You better start livin' right now.

Saturday morning. It’s a dreary day but the smell of the french toast my beautiful wife Alex is making lights up the house. Our perfect daughter Lucy is running around going between laughing while chasing the dogs and screaming for mom’s attention, both are so cute. I’m trying to set the scene here!!!!

And on this particular Saturday morning, I just don’t have it. “It” being the drive to do anything, really. I feel like shit. I have literally everything I could possibly need and more, and I just can’t feel good about anything.

I forced myself onto our Peloton bike, decided to take this new Keith Urban ride on the front page…….and everything changed. Kind of. More on this soon.

A few weeks ago we went to visit Alex’s grandparents at a Senior Living facility in Arnold, MO. It got me thinking about the time I spent with my family during my grandparents final days at a facility much like this one.

The staff is underpaid, the food is dogshit, and it’s no secret what lies around the corner for most of the residents. It can be dark and depressing. My parents would say things like “Please don’t let me end up here.” and other sentiments about avoiding these facilities at all costs. No one enjoyed being in these places.

I don’t know what it was, but the visit last week was different for me. I hope I live long enough to end up there. Spending my final days with a smile on my face thankful for how I lived every day prior. That is my goal. Gratitude.

I often fall short of this feeling, but I am constantly working towards it.

Here are five songs that play off of this feeling:

Keith Urban - Days Go By

I have this memory of being on tour, maybe 2015? 2016? We were headed to Pensacola Beach on a day off. It was early in the morning as we were crossing the bridge that takes you into the beach town. Our drummer Teddy was up front with the windows open and blasting Keith Urban. Just a perfect soundtrack to set up a day of being at the beach with your friends. I remember this moment so much more clearly than anything we did that day. It was just one of those moments where your brain hits the pause button on life and you’re really able to take it in and feel grateful to doing what you’re doing.

Billy Joel - Vienna

I have become TikTok-obsessed. I love how weird it is. Two bros popped up in my fyp playing covers live at what looked like an olive garden and they played this song. Didn’t really do it justice but it was interesting enough that I googled the lyrics to find the real version. I don’t know much about Billy Joel, but I can’t turn this song off.

Weyes Blood - Picture Me Better

I listened to this song a lot after losing my grandfather. He was such a tough guy, and as pancreatic cancer started to eat away at him, he felt so much shame about his frail state. I think what I get from this song is different from what Weyes Blood intended, but that is one of my favorite things about music.

Father John Misty - In Twenty Years Or So

Fuck. The lyrics to this song are so good. A song about how similar to my Keith Urban Pensacola story above, it’s the little moments we cherish the most. Also, in a crazy twist of events, we saw FJM at The Ryman the night we found out Alex was pregnant. I wept through the entire show and just lost it while he played this song, which was unexpected as its a bit of a deep cut.

Superwolves - Resist The Urge

A gorgeous song about life and death.