When I hear the words “set it off” I immediately think of one of two things; the 90s crime action film featuring the Queen (Latifah) herself (if you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and get on that..right now) or else I think of the 1984 song by Strafe, “y’all wan’t this party started quickly, right?”
There was once a time in my life where I was driving one hour to sit in a cubicle and proofread dog food labels for eight hours straight. When I wasn’t having long existential conversations with myself on the way home, I was listening to songs like this. After a few months of contemplation, the levy broke, I knew just what I had to do. I quit my job, bought a one way ticket to Berlin, and never looked back.
Like many of the songs on this playlist, this one reminds me of my first few months in Berlin. It’s less dancier than the others, which makes it perfect for getting lost in thought while simultaneously ridding your boudoir of old U-Bahn tickets, bottle caps, and Sterni bottles.
Can we just agree that the feeling of “home” is an amazing one? Home is comfort, home is familiarity, home is safe. This song makes me feel grateful for my physical home and all the lovely people that I know who fill it.
Who is that special someone Duke? What are you giving? Do you have a single brother? *Asking for a friend. Regardless of who the song is about, we can all agree that they must be pretty damn special to inspire such a banging track.
When I first moved to Berlin, I didn’t know anyone, nor did I speak one bit of Deutsch. Those first few weeks were spent wandering around the city solo, getting lost (a lot), and listening to songs such as this one. Flash forward two years later — though I’m extremely proud of the awesome life I created, I never want to forget how magical the world felt those first few anonymous weeks.
I first heard about Monkey Safari when buying tickets to a techno festival called TH!NK? last summer. The one day festival took place in Leipzig, Germany right on a large lake. Footloose and fancy free festival goers (including this one) waved their arms and swayed their bodies in the water as DJs performed on the stage above. This song never fails to remind me of that magical day (and also put a huge fucking grin on my face.
Throw your hair up real big, beauty queen style, open those damn windows, and then turn this song up as loud as you can. What’s wrong with channeling your inner diva prior to getting down and dirty?
Wankelmut means fickleness in German which is quite fitting considering I have musical ADD. Yes, that’s me, the “voracious song skipper.” This song however, keeps my head bobbing until the very end. If your house is a jun-gle, jun-gle, this song should help fix that.