Cookie recommends “Elsewhere” by Sarah McLachlan
If I could pick only one song to represent my college years, it would be "Elsewhere" by Sarah McLachlan. From the almost-discordant opening chords, this song holds me in thrall. The song feels so intimate, yet it is a bold declaration of what the singer wishes "Mother" and society at large would try to understand: "I believe this is heaven to no one else but me, and I'll defend it long as I can be left here to linger in silence if I choose to. Would you try to understand?" I think that music is the most powerful connective tissue we have to each other and this song helped me feel connected to every other 19-year-old woman who was just trying to live her life the way she feels is right for her and nobody else. Thank you, Sarah McLachlan, for understanding.
Cookie Hiponia is a writer, editor, and poet living in Seattle with her two daughters. Her first book is called WE BELONG and it is available wherever fine books are sold. Cookie is working on her second book as well as her third and fourth books, plus two other writing projects, all at the same time. She constantly needs a nap.
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