October 2018 – 26 & OVER

I’ve been listening to a lot of old school John Mayer lately (read: daily playlists all 10 hours at my office desk lol) and this song is really just getting to me right now. It’s a classic. I mean, is there a more perfect song about youth?

True songwriters (and musicians) like Mayer never cease to amaze me. Thank you for creating.

Stop This Train

John Mayer

No, I’m not color blind
I know the world is black and white
I try to keep an open mind
But I just can’t sleep on this, tonight

Stop this train
I want to get off and go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know I can’t
But, honestly, won’t someone stop this train?

Don’t know how else to say it
I don’t want to see my parents go
One generation’s length away
From fighting life out on my own

Stop this train
I want to get off and go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know I can’t
But, honestly, won’t someone stop this train?

So scared of getting older
I’m only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun

Had a talk with my old man
Said, “Help me understand”
He said, “Turn sixty-eight
You’ll renegotiate”

“Don’t stop this train
Don’t for a minute change the place you’re in
And don’t think I couldn’t ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly, we’ll never stop this train”

Once in a while, when it’s good
It’ll feel like it should
When you’re all still around
And you’re still safe and sound
And you don’t miss a thing
‘Till you cry when you’re driving away in the dark

Singing, stop this train
I want to get off and go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know, I can’t

‘Cause now I see I’ll never stop this train.

Songwriters: John Clayton Mayer / Pino Palladino

Stop This Train lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Reach Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management

Rachel Green is often written off as your typical pretty, popular queen bee who grew up to be that girl with the same charmed life and an “epic” will-they-won’t-they love story. Like her life was destined to be a rom-com. But if you really think about it, it was more a legitimate coming of age tale ‘cause Rachel basically had the best arc throughout the whole ‘Friends’ run. At a time when sitcoms didn’t really put much focus on anything but jokes & punchlines, her character development was remarkable in the realest, most relatable way.

Often you find flat and/or inconsistent characters on comedy shows. While there was some of that in Friends (there were many plotholes), it was always cool how they managed to move the story forward according to the Six’s life stages at one of the most significant periods of their lives. Maybe this is why it’s experiencing a resurgence right now, what with Netflix getting all the episodes on and everybody still having that millennial/twentysomething fixation. But don’t talk to me if you’re one of those ~woke~ individuals who just find the show insular and problematic — it was a different time! (Say that to the tone of ‘We were on a break!’ haha) Of course there are some things you can’t joke about now. But that’s beside the point. If you’d do the same original pitch for the Friends pilot now, and there hadn’t been a show like it before, it would most probably still get picked up:

This show is about six people in their 20’s who hang out at this coffee house. An after hours insomnia café. It’s about sex, love, relationship, careers… a time in your life when everything is possible, which is really exciting and really scary. It’s about searching for love and commitment and security… and a fear of love and commitment and security. And it’s about friendship, because when you’re young and single and in the city, your friends are your family. – Marta Kauffman & David Crane

So nice, right? Well that pitch could not have been truer for Rachel who really lived it. Spoiled rich daddy’s girl to would-have-been bored rich housewife to trained-for-nothing 20something to minimum-wage coffee shop waitress to big NYC department store assistant buyer to merchandising head at designer fashion house to expat in Paris… All in a span of 10 years! Not bad for someone who was too scared to get cut off at 24. (I mean yes it’s a show but for argument’s sake pls) I’m just all the more pulled in because I’m also in retail and I know only too well the work that comes with merchandising/marketing roles in that world hahaha.

She was actually impressive. Even if you’re not into the so-called corporate ladder, she’s still career/personal growth goals! She matured too, emotionally. Ross might not have been the best decision on the love life front, but she was always cool and sensible, and could stand alone with or without him. She was also a fun, sincere friend to both the guys and girls and, eventually, a devoted, caring mother. She was far from perfect, for sure. At her worst, she was selfish and image-conscious, but she was also well-rounded, vulnerable, and strong. Woman goals, tbh.

And she did it all in style. Her clothes were some of the best things about the show and many of the outfits she wore, especially the workwear, are still very much wearable today! So let me end this fan-post (brought about by a random nth rewatch of Season 6) with some of my favorite Rachel outfits that may or may not be my workday #ootd pegs for the week: