"Everybody Needs" These Songs

You know those beneficial tasks that you want to do, but they're not important enough to actually do? They circle the drain of your mind, just waiting to pass the threshold into actuality. I'm talking about: scouring the internet for organization items like beds with storage, or color-coordinating your closet, or even making a list of baby names even though you're not pregnant, yet. Some of them are chores, and some of them are recreational, but both take up space in your mind. Eventually, you have to write them down to remember them or you have to finally do them. Once you do, there is a satisfaction in bringing them to life. Funny enough, categorizing my favorite songs has been in my brain drain for months. With the Melodic Milestone Playlist challenge now in existence, its a task that has become "beneficial" enough for me to do. And, I'll definitely experience satisfaction while doing it.

As a person, I'm pretty straightforward, so, I'll just stick with my top ten favorite songs of all time. Maybe the categorization is basic, but the songs are not (I hope). I know the popularity of some of the songs could push them into that basic category, but, I'd like to remind everyone of the difference between the two. Basic is rudimentary and popular is well-liked (I can't help it if I have good taste in music). Because I'm also a fun person, (anyone who makes lists about their favorite songs is automatically fun, right?) you can expect a bonus song to find its way into this article. Finally, this playlist is about my "journey," so each song has some connection to me. They're in no particular order.

Audioslave - Be Yourself

Audioslave: very popular. So what makes this, also very popular song better than all the other Audioslave songs?

It's a song for everyone and for one person. "Separate or united," it doesn't matter. This song is for the masses, and includes every human on earth. But the message is individuality: "To be yourself is all that you can do." Plus, its beat (don't beat me up for not knowing the correct music terminology) feels meaningful too. It's melodic, and that agreeableness makes you more susceptible to its message. It's also harsh (like most rock), which is another reminder that both being yourself and being alive isn't always easy. Somehow they meld beauty with chaos, and that is life.

I heard this song for the first time, only two years ago, but no matter, I haven't gone a week without listening to it since. I've never tired of its message. I think it's the line, "all that you can do." There is a nod to those who worry or try to do too much. The line is freeing. It cuts through the messes of life, and serves as a reminder that I am my own entity.

Sound the Bugle - Bryan Adams

Movies I annoyed my mom with, by watching them daily: Spirit.

I shared this song in my other playlist, but it is in my top ten, so it belongs here too. I'd come home from school to begrudgingly do my homework. Then, I would ride my real life horses: Ashes, Inca and Iron-Eyes. Finally, I'd finish my day watching Spirit. I'd do this five days a week. Even as a child, I'd get goosebumps watching the movie. The whole soundtrack of Spirit is fabulous, but this particular song was in my heart before I needed it to be. As a kid, I didn't feel the words to the same depth that I do now, but I still loved them. I know hope is a popular subject and many songs are written with the intention to instill it, but this one is special. Listen to it without the movie playing and still, it works. As life goes on we reminisce on what was, comparing it to where we are now. That often can leave us feeling desolate. In a time of sadness or identity crisis, "there's a voice that calls" to us from the depths of ourselves to "remember who [we] are." My life has been temporarily awful, but this song will help make it okay forever.

The Mixed Tape - Jack's Mannequin

Not every song I listen to is extremely heart-wrenching. This one is only minimally sad.

I first heard this song on the popular TV show, One Tree Hill. Which if you don't know, is a show that was big with teens about ten to fifteen years ago. This song is perfect for capturing both my generation and the feelings of teenagers growing up. The title dates itself to a time when mixed tapes were the thing to give to the person you had a crush on. The sound dates itself too: it is peak alternative rock, which was huge at this time (and happens to be my favorite genre). The words are a beautiful "symphony of sound," composed to a former lover. He makes her a mixed tape that expresses all he can no longer say, due to their failed relationship. Teens fall in and out of love and take break-ups so hard. This sentiments in this song were so easy to relate to growing up. Today, it still has meaning, and it might be the most catchy song on this list.

In the Morning Light - Billy String

Love. I love this folky/ bluegrass song.

Everyone needs a few good love songs, and this is the song, that for me, transcends time the way that love does. I have the right to be a little mad that song is not more popular. It is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever listened to. It gets into your heart and soul and every word is meaningful. As humans, sometimes we don't feel worthy, I know I don't. My husband works two jobs now, because I'm unfortunately disabled (my spine is a noodle). Sometimes I'm "not sure that I deserve the love that I receive" from him. He gives and gives and I search for more to return, always coming up short of something good enough for him. It shows that love is a never-ending pool of wealth that is continually poured into from both sides. Plus, this music video is so touching. I cried the first time I watched it.

Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground - Willie Nelson

Remember when I said, "everyone needs a few good love songs?" Well this is also a part of that few.

