My Top Ten List

This fall I returned to school after thirty-seven years. Often, I wear headphones while I’m

I listen to an eclectic combination of music. I delight in finding videos of the music of my youth (sixties and seventies). But I also love discovering new-to-me groups, such as Home Free and Pentatonix. Musicals have had a place on my playlist since I was a child, and I played classical piano for many years.

Every song listed is only the tip of an iceberg. I mention alternatives under each listing from the same genre or musician for your further exploration.

Here are my top ten, in no particular order:

1. Alexander Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda https://youtu.be/E8_ARd4oKiI

Miranda’s breakthrough hip-hop, all-American musical earned a place on my list the first time I heard it. The story of Hamilton’s rise from an illegitimate birth on a Caribbean Island to one of the founding fathers of our country makes me want to “be all I can be.”

The setting of the video is just as inspiring as the song. Long before there was a musical, Miranda performed the first song at the White House for “An Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word.” President Obama and Michelle Obama sat in the audience, snapping their fingers, clapping, and the performance ended to thunderous applause.

“I’m Not Giving Away my Shot” could trade places with “Alexander Hamilton” on my list.

Hamilton not only rose to power and influence, his story enabled Miranda to do the same. In turn, that inspires me.

2. The Sound of Silence performed by Pentatonix

Two months ago, I had never heard of Pentatonix. When I listened to “Mary Did You Know?,” I became an instant Pentaholic.

I’m addicted to watching to first-time reaction videos from people who have never heard of Pentatonix. Many of them admit that an A Capella group isn’t their thing. But whatever their background, classical, jazz, pop, rock, country, etc., their jaws drop on hearing the video. They pinch their arms as goosebumps form. Sometimes it happens with the very first note and always by the end of the first verse. I’ve seen it happen over and over.

I chose “The Sound of Silence” for my playlist because of its profound message of the importance of the unheard, the words written on the “ subway walls and tenement halls.” As a writer, I hope to give a voice to those who cannot speak.

3. Even If by Mercy Me https://youtu.be/O_WSeZh5mWA

I became a fan of Mercy Me since their early hits, “Imagine Me” and “Homesick.” Their songs t ouch my deep where the rubber hits the road, making sense out of the senseless.

Recently I checked up on their more recent music and discovered “Even If.” It’s the perfect song for those times when I feel like I want to give up. The video link includes the story behind the song. The artist shares his son’s lifelong struggle with diabetes. As he says in the song, “I’ve stood on this stage night after night reminding the broken it’ll be all right, but right now I just can’t.”

Through his brokenness, he inspires me to continue going through my own broken pieces.

4. Sing a Song by the Carpenters https://youtu.be/0mNBv5fwdXY

As a college student in 1970s, I collected a library of cassette tapes. I wore out my Carpenter’s Greatest Hits album before long. “Sing a Song” is a classic feel-good song, one that inspires me to choose positive over negative, possibility over failure. Karen’s voice reminds me to think of “good things, not bad.”

5. Rocky Mountain High by John Denver https://youtu.be/cOS5-n7dyj4

“Rocky Mountain High” was probably the single greatest reason that I wanted to move to Colorado, where I found the home of my heart for twenty years. I soar to the mountain tops every time I hear the song.

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My John Denver cassette was another casualty of my college studies. I chose “Rocky Mountain High” because of the line “I was born in the summer of my twenty-seventh year.” As a sixty-six year old Ph.D. student, I appreciate the fact there are always new opportunities ahead, new paths to trod. It’s never too late.

6. Seasons of Love from Rent https://youtu.be/hj7LRuusFqo

The musical Rent has a memorable track, but none of the other songs carry the impact of the opening number. How do I determine what’s important, what gives life meaning, when I face illness, change, death—impossible demands, disappointing results?

Few songs have answered that question better than “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent. I want to make every one of those 525,600 minutes count!

7. The River by Garth Brooks https://youtu.be/12cv04sJOAQ

I wasn’t a country fan until I heard Garth Brooks in the late 1980s. His music embodies the struggles of adulthood and of society at a personal level, whether it’s the person who will “give up everything he has to pay to play the game” (Rodeo) or a dream that’s like a river (The River)

It’s easy to lose focus by dwelling on past mistakes and failures. Or I might not have the courage to take a chance unless it’s a sure thing. “The Dance” encourages me because I could have something worth striving for, even if it comes with pain.

8. Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach https://youtu.be/7ZNXBpO-uEo

As a classical piano student, nothing engaged my mind and heart quite like Bach’s preludes and fugues to train my fingers and engage my mind and heart. The complexity of Baroque style, which takes a single motif and moves it from the right hand to the left, from soprano to alto to bass and tenor, repeating two or three notes or the entire line. It’s Handel’s “Messiah” without the words.

And while you’re at it, you might also like Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor for organ.

9. Bolero by Maurice Ravel https://youtu.be/mhhkGyJ092E

Even more than Baroque music, I thrived on impressionist music and art. Ravel’s classic pushes me relentlessly forward with its driving beat. The music also reminds me that teamwork is important in any endeavor, with the melody which begins with a single flute, makes its way through the woodwind section, and moves on to every section of the orchestra during the eighteen repetitions of its theme. Something done well is worth repeating.

In a similar vein, check out Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin.

10. Sing by Pentatonix https://youtu.be/Yc7-krRX8uA

I probably could have listed a complete playlist from Pentatonix, but I close with their original song, “Sing.” If ever I’m feeling sleepy or bored, “Sing” is sure to bring me to life. I want to move, to sing “with my hands in the sky.” When I do get up and dance, my senses become alert and I am ready to work.