My Gen X Playlist: Better Place – Rachel Platten

My siblings and I grew up with a bunch of families we met through playing sports. Our families became close. We vacationed together during the off season. Summers were spent hiking and fishing. We headed to the slopes to ski during the winter. We did this most years, but eventually when we went off to college, our families saw less and less of each other.

Years later, when we were all grown, our retired parents reconnected and began to meet on Tuesday mornings for breakfast. They had a number of restaurants in rotation, where they enjoyed their senior discount and good company. The waitresses began to get to know them, one even memorizing everybody’s order. She would smile and ask the table, You want the usual? There was over ten of them, so that was a pretty impressive feat when she laid the plates down one by one. One Tuesday I happened to join them. It felt like I was with my aunties and uncles laughing, listening to old stories about back in the day or new ones about their kids and grandkids. They really were family.

The weekly breakfast was suspended due to Covid. After Covid, I encouraged my mom to start it up again. It just takes one phone call to get the momentum going. Maybe one day, she said.

They are all getting into their eighties now. Sadly, over the years, a number of them have passed away. Today, I’m driving my mother and her friend to a funeral service for their friend. I’m sure we’ll see the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Gang there, all of them gathering to say goodbye. It will be a sad occasion, but also a time to reconnect once again. Many of them have been friends for almost fifty years. That’s really a long time. I’m sure after the service, we’ll all get together, maybe for a meal. It seems fitting, gathering around a table, exchanging stories and memories. That’s what families do.

I didn’t want to choose a sad song for the playlist today. My sister in law made a slide show for my father’s celebration of life. One of the songs she used was Better Place by Rachel Platten. The first time I heard this song was at the service and it fit perfectly with the slide show. It made a beautiful tribute to my dad. I always tear up whenever I hear it.

I wrote the song at “a tiny little place on 17th and there was a beautiful tree outside the window … The sunlight would always look really golden and it would make me feel really hopeful about the day, even though things in my life weren’t going great.”

– Wikipedia

This video has 27 million views and I think half of those are me listening on repeat, I just never get tired of it.

– YouTube comment from penellazollner9599

I’m not crying. Just my house is made of onions.

– YouTube comment by rachel_cozma

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

I'll tell the world, I'll sing a song
It's a better place since you came along
Since you came along
Your touch is sunlight through the trees
Your kisses are the ocean breeze
Everything's alright when you're with me

And ahh, you're my favorite thing
Ahh, all the love that you bring
Well, it feels like I've opened my eyes again
And the colors are golden and bright again
There's a song in my heart, I feel like I belong
It's a better place since you came along
It's a better place since you came along

I see the whole world in your eyes
It's like I've known you all my life
We just feel so right
So I pour my heart into your hands
It's like you really understand
You love the way I am

And ahh, you're my favorite thing
Ahh, all the happiness you bring
Well, it feels like I've opened my eyes again
And the colors are golden and bright again
And the sun paints the skies and the wind sings our song
It's a better place since you came along
It's a better place since you came along

Now I'm alright
Now I'm alright
Everything's alright

'Cause it feels like I've opened my eyes again
And the colors are golden and bright again
There's a song in my heart, I feel like I belong
It's a better place since you came along
It's a better place since you came along