Now that 2026 is in full swing, I am looking back at the year 2025 and everything that I’ve done- one of the things being starting a playlist to measure the year. Of course, there’s a calendar or a planner, but that felt boring; I mean, 2025 was a big year for me. I was graduating and going to college, and I needed something special to represent that. So, I landed on measuring the days in songs, on a playlist.
Playlists and music are not surface level expressions for me, so this seemed like the most fitting option. I went onto Spotify and made a new playlist called “2025”, then I went to my reminders and set one that would go off at noon every single day; I was committed.
Then on Jan. 1, 2025, when that reminder went off, the first song I added was “New Years Day” by Taylor Swift. I have always been a Swiftie (I am listening to “Evermore” as I write this), so it felt right for the occasion. The playlist quickly became a way I could rate my days in songs. One example being on March 1, when I added “Chasing Pavements” by Adele, so clearly the day was not my best. But then, on April 3, it was “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” by ROLE MODEL, and that song is good vibes and a go-to when I’m with friends.
The songs you listen to can depict the person you are during the mood you’re in. Now, my favorite artists are Gracie Abrams and Renee Rapp, so I am quite guilty of listening to sad songs every day. However, I also adore my upbeat songs by Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, the glitter gel pen, if you will.
This playlist was a way for me to measure my life. That way I could go back, listen to the songs, and relive the memories, good and bad. This is something that is so important to me because looking at pictures and listening to songs can take you back and feel very nostalgic. Nostalgia has always been my favorite feeling, and it is something that means so much to me, I find it so heartbreakingly beautiful that you are yearning for your own life and the things you have already experienced.
On June 17, I added “Long Live (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift because that was the day I graduated high school. On Aug. 18, I added “Teenage Dream” by Olivia Rodrigo, as that was my nineteenth birthday. Both of those songs could not be more fitting for the occasions. I have always been someone that associates songs with people and places. Music holds memories. For example, the song “Evermore” comes on and suddenly it is summer 2023 and two of my close friends are spending the night at my house.
This playlist is something that in hindsight, is quite small; it can be seen as just songs. But playlists have never been just songs for me. I currently have 220 playlists. I know it seems crazy. But they all hold so much meaning. Playlists dating back to 2021 that feel like winter freshman year, all the way to the playlist from my graduation party, my playlist that I listen to every time I bake, and all of the playlists I have made for my friends compiled with songs that remind me of them–with carefully curated titles, such as a bee emoji and another simply called “my kk.” Something that may not make sense to others but feels so perfect for that person.
This playlist easily means so much to me, and it’s something I recommend to everyone reading this. Music has a way of connecting with people and words, read or heard, can make people feel seen. I have already started the new one for 2026, opening with “New Years Day” by Taylor Swift.