The lyrics are a thing of beauty. It talks about the ultimate sacrifice of true love. Right before my mom died, my sister had a cross made for her that had her favorite quote of all time. That quote was the popular saying: "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours forever. If it doesn't, it wasn't meant to be." That is what this song is about: the story of loving someone, and nursing them through the bad, and setting them free to experience the good, even if you aren't there. "If [I] had not of fallen," on my face a few times, I'd never know the true love of my husband. Plus, Willie Nelson sings lifetimes with his voice. The beauty of this song is a small love story.

Someone New - Banks

A "few" is at least three, right?

This song is the one I connect with the most. It's been a popular choice on my playlist for years. I broke up with a boyfriend from high school (we were together for almost six years), when I was twenty. We never fought and our relationship was mostly butterflies and magic for six straight years. So why end it? One day, I went on a hike by myself and I had zero thoughts about him. I still loved him, but it was the first time in (at that time) close to half of my life, that I'd only thought about me for a day. We stayed together about a month longer before I brought up my feelings. It was so hard, because I still loved him, and part of me always will (first loves are like that). But, I needed to be on my own (we were also making very large efforts to travel back and forth for college). I met my now husband about a year and a half later, but before meeting him, I had tried to explain to my ex that I wasn't opposed to dating in the future. He was hurt, and found another girlfriend right away. They're still together and I'm married now, but this song expresses exactly how I felt for a very long time after that relationship.

Fiction - Avenged Sevenfold

A heavy metal band right after THREE love songs?

My music taste is diverse! A male friend showed me this song and told me the story behind it. Later, alone in my car, I put this song on and cried. Avenged Sevenfold's drummer, had an enlarged heart and knew his timeline was shortened. Three days before he died, he finished this song. You can feel the goodbye in his lyrics, and it is heart-wrenching. The drummer named the song, "Death," but to honor his life crazy life story, the remaining members changed its name to "Fiction." I don't think there is a metal band out there that can bring as much soul to something as Avenged Sevenfold brings to this song.

This song, specifically, played a large part in helping me to branch out of my comfort zone when listening to music. I loved it so much that I started listening to whole albums instead of just popular hits on the radio. It was when I began deep searches for hidden gems in music.

Bella's Lullaby - Dan Redfeld & Elizabeth Heldman

No Words! Literally, the song has no words.

Sorry for the cheesy background photo, but the song is from the movie Twilight. It is a piano piece that portrays the emotions between Edward and Bella. That is important! I was Twilight obsessed. In 2009, I watched it in theaters and it was one of the few movies my parents actually bought for me on DVD. The soundtrack of the movie is phenomenal (fight me if you disagree), but since it is popular with teenage girls, it can get a lot of haters. I'll admit, the movie itself is barely average, but this song is a standout amongst the already powerful list of tracks. It is a love story of light and dark. You can feel the tension and the surrender of the notes (consonance and dissonance -I looked it up). There is beauty and darkness all wrapped into piano keys. It's as magical as a world filled with vampires. I love all of the harmony and bliss it produces, so I listen to it often.

Landslide - Fleetwood Mac or The Chicks

From no words to words of wisdom.

I know this song needs no introduction for most people, so, if you've heard it before, feel free to listen again, just in case you forgot about its existence. Don't get mad that I didn't post the Fleetwood Mac version. I know that it is more popular than this version, but I grew up watching CMT, so this music video is forever in my memories. I respect both versions equally. I think this song is meaningful both because it reminds me of my mom and it also sings about the ever-fleeting subject of time. It reminds me of my mom because of how her life ended. For so long she was a wife and mother first. My brother (the youngest of her eight children) graduated high school the day before she died. She was just about to be free to find herself when she passed away from cardiac arrest. I can't help but remember her singing this song when it would come on the Country Music Countdown on Saturdays. Now, I can also imagine how meaningful it was to her.

She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5

The final song, in my top ten, is "not always rainbows and butterflies."

This is the first song I ever fell in love with. I was nine. I had just been given my older sister's MP3 player, which she had discarded for the more popular iPod. I was so thrilled, I didn't even care that it only had five songs, including this one. My sister was fifteen and I wanted to be just like her. So, I sat in the back seat (middle because I was the smallest) and played this song on repeat, acting like my parents were as annoying to me as there were to my older sister. I loved the parts about the troubled girl. I had older sisters (five of them) and they all had "issues with [themselves]." It felt like my personal therapy to hear someone singing about loving a girl with problems. I knew life would be okay. I can go days or years without hearing this song, but when it comes on, I'll always sing along.

Bonus: Everybody Needs Someone - Noah Cyrus & Vance Joy

It's brand new, so it could be questioned as an all time favorite.

Miley Cyrus is one of my favorite artists. Her vocals and songs are woven into all of my playlists, though none made this one. But Noah Cyrus's voice does not get enough credit. I'd love her to be more popular than she is. This song is new. It was released in April 0f 2023. No matter, I can't get it out of my head, and I suspect years from now, it will stand the test of time like all of these others do. Noah provides vocals as stellar as Miley, but they're still her own. I love this message. Everyone truly does need someone. I can't wait to find out how I can connect this song to my journey, and let it have its own story in my life.

Thanks for reading... and listening!

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