October 2026: "Stop This Train"
Hey y’all,
Here’s the Austin B. Sweeney newsletter coming in hot for the month of October. I put these out once a month to keep you updated on upcoming shows, what I’m listening to, general musings, lyric breakdowns, and much more! I hope this newsletter will provide value for you, if for no other reason than it may introduce you to music you haven’t heard before!
Let’s quit wasting time here and jump into it, here’s what I’ve been listening to in the last month:
Song: “Stop This Train” – John Mayer
Album: “Live at the Capitol Theatre” - Goose
Artist: Goose
I’ve got a new single, “Different Songs” that will be out in a few weeks, so keep your ears and eyes peeled.
If you’d like to support me monetarily, you can purchase the album – and any of my albums - here
Also, if you want to read any past newsletters, click here
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“Stop This Train”
I wrote about it a little bit in last month’s newsletter, but as of this writing, Laura and I are approximately one week away from the birth of our son – name redacted. By the time you’re reading this, he may have been born.
First of all, I can’t wait for him to be born because I’m tired of keeping his name a secret. Everyone wants to know his name, and we’re really excited to tell everybody, but we’ve got to wait. I originally thought that I would write about my thoughts on becoming a father this month; what my father means to me, and what fatherhood in general appears to be from my uninitiated perspective. I’m sure that writing will come soon, but it won’t be on this newsletter. I stumbled across a thread online that led me to a song that I love, but had forgotten about, that sent me on a whole new tangent.
The thread said this:
“Life f****d me up when I realized these might actually be the “good old days” right now. The homies still answering. Mama still calling. My baby still needing me. Dreams still unfinished enough to excite me. I gotta stop rushing through the exact life I’m gonna miss one day.”
I looked through the comments and saw this:
“This is why “Stop This Train” by John Mayer hits so hard. It all goes so fast and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. We’re on the train and it’s not slowing down.”
Take four minutes and listen to this song.
It’s one of the most powerful songs I’ve ever heard about the passage of time. I don’t even really want to dissect it, as it’s more powerful in song than I could be in this writing, but I’m going to dissect it just a little bit.
First of all, the melody is both uplifting and melancholic. It perfectly captures that ineffable quality of nostalgia, which is both enjoyable and kind of sad. Nostalgia can’t exist without the acknowledgement that time has passed and you’re no longer in that space, which is what allows you to be nostalgic in the first place.
Nostalgia is the memory of an experience, but stripped of worry and the unknown, leaving you with the pure beauty of a moment.
We’re all living through that right now. I know everyone reading this has worries and anxieties. Bills, A.I., politics, health, etc. There are many things you could reasonably be worried about right now. There always are.
However, five or so years from now, we will all likely look back on days just like today and label them the “good old days.”
There’s a great scene in The Office when Andy Bernard (AKA “the ‘Nard Dog”) says:
“I wish there was a way to know that you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”
Well, I’m here to remind you all (and myself) that we’re in the good old days. Right now.
I’ve not gone through an era of my life and not been able to look back at it in some way and feel nostalgia about how those were the days…
· Christmastime as a kid
· High School, when I had all the time in the world and few responsibilities
· College, when a whole new world of experiences opened up
· Crisp, fall mornings in Corvallis – walking to Reser Stadium for a Beaver game with my fraternity brothers. Go Beavs!
· Long, hot, grueling farm days, but getting to work with my best friends. Bonding over shared misery after yet another long day moving irrigation or another long night picking berries.
· Moving to Nashville and chasing the dream
· Moving to Arizona with my buddies and eventually meeting my wife – as well as many of my new lifelong friends
· Living in a fifth-wheel camper with my wife for our first two years, traveling the country and living free.
I could go on and on. Each era of my life has been difficult and beautiful in differing measure. Upon reflection, the beautiful always outweighs the difficult.
I’m sure you feel the same way.
This era, including the very day you’re reading this, is also the good old days.
That doesn’t mean they’re perfect, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t beautiful either. Perfect things aren’t typically beautiful, they’re just perfect.
Real things are beautiful often because of their imperfections – rote cliché acknowledged.
I don’t need perfect parents; I need my parents. I don’t need perfect friends; I need my friends. I don’t need a perfect wife; I need my wife. I don’t need perfect kids; I need my kids.
I don’t want a perfect life; I want my life.
