Hearing the song "Half Acre" by Hem (from their 2002 debut album Rabbit Songs) makes me want to spend December somewhere cold. Somewhere you can feel warm and cozy inside, while everything outside is frigid and uninviting. At least, that's how a kid from California would romanticize it, having never lived anywhere that gets colder than 50 degrees F.

I am holding half an acre

Torn from the map of Michigan

And folded in this scrap of paper

Is the land I grew in

But don't blame my cold-weather ignorance for this sentiment, blame Hem for painting such a nostalgic picture of the Midwest (which I can only assume is snowy and cold).

Think of every town you've lived in

Every room you lay your head

And what is it that you remember

Do you carry every sadness with you

Every hour your heart was broken

Every night the fear and darkness

Lay down with you

Given the soft vocals, piano, and strings, this song could so easily sound cheesy and overproduced. But Hem's sound is subtle: there are no instruments fighting for space on the track. At the same time, though, there is no one who is unnecessary (the glockenspiel and clarinet provide an additional beautiful layer). Lead singer Sally Ellyson's voice is gentle, but expressive; you believe every word that leaves her mouth, whether she tells of longing, sorrow, or nostalgia.

A man is walking on the highway

A woman stares out at the sea

And light is only now just breaking

So we carry every sadness with us

Every hour our hearts were broken

Every night the fear and darkness

Lay down with us

And it's not just that you believe it, you feel it as well. We have all carried our sadness with us, unable to leave behind a past lover's words as we try to live our lives. Or perhaps it's a physical place - a restaurant, a park, a kitchen - where we can't help but feel sentimental about joyful memories spent there and then feel heartbroken when we remember they're just memories.

But hopefully, you have that place that will transport you from the heaviness of such thoughts and feelings, a "home," whatever that may be. For me, it's this song.

But I am holding half an acre

Torn from the map of Michigan

I am carrying this scrap of paper

That can crack the darkest sky wide open

Every burden taken from me

Every night my heart unfolding

My home

Tracks by Hem