TL;DR
I made a playlist! Here it is:
**Please note the playlist includes explicit content.
Why a Playlist?
I’ve seen the Covid-19 Quarantine Party playlists. With songs like Hospitalized, Work from Home, and Toxic, they’re quite clever.
Even though the playlists were meant as jokes, I believe that having those songs playing in the background can add to the overall stress in my environment as a constant reminder of the pandemic taking over the world. Perhaps the songs don’t have that affect on other people, but they do for me. Even if they don’t have a negative effect, they don’t inspire me. And now, more than usual, I could use some inspiration.
Music is powerful. It influences us and guides us. Most people have specific albums or artists they have turned to in hard times. In the words of T. Swift, “I keep cruisin’, can’t stop, won’t stop movin’; it’s like I got this music in my mind sayin’ it’s gonna be alright.” Why not literally put music in our mind to tell us everything is going to be alright?
So I decided to make my own playlist. It’s meant to inspire and motivate. There are lots of songs in the world that do that. I curated this list to be relevant to the pandemic (more songs with survival themes) and to combat feeling overwhelmed or depressed (meaning more upbeat songs). There’s also my own personal bias throughout.
For example, Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ is absolutely inspiring and upbeat, but I sang it in choir in high school, so now it’s insanely overplayed for me and has lost any inspirational elements. You will not find it on my playlist.
On the flip side, My Oh My by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis is very specific to Seattleites and likely won’t resonate with non-Seattleites (unless you’re really, really into baseball). That made it to the playlist along with Pentatonix’s version of the always moving Hallelujah. As a choir nerd, I’m partial to a cappella (hence the song from Pitch Perfect on the playlist, too).
I’ve got everything from Opera to Disco, Bon Jovi to Kelly Clarkson, with movie scores and a bit of rap. It is an incredibly eclectic playlist, so there’s likely to be something for everyone. Unless you have very specific music preferences – like my boyfriend’s dad (sorry, David, no metal here).
Here’s what you will find: songs about surviving, overcoming, or even just managing, songs with happy, motivational, or inspirational lyrics, nostalgic/classic songs that make you want to sing along, inspiring songs from movies, sports songs, and songs with moving melodies. The complete list is at the bottom and the link to the playlist on Spotify is up top.
Directly below, I have a message using only lyrics from the playlist. The changes I did make include substituting pronouns (ie. “we” instead of “I”), not including filler words/sounds (ie. well, yeah, woo, or hey!), adding conjunctions to link lyrics together (ie. so, and, but), adding punctuation, and combining verses. Other than the pronoun substitutes and added conjunctions though, the entire thing is only lyrics from my “Inspire Me” playlist.
From the lyrics of about 50 different songs, this is how I feel about Covid-19.
Is this the real life or is this just fantasy?
At first I was afraid, I was petrified, but I need some time off from that emotion. Time to pick my heart up off the floor. Just stop for a minute and smile. I just wanna be ok. I need to feel my soul come alive, I need to feel the strength to get by, I need a little, I need a little faith.
It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small and the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all. Here come bad news, talking this and that. Well, give me all you got, and don’t hold it back. I should probably warn you: I’ll be just fine. Shoot me down, but I get up. I don’t need you to worry for me ’cause I’m alright. I’m still standing after all this time.
Come now, come dry your eyes. You know you a star, you can touch the sky. I know that it’s hard, but you have to try. I know it’s hard, know it’s hard to remember sometimes, but this is just a journey. Drop your worries: you are gonna turn out fine. Don’t worry ’bout a thing, ’cause every little thing gonna be alright. We’ll walk this road together, through the storm, whatever weather, cold or warm – just letting you know that you’re not alone.
Welcome to my house. Play that music too loud and show me what you do now. We don’t have to go out, but you gotta keep your head up. You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger. You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together. Every day can be a better day despite the challenge. All you gotta do is leave it better than you found it. It’s gonna get difficult to stand, but hold your balance. All I know, all I know, love will save the day. Turn up the love now, listen up now, turn up the love. We’re gonna save the world tonight.
Watch the light lift your heart up. While you’re trembling, that’s when the magic happens. If you only knew what the future holds: after a hurricane comes a rainbow. And I think to myself, “What a wonderful world.” Maybe a reason why all the doors are closed, so you can open one that leads you to the perfect road.
