What’s On My Playlist – And Why

I talk about the benefits of music quite a bit on this site, but what I find interesting as I listen to random selections from my 600+ playlist each day are the many reasons why I like each song or piece of music.

Energy

Some songs I love because of the energy, and my first choice here would be:

• Ça Plane Pour Moi by Plastic Bertrand
• Grand Masquerade by the Trouble Notes
• The instrumental version of Run Boy Run by Woodkid, as used in Divergent, one of my favourite movies (which I’ve written about here)

Humour

Some songs are funny, and my go-to examples would be:

• Canyons Of Your Mind by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
• Intergalactic Laxative by Donovan (which some may find rude or offensive)

Intro

There are a few songs in my playlist that are primarily there because of the opening instrumental music.

Good examples here would be:

• Hotel California by the Eagles
• Time by Pink Floyd, although to be fair this intro takes almost one third of the entire track

In the case of Hotel California, the rest of the song is only so-so for me, although I accept it’s regarded as a classic, whereas I like all of Time, but the intro is probably my all-time favourite.

Lyrics

There are some songs where specific parts of the lyrics resonate with me for reasons I’m not always sure about.

For example, there’s this verse from Don’t Get Me Wrong by the Pretenders:

I’m not sure, but I think this reminds of meeting my second wife, not that we literally passed on the street, because we met online, but the way we came across each other, via a mutual interest in working from home was the digital equivalent of passing in the street, and while I don’t believe in fate, it would have been easy to conclude that we were made for each other. Regardless, I find this one verse very emotional.

Memories

Some songs remind me of pleasant memories (e.g. vacations, days out).

For example:

• Burned With Desire, which reminds me of my late wife
• I Feel Love by Donna Summer, which reminds me of my best friend (who was killed in a road accident when on holiday in France) when I was a teenager
• On The Road Again reminds me of a train ride from Wiliams to the Grand Canyon
• Popcorn, which I was introduced to by a friend of mine and which reminds me of some of the less unhappy times at school
• Volare reminds me of a particularly enjoyable vacation in Borneo

Specific Bars / Segments / Motifs

Some songs have just a few bars that I love, for no apparent reason, including:

• How Soon Is Now? by the Smiths, where it’s the weird twangy guitar sounds I love
• Roll Over Lay Down by Status Quo has a slight change-up near the end of the mid-way instrumental section, before the vocals return, that has an effect on me.

Mood

Some music was added to my playlist because I find it particularly relaxing, and for me, that is almost always instrumental music.

I actively choose these from my playlist if I’m doing some creative writing (where vocals are too distracting) or I just feel a bit stressed out and want to relax, and these are some of what I listen to here:

• easy-listening piano music (think Richard Clayderman here)
• tank drum (sometimes called tongue drum) music
• Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield
• Vietnamese Dan Bau music

And sometimes, if I’m feeling a bit down, I like to listen to music that I find cheering, which I’ve already written about here.

Movies / TV Shows

Some music I like because it reminds me of TV shows or movies I’ve watched and enjoyed, such as:

• Bad Things by Jace Everett, from the show True Blood
• Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker, because it reminds me of one of my favourite movies, the Blues Brothers

Overall Sound

Sometimes it’s simply the overall effect of the music and lyrics combined, which is why I like:

• Ooh La La by Goldfrapp (which also reminds me of T Rex, a band I was somewhat keen on in my younger days)
• Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones

Voice

And I like some songs because of the quality of the singer’s voice, or the way they use it.

Examples here include:

• Marble Halls by Enya – if I believed in angels, I think they would sound like this
• Yellow Flicker Beat by Lorde, which also reminds me of the Hunger Games books / movies
• Crazy by Patsy Cline, because I think her voice is strong and engaging

Conclusion

There are plenty of other examples I could give, but I think the above serve their purpose of illustrating the many different reasons why I like some of the music I like.

And to be clear, pretty much everything on my playlist is there for a specific reason that I could identify.

I have never really been somebody who follows specific singers, bands, or genres – my playlist contains music from the 1950s to current day, covering many different genres (e.g. classical, rock and roll, pop, blues, and a few others I’m not sure what you’d call them, but not rap, which I just don’t get).

On the few occasions when I’ve bought an entire album because of one specific song by that group, I’ve mainly been disappointed. For example, I once bought an album (or maybe it was a double-album) purely because I liked Nights In White Satin, by the Moody Blues, but every other song left me cold.

I know that many people follow specific artists, or certain genres of music, and I’ve often wondered what it says about somebody like me who doesn’t do that – for the most part, I like songs because I like them, and not because of who composed them or sang them.

Even though I included a song by Enya above, and I think she has an incredible voice, I don’t like all of her work (other than Orinoco Flow which is what led me to her in the first place).

But I think it’s an interesting process to go through your playlist(s) and identify why you like the songs or tunes that you’ve added.

Not only can it help bring back pleasant memories, but it may give you an insight into you and who you are.

And lastly, having different playlists for different purposes is a great way to easily find music that meets your current needs:

• Sometimes you are in a good mood and want music that matches it
• Sometimes you are feeling low and want music that will cheer you up
• Sometimes you want high-energy music to get you moving
• Sometimes you want relaxing music, for when you’re stressed out
• And for me, I often like (or need) variety, which is why I use shuffle mode when listening to music during the daytime