If you missed any of the previous mix tapes, you can find them here:

Vol. 1 – I Just Wanna Pump… You Up
Vol. 2 – Songs of Fayette-Nam
Vol. 3 – The Radio in the Garage

Volume 4 of the Coughing Bison Mix Tape Collection takes me to an emotional place. These songs put me in a focused state of mind; sometimes melancholy, sometimes introspective. Most of the selections are fairly obvious because, well, the songwriters intended them to be touchy feely songs. However, the last song of this mix tape needs a little explanation because it holds some personal meaning for me. Here’s Volume 4, titled “All the Feels.”

“Hurt” – Johnny Cash

“Hold On” – Alabama Shakes

“Eternal Flame” – The Bangles

“Remember When” – Alan Jackson

“Amazed” – Lonestar
For my wife and me, this is “our” song. I quite honestly don’t know how it came to be “our” song, but it is. And I’ll slow dance with my wife every single time the DJ plays it at a wedding reception.

“Brick” – Ben Folds Five
Yes, I’m aware this song is about Ben Folds’ high school girlfriend getting an abortion. But to any of us who heard it when it came out in 1997, it’s just a mellow song that projects a boatload of emotion.

“Tha Crossroads” – Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
Not gonna lie: I didn’t realize this was a tribute to Eazy-E until I Googled it for this blog.

“Look Away” – Chicago
This is totally my fifth grade sad jam right here.

“World I Know” – Collective Soul

“Colorblind” – Counting Crows

“Tears in Heaven” – Eric Clapton

“Every Rose Has Its Thorn” – Poison

“Grown Men Don’t Cry” – Tim McGraw

“Seven” – Prince
Here’s the song that needs a little explanation. This song came out around the time when my grandpa died in January of 1993. The radio stations played it frequently, and I swear I heard it every single time we turned on the radio in the car. Any time I hear this song now, it reminds me of that one-week span in 1993: my grandpa’s death, visitation, and funeral, and the realization of a 14-year-old boy that he wouldn’t get to see his grandpa again. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve listened to this song in its entirety in the 24 years since my grandpa passed away. It’s the one song that will always compel me to ponder life on its deepest levels.