So here’s to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem. Here’s to the hearts that ache and here’s to looking for the inspiration that’s already in us. Go on, dust your shoulders off, keep it moving, shake it off. Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.
Come together, right now, and we will rock you.
We will survive. As long as we know how to love, I know we’ll be alive. It might just save your life: that’s the power of love. We are survivors, we’re not gonna give up, we’re not gonna stop, we’re gonna work harder. We are survivors, we’re gonna make it. We will survive and keep on survivin’. Feel the city breakin’ and everybody shakin’, and we’re stayin’ alive.
We’ve got each other and that’s a lot for love, so we’ll give it a shot. Reaching for the sun, we are warriors. Yeah, that’s what we’ve become.
So get up, stand up. Don’t give up the fight. We get knocked down, but we get up again. It’s never gonna keep us down. There’s no stopping us. You can’t stomp us out. You know you can’t even slow us down because what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
It held us down, but we got up – already brushing off the dust. You hear our voice, you hear that sound? Like thunder, gonna shake the ground. This is our fight song, take back our life song, prove we’re alright song. We’re never gonna look back, never gonna give it up, and now we know the truth: that anything could happen.
Our power’s turned on. Starting right now we’ll be strong. We’ll play our fight song and we don’t really care if nobody else believes, ’cause we’ve still got a lot of fight left in us. We got our cities right behind us. If we fall, they got us. Learn from that failure, gain humility, and then we keep marching. It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for us, and we’re feelin’ good.
We consider it a challenge before the whole human race and we ain’t gonna lose because we are the champions, my friends, and we’ll keep on fighting ’til the end.
Like everything else in life, the playlist below is a work in progress. Songs may come or go over time. For now, this is 4 hours of inspiration, motivation, and hope that I will be surrounding myself with. I hope it helps you move forward through these especially challenging times, too.
Songs About Surviving, Overcoming, or even just Managing
Be OK by Ingrid Michaelson
Let It Go from “Frozen” by Idina Menzel
Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
Tubthumping by Chumbawamba
Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Faith by Calvin Harris
Stayin’ Alive by Bee Gees
Beat It by Michael Jackson
Faith by George Michael
Stomp Me Out by Bryce Fox
Stronger by Kelly Clarkson
Roar by Katy Perry
Fight Song by Rachel Platten
My Life by Billy Joel
Stronger by Kanye West
We Will Rock You by Queen
We Are The Champions by Queen
Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen
I’m Still Standing by Elton John
Titanium by David Guetta
Survivor by Destiny’s Child
Shake It Off by Taylor Swift
Three Little Birds by Bob Marley & The Wailers
Songs with Inspirational, Happy, or Motivational Lyrics
Happy by Pharrell Williams
Anything Could Happen by Ellie Goulding
Good As Hell by Lizzo
Feeling Good by Nina Simone
I’m So Excited by The Pointer Sisters
Sunday Best by Surfaces
Firework by Katy Perry
Come Together by The Beatles
Get Up, Stand Up by Bob Marley & The Wailers
Save The World by Swedish House Mafia
You Gotta Be by Des’ree
Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Not Afraid by Eminem
On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons
Brave by Sara Bareilles
Nostalgic/Classic Songs that Make You Want to Sing Along
American Pie by Don McLean
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Livin’ On A Prayer by Bon Jovi
Your Song by Elton John
Inspiring Songs from Movies
Bellas Finals: Price Tag/Don’t You (Forget About Me) by The Barden Bellas (Pitch Perfect)
This Is Me by Keala Settle, The Greatest Showman Ensemble (The Greatest Showman)
The Avengers
Indiana Jones Theme by John Williams, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
Theme From Jurassic Park by John Williams
Main Title Theme by John Williams, Dallas Winds, Jerry Junkin (Star Wars)
Audition (The Fools Who Dream) by Emma Stone (La La Land)
SPIRIT by Beyonce (The Lion King)
Sports Songs
Theme From Rudy by Jerry Goldsmith, London Symphony Orchestra (Rudy)
Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti (Rocky)
Chariots Of Fire by Vangelis (Chariots of Fire)
My Oh My by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Songs with Moving Melodies
Hallelujah by Pentatonix
Turandot / Act 3: “Nessun dorma!” by Giacomo Puccini, Luciano Pavarotti
Draft Wanderer 
Love your play list! It gets me dancing!
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Yay! Thanks for sharing 🙂
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