Nick Recommends: “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem

I love this song on so many levels. LCD Soundsystem came on the scene about the same time I moved to NYC. At first, they annoyed me, but over the years, I have come to love LCD Soundsystem songs for what they are: honest, thoughtful and just plain great songs. ‘All My Friends’ encapsulates the hopes and relationships of a very specific era of my NYC life. It gets me every time.

This song grew on me when I started working in California. ‘All My Friends’ became the perfect companion for the five hour drive to visit my parents in the Bay Area. From the first keys to the final splashy snares, ‘All My Friends’ is the best Red Bull buzz-sing-along on long, dark stretches of Highway 101. I might have had this song on repeat from Santa Maria to Atascadero. If you ask me about solo ‘All My Friends’ karaoke sessions at the top of my lungs, I will probably deny it, though it might not be the truth.

‘All My Friends’ is closest to my heart because reminds me just how fast time flies. It brings me back to living rooms and rooftops in Brooklyn on summer nights, where we could be careless, ridiculous and obnoxious into the obscene hours of the morning, unburdened by time, expectations, or the approval of neighbors.

It has been years since I have been cool and care-free. I miss friends that I have not seen in a long while. I don’t miss trying to be cool, but I do miss those simpler times. I’m thankful for the freedom, joy, ignorance, arrogance, mistakes and laughter. To quote James Murphy, I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision for another five years of life. Those times were great, but I know I can never go back. We live in different times and I am a different person, but I will take those memories to my grave and smile, and every time the KEXP morning DJ plays ‘All My Friends’ and my coffee kicks in, all is perfect.