Soundtrack Your Commute

The specific playlist for the specific train. The one where you always sit in the same carriage.

For commuters who are technically awake but would prefer not to be questioned too closely about it.

For the twenty minutes where you need to look like you have been awake for hours.

A clear, non-negotiable boundary set to music.

For the part of the morning where the light is doing something beautiful and the train windows are doing their best to obscure it.

For the rare, golden morning when everything has gone right and you would like the music to agree.

For the walk from the station to the office, when you are the protagonist of a film that only you are watching.

Unusual and possibly temporary. Best enjoyed before reading any emails.

For the pavement. The overtake. The slight smugness of arriving first.

Music that doesn't interrupt the thinking. The thinking is the point.

For when you have been asked to keep the noise down and would like the music to do the same.

For the British weather's more personal attacks.

For when the announcement is vague, the delay is indefinite, and your faith in collective civilisation is being tested.

For the last few minutes. The bit where you almost wish the journey were longer.

For when you could get there faster but have decided, for once, not to.

For the transition between the person at the desk and the person at home. They are not the same person.

For the rare, contented Friday with nothing to do and no one to do it with.

Not optimistic. Not defeated. Just going again.

The moment the week begins to end. Headphones on, collar loosened, Friday feeling activated.

The whole collection in one place. Every mood, every moment, every minor crisis of the commuting day.