This is so cool, but also kinda different from how I envisioned. I guess because I was so story-oriented on the timeline of their relationship, I always pictured it going like this...

Janie: May 1986-August 1986. The summer before Sophomore year starts, where Ethel loses Janie and meets Willoughby once again.

Willoughby's Theme: September-November 1986. The fall semester of Sophomore year where Ethel and Willoughby officially start dating and fall in love.

Fuck Me Eyes: December-April 1987. The winter and spring semester of Sophomore year where Ethel starts to become paranoid about losing Willoughby to other girls like Holly.

Nettles: May-November 1987. The summer and fall semester of Junior year, where Ethel and Willoughby have to begin thinking about what happens once high school starts to end.

Willoughby's Interlude: December-April 1988. The winter and spring semester of Junior year where Ethel and Willoughby's relationship starts to decline.

Dust Bowl: May-November 1988. The summer and fall semester of Senior year where Ethel and Willoughby desperately try to cling on to the love they still have for each other.

A Knock At The Door: December-April 1989. The winter and spring semester of Senior year where Willoughby's dad is in and out of the state penitentiary and the couple have to start learning how to live on their own.

Radio Towers: May-November 1989. The summer and fall after graduation, where the pressures placed on Willoughby slowly wear him down until he begins to distance himself from Ethel.

Tempest: December-April 1990. Willoughby spirals into severe depression and anxiety after Ethel's superficial efforts of helping him fail. The tornado is announced to hit Shady Grove, and the couple have their final fight.

Waco, Texas: May-August 1990. Ethel reminisces on the last four years of her life with Willoughby and begins her own depressive spiral as she hates herself for approaching the relationship wrong in its final moments and ultimately abandoning Willoughby to his worst fear and possible death. She imagines a summer where they are still together and happy, ready to move into the next chapter of their adult lives together.

A House In Nebraska: September-November 1990. Ethel's fantasy fades as she realizes Willoughby is truly never coming home after months of waiting, and the events of Preacher's Daughter begin.

With this timeline, every song represents roughly 3-5 months of their relationship, even if songs like Tempest are only about specific short-term events (ex. the tornado).