Apologies for the deluge of text below. I just need to vent a bit.

I'm pretty devastated as well, my friends. I've wanted to cry about it since the news came out, but sadly I don't have much privacy in my current setting and I don't feel comfortable unleashing the waterworks.

I, too, feel like I've lost a loved one- every time I see a meme, or a social media post, or something that reminds me of the news, my heart sinks and I feel such sorrow. It doesn't even feel real- it feels like I'm gonna wake up, and it was all a bad dream or something. Sadly it is very real and I'm glad I'm not alone in having trouble processing the news.

I'm surprised it's hit me so hard. Yes, they're my favorite band, but that alone isn't really enough to make something have such an impact. I think more than that it's all the fond memories I have that are always gonna be associated with DP.

I fell in love with their music at the most formative time in my life, and it's been with me ever since. When I was meeting my first ever long-term friends, we bonded over Daft Punk's music. When I was learning who I was as a person and falling in love for the first time- Daft Punk was the sound I had on repeat.

Most recently my car was broken into, and someone stole all my CDs (lost a lot of DP and other great albums sadly)- but they left me one CD. Discovery. My favorite DP album. Maybe they just didn't give a shit about it, but I'd like to think they saw how worn down the case was- how many years of listens it had. They spared me complete misery and left me with that CD, which perhaps means more to me now than it ever has.

When someone, or something, is such a big part of your life, it's always sad to say goodbye to it. It's not just music- sometimes I'll get wistful leaving apartments, or cities, or trading in a car I've had for years. I can't put into words all the different little factors that make it sad, but I think the core of it is always memories. Nostalgia, emotion- the way these seemingly mundane things affect our heart in profound ways, or are present as our heart is being profoundly affected.

(How fitting, then, that the robots go out with their final album being Random Access Memories.)

It sucks BAD knowing we won't get any new Daft Punk music...

But unlike losing a loved one, or trading in a family car, or moving out of a house you've lived in for decades, we do have one notable blessing.

Daft Punk's music isn't going anywhere. We still have it. It isn't being taken from us. Our playlists remain untouched, our CDs remain scratched, our posters remain on our walls. One More Time is still the same awe-inspiring track it was when I heard it as a child- and their discography remains just as beautiful as it always has been. We can still buy new vinyls, and merch, and we can still blast the jams we love- and have always loved- and will always love. We can still chat with each other about our favorite songs, and share funky new remixes of old DP classics, and reminisce on old memories.

Perhaps most importantly, though, we can go and make new memories.

Thanks for everything Daft Punk. <3