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My Gen X Playlist: Seasons of Love – The Cast of Rent

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What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?

I’ve lived in California almost my entire life. The one year that I didn’t, I was finally able to experience all four seasons. In that year, it was a tie between favorite months.

I lived near a river that was lined with cherry blossom trees. In April, they were in full bloom. It was beautiful watching the cherry blossoms fall in springtime.

In October, I hiked to the top of a mountain for an awe inspiring view. I always associated this time of year with fall. This was the first time I experienced autumn colors. I never felt the difference between fall and autumn until that day.

That’s one of the big drawbacks of living on the west coast. We don’t get to experience the four seasons. I’m glad I was able to for at least one year.

When I think of songs about seasons, I think of Seasons of Love from the Broadway musical Rent. There was a film adaptation as well. The clip is the opening scene to the movie.

Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson  The musical is loosely based on the 1896 opera La Bohème.

It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan’s East Village in the thriving days of bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

– wikipedia

I occasionally return to YouTube to get my fix on this song. I used to wonder how many cups of coffee would measure a year of my life. I imagine the number would be staggering. A last aside, I never knew that Law and Order guy could sing. Pretty talented.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

525,600 minutes
525,000 moments so dear
525,600 minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In 525,600 minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love
Seasons of love
Seasons of love

525,600 minutes
525,000 journeys to plan
525,600 minutes
How do you measure the life of a woman or man?

In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried
In bridges he burned, or the way that she died

It's time now to sing out
Though the story never ends
Let's celebrate, remember a year
In the life of friends

Remember the love
You got to, you got to remember the love
Remember the love
You know that love is a gift from up above
Remember the love
Share love, give love, spread love
Measure in love
Seasons of love
Seasons of love
Measure, measure your life in love

17 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Seasons of Love – The Cast of Rent”

  1. Such an iconic song! Did you see Tick Tick Boom? It’s Jonathan Larson’s story, before he tragically died – just as Rent opened off Broadway. Stephen Sondheim and many others have cameos.

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  2. Just like you, I have lived in the southwest for most of my life. I would LOVE to live somewhere that experiences all four seasons!
    Also, that song really makes you think. I feel like I need to get off my butt and make those 525,600 mins each year count!

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  4. I feel ya. I grew up in centra/northern California. When I first went to NY in the winter, I thought the trees were dead or there’d been a fire. >_< Ha!

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  5. cherry blossoms are a beautiful experience! and i feel lucky to live where i can experience all four seasons (even if i do occasionally moan about the winter!).

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  6. I can’t decide which season is my favorite. I am born in winter, and I lived most of my life in a country that has all four seasons well represented, Romania. I love winter, when it is really cold and we have heavy snow. That type that crunches underfoot. I like hiking in the mountains or to go skiing. Also, before and after Christmas there are so many nice traditions here, with a lot of fun around folk music and dances. Then spring comes, and the symphony of blossoming trees and insects buzzing is awesome. Summer is great, and I escape the town’s hot days either to hike in the mountains or to just spend lazy days on the beach, reading and bathing. I also love to go in the country side and experience true food, made with fresh vegetables, cereals and fruits. Autumn is beautiful, with people preparing for winter, cooking dishes that will last until spring. The forests are a dream of colors, taken from an artist’s inspiration. So, yeah, very hard to decide.

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  7. We didn’t have a proper fall on the coast either. It was something about the variety of trees as well. In the upstate of South Carolina there are all kinds of trees I never saw growing up. One the coast it was mostly pine trees and palmetto trees and they didn’t make for a spectacular autumn. But wow, autumn is gorgeous up here. I never realized how insanely gorgeous it is until we moved here. It makes everything look amazing.

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  8. A great musical piece! I haven’t seen ‘Rent’ but know this tune quite well.

    I am sure it might get a bit tedious not seeing the contrast of seasons though I recall with fondness a February in the 1980s, travelling from the bitterly cold Canadian prairies to Vancouver, BC where flowers were blooming, surrounding by green grass. It was a lovely little break from the nasty winter.

    Autumn has been weird here too; cold, snow, warm, rain, warm (no snow left), and now cold again.

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