Honey & Lavender

Lately, I’ve been noticing the large amount of songs in my rotation that contain the word “honey”: “Honey Hi,” “Hunnybee,” “Honeybody,” and just plain “Honey.” Instead of just making a playlist with songs about honey, I decided to switch it up a bit, alternating each honey song with a song about, or vaguely relating to, lavender. Unfortunately, there aren’t as many “lavender” songs as I thought there would be, so some songs are a bit of a stretch. Anyways, I thought the pair of themes could make a nice little playlist, especially in a time of the year when I rely heavily on Vitamin D gummies and an ultra-bright lamp to supply my serotonin.

I started with some oldies that I love, like “Honey Pie” by The Beatles, which always puts a smile on my face, and “Lavender (Take 4)” by the Beach Boys, rounding out the upbeat tone with some calming but oh-so-yummy harmonies. In the middle, I took a little instrumental break with the “Lavender Town Theme” from Pokemon, which is a little bit of a palette-cleanser going into the more contemporary stuff. From there, the playlist becomes smooth and sultry, with “Warm Honey'' by WILLOW and “Lavender Buds” by MF Doom. Some may say MF Doom and Tom Petty don’t belong on the same playlist, but I plan to prove them wrong. 

What resulted was a mix of saccharine tranquility, to make those long winter days a little bit sweeter.

— Lara Knopf