When approaching these mixes, I usually begin with a theme or mood and slowly dig through my music, seeking what fits the container I’ve created.  This mix is different:  it began with a single song and a desire to build a mix around it.  The result?  The theme is here, but ultimately, it’s become a narrative.

The title explains the basics:  it’s about taking a walk.  More specifically, it’s about taking a walk from sunset through sunrise.  The kind of walk most of us have taken, the one where  we get lost in our hearts and heads, seeking relief from misery, answers to questions we don’t want to ask.  Seeking resolution.

For those familiar with Toronto, as the mix came together, it grew into a specific sort of walk:  from the west of the city into the east.  It’s a walk I myself would make if seeking an all-nighter.  For those not familiar, it doesn’t matter.  For those who’ve wondered at my Twitter handle, this mix explains it, too.

A man or woman is walking alone.  You pass this person on the street.  Where is he going?  Why is she staring at her feet, hugging herself?  We pass people each and every day, oblivious to their stories.  This is but one story.  It is muddy and complex, but ultimately, when asked about it, he or she will simply half-smile and say, “I took a walk.”

High Fidelity 26:  I Took A Walk

Playlist: I Took A Walk

Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) – Arcade Fire
“They heard me singing and they told me to stop
Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock

These days my life I feel it has no purpose
But late at night the feelings swim to the surface
‘Cause on the surface the city lights shine
They’re calling at me, come and find your kind…”

Parkdale – Metric
“But when we started walking, I was in the nineteen forties
Simplified the politics
Marveled at the architecture
You were off on camera gathering the setting sun
The red brick building tops
Finally, it almost seemed authentic
As we headed further west
Into the worst, out of the best Magazine neighborhood
We saw tall trees and public enemies…”

Trinity Bellwoods – Treble Charger
“You might escape as to somehow find a way
We’re not unlike in the words we’d like to say

It all comes down to some patience and trust
Trinity Bellwoods all around us
And I cried and I tried to get on your side
And you tried and you cried cause you can’t decide…”

Neon – John Mayer
“When sky blue gets dark enough
To see the colors of the city lights
A trail of ruby red and diamond white
Hits her like a sunrise

She comes and goes and comes and goes
Like no one can

Tonight she’s out to lose herself
And find a high on Peachtree Street…”

Walking After You – Foo Fighters
“If you walk out on me
I’m walking after you

Another heart cracked in two
I’m on your back“

Surrounded By Faces – Future History
“All my faults are on display
I’m not walking away
but I know now, it will never change
It’s not that easy
But don’t we love to complicate
I hold this in my fate
I’m sure somehow we could rearrange to how it should be
All of these moments lead me to one,
and I’m alone
Surrounded by faces and you’re not here…”

Walking On Moonlight – Brookville
“I felt you there
Walking on moonlight
Your perfect face
Not much to fill
I want to care
But it’s hard when you don’t try
You’ll never see
What you could have been…”

Sleep Walk – Santo & Johnny
(instrumental)

Keep The Streets Empty For Me – Fever Ray
“Take me home before the storm
Velvet mites will keep us warm
Whispering
Morning, keep the streets empty for me…”

What’s In The Middle – The Bird and The Bee
“Where is the heart, the heart of the matter?
I must empty out my skull of all this useless chatter
I want an empty head
I want to go to bed for a long, long time…”

Heartlines – Florence + The Machine
“Creeping and crawling like the sea over sand
Still I follow heartlines on your hand
And there’s fantasy, there’s fallacy, there’s tumbling stone
Echoes of a city that’s long overgrown
Your heart is the only place that I call home
I cannot be returned…
Just keep following the heartlines on your hand…”

Walk On – U2
“And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it’s a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on…”

Says The Spark – Amos The Transparent
“I’ve been losing sleep
I keep thinking I’ve got somewhere to be…
I left my mark on a city
And you were the spark where it all began…”

Take A Walk – Passion Pit
“All these kinds of places
Make it seem like it’s been ages
And tomorrow’s sun and buildings scrape the sky
I love this country dearly
I can feel the latter clearly
But I never thought I’d be alone to try…
I took a walk…”

Taken Away – Nash
“What’s a little boy to do
It would appear his days are open wide
Gotta hell of a lot to do now
You’ll find ways, take it slow
It won’t bother you at all
You’ll find ways, don’t let go
Don’t look back when everything is taken away…”

Empty’s Theme Park – Matthew Good
“Well I grew up just around here
And I took a few just around here
And I’d wake up every day
With poison in my head behind exactly the same face

Tell me will I dream?
And tell me will it be serene?
Or tell me will I stay
With my feet in exactly the same place?“