qtb mixtape #09: fall.

A set of songs for the fall, in both a seasonal and societal sense.

Queering the Burbs is a distillation of pop culture, politics and queerness published twice weekly by Joe Erbentraut. This is the qtb mixtape, this newsletter’s monthly custom mix of music I’ve been vibing with for paid Queering the Burbs subscribers. Sample the flavor below and subscribe or upgrade if you’d like to check out the mixtape for yourself.

Saul and the Witch of Endor by Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (Image: Geheugen van Nederland/Wikimedia Commons)

I remember seeing a TikTok a few weeks ago where someone recounted being asked innocuously, “How are you preparing for the fall?” The recipient wasn’t sure if the asker was referring to falling leaves or falling pillars of a democratic society of free elections and no kings.

It seemed almost trite at the time, but fast forward to now and it seems we’re there. I’ve opened the sweater vault, bedazzled our front lawn with an ever-growing army of cartoonish ghosts, and engaged in the ancient autumnal Midwestern ritual of concocting this household’s first chili of the season (fuck gatekeeping, here’s my personal favorite, foolproof recipe).

I’m drinking apple cider, going to haunted houses, and watching my favorite horror movies, but it still feels like something’s missing. In some moments, it doesn’t even feel like it could possibly be October even though we’re already over halfway through the month.

Honestly, I’m practically begging to be visited overnight by three ghosts to get me in the Halloween spirit this year, but deep down I know why the spooky season just isn’t hitting this year.

Thanks to climate change, fall barely exists in the Midwest these days, and we’ve barely experienced a full week of truly fall-ish weather at this point. Meanwhile, the federal government continues its hostile campaign of kidnappings and terror in Chicago, suburbs near and far, and other communities throughout the country.

How many times can you watch a neighborhood get pepper bombed by its own government or a family violently ripped apart in front of a child’s eyes and not feel depressed?