Playlists and Purpose

Ahhh, playlists....where do I begin? I love playlists because they are made of one of my favorite things in the world - music!  I love music.  I don't mean that I love every kind of music, but I love the general idea of music.  In the book of life, the chapter called "Music" is the amazing place where people induce feelings and share ideas through a combination of melody and lyrics. Sad songs, happy songs, dance songs, songs to pump up the crowd, songs to honor our country. I think its pretty safe to say there is at least one song out there for anything and everything you could possible imagine.  Just for fun, here are a few from my personal collection:


Song to 'Drink Wine and Reflect' to: Orange Sky by Alexi Murdoch

Song to 'Day Dream About Possibilities' to: For Me This is Heaven by Jimmy Eat World

Song to 'Stroll in the Park' to: Modern Nature by Sondre Lerche

Song to 'Dance Like a Maniac/Sing into a Hairbrush' to: Gonna Get Over You by Sara Bareilles

Song to 'Take Over the World' to: Spectrum by Florence and the Machine
 

Songs by themselves are cool, but songs added to other songs to make a playlist are better. The songs in a playlist help to create the mood and flow to the party or gathering during which they are played. On more than one occasion, I've spent an excessive amount of time creating a 'perfect playlist' for an upcoming event. The perfect playlist usually consists of 3 elements; current hits, classic hits, and a sprinkled in theme that I chose based on the type of gathering and the demographic of the attendees. For example, if the parents are coming over for a weekend BBQ, the sprinkle theme is 50s and 60s pop music. For kickball game nights, the sprinkle theme is 90s nostalgic rap. After I have selected all of the songs for my playlist I spend more time then I'm willing to admit re-arranging the songs to establish an appropriate playlist 'flow.'

While I do spend quite a bit of time making multi-hour playlists for parties and big events, I also like to create quick 30-45 minute playlists for daily activities like working out or cleaning the house. These playlists don't require too much thought, just a quick scroll through my iTunes library as I impulsively drag over whatever jumps out and grabs me.

Somebody who is married to me that shall remain nameless does not share my passion for 'the play list.' He says, "Life doesn't need a soundtrack." I say, "It may not need a soundtrack, but sure is better with a soundtrack." Ultimately, music enhances purpose. I can think of no funner (not a word) example of music played with a purpose than the late 1989 standoff between American troops and General Manuel Noriega.  The specifics of Noriega's life aren't important for purpose of this blog. You only need to know that he was a bad dude. A drug dealing gangster who stole elections, exiled enemies and oppressed his own people. He was on the US shit list for quite some time, and as the situation escalated in December of 1989, twenty four thousand American troops were sent into Panama to go after the a-hole. Realizing his back was against the wall, he turned to religion.  Well, by "turned to religion" I mean he ran and hid in the Vatican embassy in Panama City. Oddly enough, when the troops went up and rang the bell, Noriega didn't come out to play. In an creative attempt to get Noriega to give himself up, the Americans turned giant speakers toward the residence and tried to blast him out. At first they played newscasts, but soon after, they opened up the request lines. On December 25th they took a break from the requests to blast 24 hrs of Christmas music.  After that it was 4 more days of requests followed by Top 40 countdowns from the Billboard Top 100, Black 100 and Country 100 charts. After 10 days total, Vatican officials convinced Noriega to give himself up.  Now that's a playlist with a purpose!

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