The Mixtape

2008 - Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

My Mixtape Autobiography 2009 - American Pie by Don Mclean
(2003-Present) 2010 - Azul by Cristian Castro
By Rodrigo Hernandez 2013 - Piano Man by Billy Joel
2019 - Sirenas by Taburete
 Here Comes the Sun
Growing up, listening to music by the Beatles and more
specifically, Here Comes the Sun, was the main way I bonded
with my Dad. He grew up in Mexico and learned English
through these songs. Over time he passed on his love for the
Beatles onto me.
To this day the love for this song still holds true. It
reminds me of the days in our apartment in Mexico where we
would listen to The Beatles all day, because there was nothing
else to do at the time.
This song just feels good to listen to, it is sort of a
summary of all of the experiences and fun I had growing up,
and it is a nice glimpse of simpler times in my life.
American Pie
My Grandpa was everything to me growing up. He
picked me up from school, took me to eat, and was overall just
always there for me. American Pie was one of his favorite
songs. He loved playing it in the car with me, and I grew a love
for it too.
In March of 2009 he died in a car crash on his way back
from Rosarito. It was really hard on all of my family because
he was basically the cornerstone of our family, the glue that
held everything together.
Listening to the song was a very important part of me
getting over his passing. It provided much comfort to me,
because I sort of felt that I was closer to him while listening the
song. This feeling of comfort towards his loss is very fitting
when you consider what the song is based on, the passing of
three musicians in a plane crash.
 Azul by Cristian Castro
My relationship with my Mom has always been wonky
at best. I have always gotten into fights and arguments with
her. Yet I feel that underneath those arguments there is a
genuine love shared between us. The first time I witnessed this
was when I played the song Azul in my carried with my mom
on the way back from school.
The instant the song played; her face lit up. She then
went on to sing every word of the song perfectly, the energy in
the car was great and I could see a bond forming between us. I
had no clue she loved that song so much, but it definitely
shocked me.
When the song ended, we went on to talk and talk the
rest of the car ride, something that rarely happened, and our
relationship has been growing ever since.
Piano Man by Billy Joel
Piano Man brings me back to a time in my life that I
sadly can no longer return to. I used to spend the majority of
my life with my cousins and my uncle, and my uncle
introduced me to this song. Piano man was his favorite song,
and it sort of summarizes that whole period in my life.
Every weekend I would head over to my cousin’s
house, or they would come to mine. We would have a really
good time, every time. My uncle would take us out to eat, to
the go-karts, and we would even take out his boat as a family
on the weekends.
Recently my aunt and uncle went through a pretty nasty
divorce, and we no longer see him. I am still able to see my
cousins on a regular basis, but the simpler times of no-conflict
in between our parents is long gone, and it is really sad to think
about.
 Sirenas by Taburete
In usual fashion my relationship with my sister was
very turbulent growing up. We would fight all of the time,
constantly. With only a few years between us we took
everything as a competition, constantly trying to one-up each
other.
Recently our relationship has started to grow into more
of a brotherly love. My sister is transferring to San Francisco
State next year, and shortly after I will be looking to go out for
college. This realization that we might not see each other as
often has drawn us to greatly increase our relationship.
We can actually talk about our problems and search for
advice within one another and this is honestly great. One day,
we were asked to go pick up my cousin from Coronado and on
the car ride there we were having another great talk about what
we wanted to do after college. Most of the car ride we listened
to songs by the band Taburete, and the song that most stood out
at me was Sirenas, mostly because it was very soothing. Just
because of the soothing characteristic, the song is now glued
into my brain as a representation of the growing relationship I
have with my sister.