Music is really important to me— I use it to study, to help me write, I turn it up while I clean or do laundry, or listen to it when I want to destress. I know this feeling is not unique to just me, as I have met many other people who also have a passion for music, earbuds in for long periods of time, with some people’s Spotify Wrapped minutes climbing into the tens of thousands.
After making (and receiving) playlists from friends and family, I realized that sharing music in this way was a really important way to connect with others; there is something special about being sent a playlist of songs knowing that someone had you in mind. Sharing playlists can also act as a way to stay in touch with people when you can’t physically see them, for instance, when my high school friend, Ally, and I exchanged playlists back in October. Despite being in two different states and having not seen each other since the summer, it still almost felt like I was having a musical conversation with my friend, and we also texted about the music, having a real digital conversation about our playlists.
Ally’s playlist not only introduced me to great new music, but it also helped assuage some of my homesickness and stress during my first semester of college— I remember listening to her playlist one difficult week when I was intensely studying for a midterm late into the night and working on a research assignment.
Overall, sharing playlists with others can be a really great way to improve your mood in a stressful or difficult time and can also just be a really fun thing to do! Of course, there might be the initial feeling of worry that someone will absolutely hate whatever music you send them, but try to push past that fear and self-consciousness, because exchanging playlists with a friend or relative is an extremely rewarding experience.
Since I’m always looking to discover new music, I thought I would conclude this post with a list of my favorite songs from the playlist Ally sent me (in no specific order). This list is broken up between songs that I had heard before (because I love rediscovering a song I’ve listened to previously) and songs that were completely new to me.
My Favorite Songs From the Playlist that I had Heard Before:
- “Vienna” by Billy Joel
- “I Will Follow You into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie
- “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls
- “Cigarette Daydreams” by Cage the Elephant
- “Pierre” by Ryn Weaver
- “Holy Ground” by Taylor Swift
My Favorite Songs From the Playlist that Were New to Me:
- “Ship to Wreck” by Florence + The Machine
- “Patience” by The Lumineers
- “Casanova” by Blake Rose
- “CHICKEN TENDIES” by Clinton Kane
- “Movie” by Blake Rose
