In 2021, I made a playlist for each month and I really have loved looking back at these. Instead of just a song taking me back to a time period, I have a whole playlist for each month. You really can tell how I was feeling each month and how busy I was based on how many songs were in each one, or how many of those songs are new.
This is a really beautiful form of documentation that I think many people would benefit from. It is so nostalgic to listen back to playlists from over a year ago and remember the way I felt then. Plus, I’m bad at consistently journaling so this is a technique that works for me.
Here is my January 2022, in songs:
“Silver Lining“ – Mount Joy
Favorite lyric: “But if it’s the drugs, the women, the wine, the weed. The love that took everything I own, just take it all.”
“One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces“ – Ben Folds Five
Favorite lyric: “Don’t give me that bullshit, you know who I am. I’m your nightmare little man. Vic, you stole my lunch money, made me cry. Jane, remember second grade? Said you couldn’t stand my face, rather than kiss me, you said you’d rather die.”
“Clara Clairvoyant” – Donovan
Favorite lyric: “Kathy Katholica. In the box from 3 to 4. Rocky Rock’n’Roller. Sometimes up and sometimes down. In the long run. Take the path down on the ground”
“Kick It To Me“ – Sammy Rae & The Friends
Favorite lyric: “Nowadays we got a lot of good news. You finally kicked the cigarettes, I ain’t been singing the blues nearly as much, since I been living with you, love me too much. And I say – Kick it to me, I could make it better for ya. Kick it to me, I could make you better for it”
“No more ?’s“ – Easy E and Ice Cube
Favorite lyric: “I’m not like Robin Hood, ’cause I want more. Steal from the rich, hang with the poor. My pockets are fat, you see, it don’t matter to me. I feel like nobody is badder than me. Is all that true? I don’t lie. You see, I’m not Mr. Nice Guy.”
“Homecoming Serf“ – Sydney Gish
Favorite lyric: “I love vacation days. It’s a blacked-out haze I’m in. This cul-de-sac is coming. Back, back, back, back, back”
“don’t miss me“ – Claire Rosinkranz
Favorite lyric: “Cause I can’t take my feelings and I can’t trust my heart. So I never take my chances ’cause I know I’ll break apart”
“2000 chevy malibu“ – Channel Tres
Favorite lyric: “Fuck this, I’m moving out the house. Tired of sleepin’ on my couch. She was already talking ’bout putting me out.”
“She Knows (feat. Amber Coffman & Cults)“ – J. Cole
Favorite lyric: “Got me up so high, try and get a piece of that apple pie. I be up so high, try and get a piece of that apple pie.”
“G.O.M.D.” – J. Cole
Favorite lyric: “I know the reason you feel the way, I know just who you wan’ be. So everyday I thank the man upstairs. That I ain’t you and you ain’t me. Get off my dick, woah (Get the fuck off my dick)”
“Shampoo Bottles“ – Peach Pit
Favorite lyric: “Your cell phone charger’s still hanging from the wall. Haven’t chucked it at all, like you’d think, though you haven’t been around in weeks. I’ve run out of my Speed Stick, honey. So I have been using yours. It’s frickin trash, all that organic hoo hah, from one of your health food stores.”
“Clay Pigeons“ – Michael Cera
Favorite lyric: “I could build me a castle of memories just to have somewhere to go. Count the days and the nights that it takes to get back in the saddle again. Feed the pigeons some clay. Turn the night into day. Start talkin’ again, when I know what to say”
“Jack and Diane“ – John Mellencamp
Favorite lyric: “Jack, he’s gonna be a football star, Diane’s debutante, backseat of Jacky’s car”
“Being a Woman“ – Lake Street Drive
Favorite lyric: “Being a woman is an uphill climb. Eighty cents on the dollar and you need every dime. ‘Cause you’ve got a little baby and she cries all the time”
To listen to this playlist on Spotify and experience this past month through my ears, go here.