songs to play if i lose my memories

I don’t know about you but I am so excited for another year of Movin’ On! For me, coming back to classes means one thing – I need the perfect playlist. When I’m at school I probably spend about 8-10 hours a day listening to music. Between walking to classes, doing work and waiting around for meetings to start, I constantly have my headphones on and music playing at full blast. 

So picture this: I am walking around downtown and decide to J-walk, as I often do, but my music is playing too loud and I don’t see the White Loop coming straight for me. The next thing I know I wake up in the hospital, with no memories. I ask all of you to please play this playlist because I need to hear these songs for the first time again.  

Starting off strong I had to go for the nostalgia of it all. From early 2000s bangers, to that 2016-18, rose gold iPhone 7 vibe, I had to add it all. This was the peak of music, songs like Get Lucky by Daft Punk, Drag Me Down by One Direction and Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift shaped my IPod touch and set up my ride to school every morning. 

Broccoli by DRAM, Red Roses by Lil Skies, XO TOUR Llif3 by Lil Uzi Vert and Moonlight by XXXTENTACION were the songs that hit middle school me and shaped what my music taste would become. We were all never the same when that 2016 XXL Cypher Class hit Youtube. That group of rappers shaped an entire generation’s middle and high school experience, so, of course, I would give anything to scream those lyrics again at a high school football game while my entire friend group is falling apart behind the bleachers. 

I also just had to add some of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. You know those songs that you hear for the first time and you just need to play them over and over again because they’re that good? For me, some of those songs include Cold by Chris Stapleton, Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve, Plastic 100C by Sampha, My Sweet Lord by George Harrison and As by Stevie Wonder. These songs are the true definition of “I wish I could hear them for the first time again.” They’re beautifully done, have amazing instrumentals and just make me want to drive with the windows down. 

Now, a lot of the songs I added to this playlist have some ties to a certain memory of mine, and when I hear them they pull me back into that moment. Bruce Springsteen is my dad’s number one artist of all time, and every time we would drive to my grandma's house we’d listen to Born to Run or Dancing in the Dark, so I had to add them. Never Be Like You by Flume reminds me of how much fun my roommates and I had living with each other last year, and Hot Wings from Rio throws me back to driving to the beach with my childhood friends. These are songs that I would say are on my “soundtrack to my life.” They're integral parts of my favorite memories throughout my life and without music many of these memories wouldn’t exist. 

Lastly, like every time I make a playlist I had to pull some songs from my mom, that woman KNOWS music. She introduced me to songs like Mama by Genesis, Whipping Post by The Allman Brothers, Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers and The Kiss by The Cure. Half of this playlist is honestly songs she would play for me on our drives around Pittsburgh from ages 2 to 15. 

Now, I know looking at this playlist it’s a little all over the place, we have Rap, Country, Rock, R&B all wrapped into one, 10 hour playlist. But, I wanted to make sure to hit every time in my life, add some songs you may not know and take you back to songs you may have forgotten about. So, I hope you’re able to find some great tunes off this list to add to your daily rotation!

Make sure to look out for Movin’ On events this semester all around campus, it’s so good to be back!