I remember reading about someone who recently had to put their dog down – sorry in advance for the grim topic. They went on and on about how needy the dog was, how much it howled and barked, how it chewed up their shoes, etc. Once the dog had passed, the thing they found themselves missing most in particular were all those little annoyances. Not the annoyances themselves, but the unique annoyances that made that dog their dog. It’s those imperfections that shape uniqueness. Those are the things we remember most, even if they’re not our favorite things. Over time, the annoyance wears away and we’re left with memories that we cherish.
Because dammit, that was our annoying dog!
But I’m getting away from the point…
Nobody can stop this train. We got on it at birth and it’s a one-way trip. We will meet so many amazing people and experience so many beautiful moments on that train ride, as well as the not-so-beautiful.
Births, friendships, love, transcendence, music – millions of tiny perfect moments amidst the chaos of life – death, heartbreak, sorrow, and anxiety.
One of my favorite sections in the song is where John is talking to his dad:
Had a talk with my old man,
Said, “Help me understand,”
He said, “Turn 68, 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”
Just typing it gives me goosebumps.
Because I know it’s true.
I think that’s one of the tough parts for me. I’m aware that I’m living in the good old days. My son is going to be born any day now. My wife and family are healthy. My friends are still calling. Any day I want to, I could drive to my parents’ house and hang out with them. I could drive to my grandpa’s house and sit and have a chat with him.
The problem is that there’s no way to hold onto these moments.
I read something from philosopher Alan Watts the other day about how important being able to breathe is (duh), but you can’t hold onto it.
Once you hold your breath, it ceases to be what it is. You have to also let go and breathe out and let that breath (or moment) move on.
So, that presents a slight dilemma.
Yes, I could drive to my parents or my grandpa’s house and have a chat as often as I can and should and will, but even then, there’s no holding onto those moments. Those moments will be a matter of the past someday, no matter how much time I spent.
Therefore, despite the worries, the work, and the obligations that are present within each day, my best course of action is to treat each day as a recognition that I’m in the good old days. I can sit with my grandpa – knowing that I still have work that needs to be done – and simply be in that moment. Yes, the work will get done eventually, but since I know that someday in the future, I will be able to look at this memory without the baggage of that day’s to-do list, maybe I can access some of that in that moment.
“Present Day Nostalgia” would be a good term for it.
The recognition (based on previous experiences of nostalgia) that while I have worries that are clamoring for my attention, this moment is perfect. I will look back on this moment someday after it’s been stripped of its anxiety and understand just how perfect and precious the moment was.
It’s happening right now. Can you feel it?
We can’t stop this train.
Ultimately, we wouldn’t want to. Its impermanence is what makes it.
So, enjoy the good old days right now, for goodness’ sake.
This isn’t a carpe diem, “rah-rah”, seize-the-day, instruction to all of you. That’s too aggressive. It’s more of a subtle reminder to you (and me) that this moment will be gone as suddenly as it arrived. Breathe in, breathe out.
Anxieties are plentiful, but transient. Whenever you are able to solve an anxiety-inducing problem, another one just slides right in to takes its place.
Every damn time.
Recognize that and enjoy the moment despite it.
Because these days are all that we’ve got – and they’re good.
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Here are the shows that are coming up in the month of October. I would love to see y’all out at some shows. I’ll bring the boy to some of them! I may book a few more, so keep your eyes peeled on my socials.
Also, if y’all could share my music with a friend today, that would help a ton. I would really appreciate it.
· 10/8 – Aurora Colony Vineyards, 5-7pm (Aurora, OR)
· 10/9 – Chehalem Valley Brewing, 5:30-8:30pm (Newberg, OR)
· 10/10 – Trail Distilling, 4-7pm (Oregon City, OR)
· 10/14 – Common Fields, 6-8pm (Corvallis, OR)
· 10/15 – Elysium Botanicals Wines and Vineyard, TBA (Independence, OR)
· 10/16 – Clementine, 6:30-10:30pm (Newberg, OR)
· 10/17 – Private party
· 10/19 – Oregon Garden in the Fireside Lounge, 7-10pm (Silverton, OR)
· 10/24 – Austin Smith Foundation fundraiser, 5pm (Aurora, OR)
· 10/30 – Dry Town Tap Station, 7:30-9:30pm (Monmouth, OR)
· 10/31 – West Hills Winery, 5-7pm (Salem, OR)
Stoked to see y’all soon.
Austin
Listen now!
https://open.spotify.com/artist/433eTr5V5LEv1VtP1ejbkt?si=Jlzl5oz8RvulN-ocxrGqyg
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