“Dedicated to the One I Love” by The Shirelles

“Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac

“Spooky” by Dusty Springfield

“Nothing Matters” by The Last Dinner Party

“Army Dreamers” by Kate Bush

“Real Love Baby” by Father John Misty

“I’m On Fire” by Bruce Springsteen

“Teardrop” by Massive Attack and Elizabeth Fraser

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October came around just as I thought it would: from out of nowhere, like the leaves suddenly piled on the sidewalk, a gust of wind pelting the back of my neck. The days had tiptoed right by me, and before I knew it the months lurched forward as if I wasn’t just sweltering under a big and unfettered sun. As per the title of this playlist, it feels as though I’ve followed some rabbit without thinking and found myself somewhere totally new.

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This playlist contains a motley collection of songs, ranging from trip hop classics to marriages of jazz and soul. If the playlist soundtracks going down the rabbit hole, these songs are the jars of orange marmalade on floating shelves, the bottles branded with a “drink me.” Each one of them pulls me in, whether through repetitive, beckoning rhythms or the thrill of a swoop into the chorus. The Shirelles’ renowned cover of “Dedicated to the One I Love”—with its pulsating bassline and doo-wop, topped by the static of old-school production—is laden with charm and charisma. In “Real Love Baby,” Father John Misty implores me in his signature leisurely manner to “forget who we are,” and I almost do. “Teardrop” by Massive Attack couples a goosebump-worthy riff with the voice of Elizabeth Fraser, and it’s immediately a force to be reckoned with. These songs are only a couple of standouts, given that every song in between is just as impossible to ignore. 

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Though this playlist might span a variety of genres, the songs make sense in tandem to me. This month has brought me into its world before I could realise, and it is only fitting that the playlist I’ve made for it does the name.

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