Playlist: Holding Hands While Walking Across a Bridge

There are those moments when that person, the one that pushes your heart to skip double dutch beats, is in that place. The place you happen to be. Eyes meet. Smile confirms that person is pleased to see your eyes, your face: you. All words and events lead to you + person exiting place, entering world. Walking shoulder to shoulder, walking without destination because next to them is the only place worth being. Footsteps fall into rhythm. Laughter fills awed gaps. You notice their dimples shine like suns that exist only in poems, daydreams and planetariums. They may not be “the one” but this person in this moment is all yours. The walking slides you past beer soaked bars, through chaotic crosswalks, blindsiding intersections, past city limits into quiet. You + person stand before a bridge. Somehow hands understand, they’ve already reached for each other. Eyes meet to confirm that both of you are real, that this is happening. Together, you take on the bridge not caring where it ends or if it ends. One step after the other, fingers intertwined and infinity stretching out before both of you…

This is a playlist for that moment.

Lonestar – Norah Jones
Falling in Love Again – Billie Holiday
Always Where I Need to Be – The Kooks
Both Hands – Ani Difranco
Crazy for You – Adele
A Long Walk – Jill Scott
Walking After Midnight – Girl In a Coma
Feel it in My Bones – Dj Tiesto feat. Tegan and Sara
D’yer Maker – Led Zeppelin
The Other Side – Bruno Mars feat. Cee Lo Green & B.o.B.
Roads – Portishead
Your Hand in Mine – Vitamin String Quartet

STREAM THE PLAYLIST HERE

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gabby

Gabrielle Rivera is an awesomely queer Bronx bred, writer, spoken word artist and director. Her short stories and poems have been published in various anthologies such as the Lambda Award winning Portland Queer: Tales from the Rose City and The Best of Panic! En Vivo from the East Village. Her short film "Spanish Girls are Beautiful" follows a group of young Latina and Caucasian girls who like girls as they hook up, smoke up and try to figure sh*t out. She also freelances for Autostraddle.com while working in the film and television industry. Gabrielle is currently working on her first novel while bouncing around NYC performing spoken word and trying to stick it to the man.

gabby has written 102 articles for us.

10 Comments

  1. The introduction to this playlist is really beautiful.
    In my case, it would seem that my hand didn’t understand and she actually had to say, “Here, take my hand”. Which was pretty awesome too.

  2. How do you always manage to write about things that are currently on my brain?! This is lovely for a lot of reasons…but mostly because taking a chance and reaching for someone’s hand at just that right moment changed my whole world. Now excuse me while I stream this over hot tea in my chilly office and daydream about bridges ;)

  3. I will never again underestimate the power a bridge can hold now that I’ve felt it firsthand.

    • ohh, me too. I feel a song coming on…. caaaaaaaaaaaan
      anybodyyyyy
      find meeee
      somebody toooo
      loveeee.

  4. Okay, so “roads” totally plays in the background of the episode in season one of The L Word where Bette cheats on Tina with the carpenter for the first time.

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