music.”