Eclectic Playlist #1

So when I had my old blog The Arts Are Life, I published an (almost) weekly playlist filled with various songs I listened to when I got my first Pandora account last year. I am a vegan when it comes to food, but a complete omnivore when it comes to music, and I like listening just about anything and everything (except for most heavy metal). Listening to various genres of music has also helped me find my own expression as a musician myself, because I learn how different styles work and how each artist expresses themselves in the music. It’s been a beautiful educational journey in listening to all these different artists.

Here is a beginning list of some songs I really love:

• “The Child is Gone” by Fiona Apple. Fiona Apple is one of my favorite artists, and this song gives me goosebumps because her singing is just so raw and powerful. It sometimes brings tears to my eyes to listen to it because the singing is also so beautiful.

• “Prisoner”: Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus. I love Dua Lipa’s music, and this song is catchy and also in a musical key that I like, E flat minor.

• “After Party”: Koffee Brown. I love music from the early ’90s-’00s, and this song is one of them. It makes me just want to play all of the 90s songs and just dance and groove to my heart’s content.

• “Cry Baby Cry”: Santana feat. Sean Paul and Joss Stone. I love all these artists: Santana, Sean Paul and Joss Stone. This song makes me want to get up and do some kind of dance.

• “I Say a Little Prayer”: Aretha Franklin: I cried when Aretha passed away a couple of years ago, and this song reminds me of how incredible her singing was and continues to be to this day.

• “Stop, Look, Listen to Your Heart”: The Stylistics. I first heard this song recorded by Michael McDonald of The Doobie Brothers for his Motown album. He sung it with Toni Braxton and I couldn’t get enough of it, it was just so incredible. So I listened to the original by the Motown group The Stylistics and it’s just such a beautiful song.

• “It Keeps You Running”: The Doobie Brothers. I first heard this while working at a local supermarket. They played it everyday, but each day I heard it I seemed to feel something new. Also, it’s really hard to get tired of The Doobie Brothers. They’re classic. I listened to this song a lot during this pandemic, and it calmed me down.

• “When We Get By”: D’Angelo. Another song in a musical key that I love (E flat minor), this song with its mellow drum beat and smooth piano rhythms, always lifts my spirits. Not to mention D’Angelo’s silky, soulful, sexy melt-in-your-mouth vocals. I watched a dance group perform this on YouTube by Jens Trinidad and it was pure beauty at its best.

• “God is a DJ”: P!nk. I first heard this song in the film Mean Girls, and I listened to it again later on. The song took on a deeper meaning as I got older and struggled with my insecurities as a young person. P!nk seemed to be telling me to put my life in sync with the Universe and just live it up with no regrets.

• Cello Concerto in D Minor: Edouard Lalo. Lalo was a French composer during the 19th century, and when I first heard this during a summer music camp in high school, it sounded so cool. I bought the sheet music for it this year and every time I practice it or listen to it, I love it even more. It had passion, spice, and everything nice.

Well, that’s my top 10 playlist for now! Let me know if you have any songs you love, too!