Porter Weisberg’s “Songs in a Life” column intends to express the story of people’s lives via an 11-song playlist. His second subject, Rafael Swerdlin, is a junior at LFHS. Follow @theforestscout on Spotify for all of the “Songs in a Life” features as well as playlists curated by our authors.

This weeks edition of “Songs in a Life” features Rafael Swerdlin, a junior music enthusiast. Whether he’s recommending albums to friends, finely tuning his own music, or sporadically writing songs, it’s clear Rafa has always been a fan of anything musical. His earliest memory comes from when Swerdlin was three or four: “I would always play drums and watch Rush documentaries with my dad.” Since then, music has continued to go hand-in-hand with many of Rafa’s memories growing up.  

“Hahaha Pt. 2” Kishi Bashi

“I picked this track because my good friend, Seán Curran, and I have very different tastes in music. However, this song is one that intrigues us both. Especially, after he left LF to live across the world in Ireland.”

“Moonlight on the River” Mac Demarco

“This song is one of my favorite tracks on Mac Demarco’s album This Old Dog and it is tracks like this which helped cement his place as my overall favorite artist. It’s one of the songs I’ve been fortunate enough to see played live.”

“Cool with You” Her’s

This breezy track takes me back to last spring—when the album Her’s came out. I used to blast this song with my best friend since birth, Tomas, while we’d drive around in his hometown of Hyde Park in Chicago.”

“Pleasant Valley Sunday” The Monkees

“Here’s another track that brings back memories with my buddy Tomas. His dad would jokingly play it for us on the road while teasing me about how the lyrics represent a life in Lake Forest.”

“San Francisco” Foxygen

“I was obsessed with this song a couple of years ago. To me, it’s both a funny and catchy song by a great band. For weeks I couldn’t stop singing, “I left my love in San francisco. That’s ok I was born in LA.” I specifically remember listening to this song while coincidentally driving from San Fran to L.A.”

“Salad Days” Mac Demarco

“This is not one of my favorite Mac Demarco songs, but I chose to include it because it was the first song of his that I heard. I remember that at first I felt kind of neutral about his music. Little did I know then how much I’d grow to love his music. It’s a song that marks the beginning of an era.”

“Run Of The Mill” George Harrison

“I picked this song because despite discovering it recently, it feels as if it had been with me my whole life. For some reason the song emits a sense of nostalgia.”

“Lovely Rita” The Beatles

“Last year, I took a two week program at USC during the summer and I used to jam out to this song with my friend Evan so many times. In my opinion, it’s definitely an underrated song because it is on their Greatest Hits album, but is often overshadowed by the more popular tracks.”

“Surf’s Up” The Beach Boys

“This is my favorite song by The Beach Boys because I just find it so beautiful and pure. Don’t judge a song by the shallowness of its title.”

“Freedom Is Free” Chicano Batman

“Chicano Batman is a band that I’ve grown to fall in love with ever since my cousin told me about them. This song is one that I find particularly beautiful.”

“La Maza” Silvio Rodriguez

“This song, introduced to me by my Dad, is a beautifully crafted protest by the Cuban singer and songwriter Sylvio Rodriguez. Too bad Cuba was unable to reciprocate the beauty and structure of his music into their government.”