🎧 This essay is based on Episode 1 of the podcast Unshared Yet.
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1KQrnSZdcMmE5xeQAjqpNm?si=rs75Ae5bTauKo8sGSZSgcA
There’s a saying in Korea: music is the only drug the state allows.
Because, you know—music makes us high.
Living abroad, there were moments when I wasn’t understood by my family, or even by my friends. During those times, music was the reason I never felt completely alone.
For just fifteen minutes a day, I want to share the songs that kept me company when loneliness crept in. As long as I have music to share, this series won’t disappear. I hope these still-unshared songs find their way to you.
This is Unshared Yet.
A Song That Quietly Warmed My Nights in Sweden
The first song I want to share is “But Now a Warm Feeling Is Running Inside of Me,” released in 2016 by Fhin, a self-taught musician from France.
I discovered this song by chance while studying in Sweden. I lived in Gothenburg, where—like many Swedish cities—summer nights stay bright until ten, and in winter, the sun disappears by three in the afternoon.
Strangely enough, no matter the season, I couldn’t sleep.
I had quit my job and started a master’s program, but the future felt uncertain. Whether the nights were getting shorter in spring and summer or longer in fall and winter, my heart felt cold.
When I curled up under my blanket and listened to this song, my mind calmed down—just a little.
For a long time, I listened to it without knowing when it was released or where the artist was from. I didn’t look it up. I didn’t need to. I just kept listening, letting it warm me in ways I couldn’t explain.
The Loneliness That Follows a Night Out
The second song is “Habits (Stay High)” by Tove Lo, remixed by Hippie Sabotage.
If you can, I recommend watching the music video. It captures Stockholm’s nightlife—and the quiet emptiness people carry with them—remarkably well.
I lived in Gothenburg, but I visited Stockholm often. The two cities share similar architecture, similar bars, similar streets. Watching this video brings back vivid memories from my graduate school days.
People like me, from different countries, gathering alone in a foreign place. Going out just to forget how lonely we felt. Drinking beer, listening to music, trying to cover up the emptiness for a few hours.
That sense of urgency, paired with a quiet kind of despair, is deeply woven into both the song and its visuals.
When Watching a Music Video Feels Like Going Out
To be honest, sometimes I want to go out, drink, and stay up all night—but I don’t have the energy.
On nights like that, I watch this music video instead. Then I go back to bed, as if I’ve already been out.
Have you ever pretended to be okay—pretended to be having fun—just to forget how empty you felt?
If you have, this song is for you.
Songs Featured in This Episode
Fhin — But Now a Warm Feeling Is Running Inside of Me
Official audio: https://youtu.be/5o4VUBqVBJk
Tove Lo — Habits (Stay High) (Hippie Sabotage Remix)
Official music video: https://youtu.be/SYM-RJwSGQ8
🎧 Prefer listening?
This piece is available as a podcast episode on Unshared Yet.
→ Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1KQrnSZdcMmE5xeQAjqpNm?si=rs75Ae5bTauKo8sGSZSgcA
“Unshared Yet: Songs That Kept Me Company When Loneliness Crept In”에 대한 1개의 생각