A Playlist For This Strange New World

Some of us are tiptoeing, some of us are tapdancing, and some of us made an us-shaped hole in the door on the way out. Some of us are still inside, peeking hesitantly out the window and making frantic calculations in our heads. However and whenever we choose to go back into the “out there”, there’s no denying that out there is not the same place it was a few years ago. We can’t have the old stuff back again, and we’re in the midst of “what now?”

Is it disappointing? Yes. Is it scary? Absolutely. Do we have to figure out a way forward, regardless? Well…yeah.

And so, I present a playlist packed with wisdom and guidance for those feeling a bit alien in the new normal, and all the possibilities and challenges it presents. It’ll be weird and awful some days, and novel and exciting other days. Take heart, fellow humans. We’ve weathered some serious caca as a species before, and we’ll get through it again. If we do it right, we might even come out the other side in even better shape. Henry Rollins once said “My optimism is loud and wears heavy boots.” Lace yours up and venture out with a bunch of good tunes in your head.

Here are some to get you started:

• Talking Heads- Nothing But Flowers

• REM- It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

• David Bowie- Changes

• Sheryl Crow- A Change Will Do You Good

• Louis Armstrong- What A Wonderful World

• Stevie Wonder- Higher Ground

• Jamie Cullum- I’m All Over It

• Alanis Morisette- Thank You

• Joni Mitchell- Woodstock

• Madeleine Peyroux- Don’t Wait Too Long

• Wide Mouth Mason- Change

• Yael Naim-New Soul

• Jimmy Cliff-I Can See Clearly Now

• Caro Emerald- Pack Up The Louie

• Layah Jane- Reverence and Ridicule

• Ben E. King- Stand By Me

• Dixie Chicks- Wide Open Spaces

• Bob Dylan- The Times They Are A Changin’

• Oliver (The Musical)- It’s a Fine Life