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I love a good playlist. And I love how this tradition has given me a space to reflect on what music can offer, how it sticks with me over time, and how it changes as I age. 

It goes without saying that this was a surreal year above all else, and a slew of emotions came with that. Birthdays are always a good time to process and look back on that, and this year especially so. 

1. Back In My Body – Maggie Rogers
2. The Bones – Maren Morris, Hozier
3. Dance With Me – Snow Patrol & The Saturday Songwriters
4. Move Along – The All-American Rejects
5. Woman (feat. The Dap-Kings Horns) [Explicit] – Kesha, The Dap-Kings Horns
6. My House – PVRIS
7. Maneater – Grace Mitchell
8. Motion Sickness – Phoebe Bridgers
9. Waves – Dean Lewis
10. this is me trying – Taylor Swift
11. Achilles Come Down [Explicit] – Gang of Youths
12. Told You So – Paramore
13. Level of Concern – Twenty One Pilots
14. Gimme a Minute – PVRIS
15. Simmer [Explicit] – Hayley Williams
16. Paralyzed – Against The Current
17. Just One Yesterday – Fall Out Boy, Foxes
18. The Village – Wrabel
19. Coming Home – Falling In Reverse
20. Eternally Yours: Motion Picture Collection (feat. Crystal Joilena) – Motionless In White, Crystal Joilena
21. Deep Water – American Authors
22. My Mistake – Piano Version – Gabrielle Aplin
23. Heartbeats – José González
24. Spinning – Lubalin
25. Chinese Satellite – Phoebe Bridgers

What music has been getting you through lately? Let me know in a comment below or on Twitter @ohgrowup. Thanks for reading, and good luck adulting!

(Photo is a free stock photo, but it’s got the vibes.)

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This week is my birthday, so per tradition I have made an annual playlist.

Same rules as always: these are the songs that have meant the most to me over the last year, one song for every year I’ve been around, in listening order and not order of significance. The link to the playlist on Spotify is below if you feel like giving it a listen.

This year had a ton of really high highs and really low lows, so I built the playlist to reflect that journey to some extent. It’s become increasingly important to me to be honest about when life is difficult and painful, but also to hold fast to hope in whatever form I can find it.

1. Dreamer – Sea In The Sky
2. Almost (Sweet Music) – Hozier
3. Vagabonds – Grizfolk
4. Heavy – Birdtalker
5. Star Maps – Aly & AJ
6. No Plan [Explicit] – Hozier
7. Preach – John Legend
8. Rainbow – Kacey Musgraves
9. lovely (with Khalid) – Billie Eilish, Khalid
10. Call Off Your Ghost – Dessa
11. Welcome to the Family [Explicit] – Watsky
12. Human Touch – Armors
13. I Melt With You – Sugarcult
14. Polarize – Twenty One Pilots
15. I Need You – Relient K
16. </c0de> – Motionless In White
17. Those Nights – Skillet
18. World Away – Tonight Alive
19. Anchor – Skillet
20. You’ll Be In My Heart – Phil Collins
21. I Will Spend My Whole Life Loving You – Kina Grannis
22. Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
23. Chin Up – Copeland
24. One More Light – Linkin Park

I hope you enjoy this playlist. What songs have you had on repeat lately? Let me know in a comment below or on Twitter @ohgrowup. Thanks for reading, and good luck adulting.

 

P.S. Honorable mention to “Land Of The Free” by The Killers. I’ve listened to it a lot this year, but there were a couple of other songs included that caught the same feeling this song gives me and were more personally representative, though I think this song really encapsulates a lot of what our country and world are like right now.

(Photo is a free stock photo, because I’ve been really enjoying purple lately and finding some peace in small moments outdoors.)

23

Music means the world to me. It grounds me, gives me something to hold onto, offers new perspectives and reminders I need, gives me a hug when no one else is around, and takes me home no matter how far I feel.

So for my birthday last year, I published a playlist that encapsulated the music that had meant the most to me over the course of that year. Not only was it fun (and a nice break from regular adulting), but it gave me a new way to reflect and process, as well as something that I really enjoyed going back to. Based on all of that, I decided to make it a bit of a tradition.

Same rules as before: a playlist of the songs that have meant the most to me over the last year, one song for every year I’ve been around, and they’re in listening order — not order of significance. And, of course, I’ve included a link to the playlist on Spotify if you feel like giving it a listen!

1. Hard Times – Paramore
2. Dark Blue – Jack’s Mannequin
3. Dear World – Echosmith
4. Dirty and Left Out – The Almost
5. Send Me Home – Asking Alexandria
6. Buried Beneath – Red
7. Hunger – Florence + The Machine
8. Man of Stone – Matthew Thiessen & The Earthquakes
9. Avalanche – Bring Me The Horizon
10. Zombie – Bad Wolves
11. Letters to God, Pt II – Angels & Airwaves
12. Heavydirtysoul – Twenty One Pilots
13. LA Devotee – Panic! At The Disco
14. Last Hope – Paramore
15. Vice Verses – Switchfoot
16. Start A Riot – BANNERS
17. Better Days – The Goo Goo Dolls
18. Hallelujah – Rufus Wainwright
19. Vindicated – Dashboard Confessional
20. Don’t Let It Pass – Junip
21. Found/Tonight – Ben Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda
22. The Best – Tina Turner
23. Empress – Snow Patrol

What songs have been stuck with you lately? Let me know in a comment below, on Twitter @ohgrowup, or Instagram @oh.grow.up! Thanks for reading, and happy adulting!

P.S. I know there’s a duplicate from last year. I was going to change it, but honestly it’s still earned its spot.

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Yesterday was my birthday, and reflecting on the past year still makes my head spin a bit, so today I’m going to keep it simple. There are few things in my life which have remained as steady and constant as the influence of music. Though the music changes over the years, the way it guides me through difficult times and bolsters me through joyous ones never changes. So today my post is just a playlist of the songs that have meant the most to me over the last year. They’re in listening order, not order of significance, and I’ve included a link to the playlist on Spotify if you feel like giving it a listen!

1. Empty Apartment (acoustic) – Yellowcard
2. Bloodstream – Stateless
3. John Rawls, Jr. – JJ Wong
4. Can You Feel My Heart – Bring Me the Horizon
5. Whispers in the Dark – Skillet
6. Lips of an Angel – Hinder
7. New Romantics – Taylor Swift
8. Colors (stripped) – Halsey
9. Creep – Radiohead
10. Empty House – Relient K
11. Car Radio – Twenty One Pilots
12. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) – Hillsong United
13. Don’t Blink – Relient K
14. Wait For It – Hamilton Soundtrack (Original Broadway Cast)
15. Letters to God, Part II – Angels & Airwaves
16. Twenty-Somethings – Judah & the Lion
17. The Shadow Proves the Sunshine – Switchfoot
18. The Messenger – Linkin Park
19. Castle – Halsey
20. Africa – Toto
21. American Oxygen – Rihanna
22. Be Still – The Fray

What songs have you had on repeat lately? I’m always looking for new music, so let me know in a comment below, on Twitter @ohgrowup, or Instagram @oh.grow.up! Thanks for reading, and happy listening!