When Dreams Feel Normative

Music videos from my early high school years will be forever ingrained in my memory bank. Something about the larger than life, dramatic visuals made me hit replay again and again, one of which included an alternative band. When that chorus hit, it was incredibly smooth, almost like someone singing in the fog by a lake. The bass mixed with the eerie vocals just did something unexplainable to me. Having fallen in love with it, I had to find the video, which portrayed the lead singer in a house at night, his face lit by passing cars’ headlights through a window. 

I can still see that exact image in my mind. Like I said, music videos are powerful. They take whatever imagery you had originally imagined for the song, and replace it with something you can’t forget, the original wiped clean. 

Little did I know as a then high schooler, that one day I’d be driving that lead singer around when he had a concert in town. Working as a runner for the Mercury Ballroom, my job was to get whatever the band needed on show day. I remember seeing Aaron walking down the street toward the venue that morning, and I approached him introducing myself, surprised by how calm I was. Later that evening, I drove the band members that could fit in my car to their hotel with Aaron in tow. I didn’t express my love for them, which I slightly regret, but played it cool, trying to make their ride enjoyable rather than annoying. 

When I drove away that night, the younger Natalie inside was freaking out. I couldn’t believe Awolnation, the band who invented one of my top favorite songs, was in my car, depending on me for a day. To this day, that song, “Sail,” still gives me chills in the best way possible with an added sense of enhanced proximity.