These Streets

A few nights ago, I heard Samm Eye Amm introduce her original song during a set by Let’s B Sharp Duo at Trader’s Brewing Co. She mentioned that she wrote the song, “These Streets,” in Berlin. Naturally, I wanted to know the story behind it.

I asked Samm about the song during their break, and she graciously shared the story with me. What follows is Samm’s story, in her own words…

I went to Berlin by myself when I was 25. It was one of those trips that ended up being a lot more than just a trip. I was in a pretty lonely place in my life and felt like I needed something more. I didn’t really know what that “something” was, so naturally, I bought myself a round-trip ticket to Berlin for $745, found a hostel for the week for about $200, and figured I’d sort out the rest when I got there.

The hostel had this cool little “backpacker bar” on the main floor, and I ended up meeting a whole slew of people from all over the world.

The first day I got there, I was kinda terrified to take public transportation because apparently traveling across the Atlantic alone was fine, but the Berlin train system was where I drew the line. So I grabbed my ukulele and walked damn near the entire east side of Berlin. Just me, my little uke, and absolutely no real plan. I played along the way and somehow ended up getting tipped in beer, which honestly felt like a pretty fair exchange rate at 25.

And somewhere in all that walking, I kinda forgot I was supposed to be lonely.

I wasn’t thinking about what was missing from my life or feeling sorry for myself. I was wandering around a city thousands of miles from home, playing my ukulele for strangers, drinking beer I technically earned, and having absolutely no clue where the hell I was most of the time.

And I was happy.

The second day, I met a guy from New York named Bernie at the backpacker bar. He’d been to Berlin before, so he basically became my unofficial tour guide and showed me all the stuff I probably would’ve walked right past on my own.

Berlin was pretty gloomy that time of year, but there was one day when the weather was absolutely perfect and there was a street fair going on. Some of the videos from that day are still buried somewhere on my Facebook. There were people everywhere, music, food, different languages being spoken all around us. The whole city just felt alive.

Bernie and I ended up sitting in this grassy field for a long time just talking about life.

We talked about traveling and how much it changes the way you look at the world. How easy it is to get wrapped up in your own little bubble and forget that there are millions of completely different ways to live a life. Different cultures, different people, different ways of seeing things—and how cool it is when you actually get the chance to experience some of that for yourself. Not just see it, but actually listen to people, respect where they come from, and try to understand life from somewhere other than your own shoes for a minute.

And there I was, halfway across the world, sitting in the grass with some guy from New York I had just met in a hostel bar, talking about life like we’d known each other forever.

I had gone to Berlin because I felt alone.

But sitting there, I realized there was so much happening outside of the little world I had been stuck inside.

There were people I hadn’t met yet. Places I hadn’t seen. Conversations I hadn’t had. Songs I hadn’t played. So many little moments I didn’t even know were out there because I hadn’t gone looking for them yet.

And that’s really what this song is about.

I think for a long time I treated loneliness like proof that something was missing. Like I was waiting for the right person, the right place, or just something to come along and make my life feel bigger.

But really, I had gotten so caught up in what I thought I was missing that I wasn’t paying attention to everything that was already around me.

The world was still really fucking beautiful. I just hadn’t been looking at it.

I had to make my own moments. Go places even when I was scared. Talk to people I never would’ve met otherwise. Get on the plane. Get lost. Play the damn ukulele. Sit in the grass with a stranger and talk about life.

I think sometimes we spend so much time trying to “find ourselves” that we end up stuck inside our own heads.

Maybe finding yourself is also realizing how small you are in this gigantic world—and somehow finding comfort in that instead of being afraid of it.

I went to Berlin because I thought I needed something more.

Turns out, I mostly just needed to get out of my own way and actually look around.

And probably learn how to use the fucking train.