Songs for the Aching Mother

Heh, I wonder what The Glorious Sons would say if they saw my eerie spin on their album cover "Young Beauties and Fools". A lone woman riding a one-eyed old spook in the twilight - his empty eye socket visible to the observant viewer. Making this little twist made me feel like I was back in high school art class, completing an expression piece.

The picture is of me, almost seven years ago, riding an old rescue horse I had taken in named Hero. It's a photograph I will always cherish - and it was the first photo that came to mind when I first noticed the album cover after downloading several of their songs. It's taken at a time that I was young and foolish, and over the moon with passion for all things creative, and full of wonder.

Those days are starting to come back to me, slowly but surely after so much seriousness and steady go-go-go. It's got to stop somewhere. I've got to put my life into perspective and start making it worth every minute. And I'm doing that again, finally. I'm not putting up with anyone else's demands of me. I'm not letting irrelevant opinions bother me anymore. I'm being real, and I'm doing whatever the hell I want to do that excites me.

So anyway - enough talk. Today I want to reach out to others who still have bad days even when the sun still shines. Because we all have those. But sometimes we don't know how to cope with them. Well here's my playlist - and let me forewarn you, the songs on it are not all upbeat, funky bouncy hip hop dance-ey songs. Some of them are angry. Some of them are sad and even make me shed a tear when I hear them. And, some of them bring back memories, both good and bad. The reason I don't keep a strict up up up playlist is because I feel like if I do that, I am denying myself the permission to feel my own very valid feelings. It's okay to feel sad. It's okay to feel angry. And it's okay to remember things, good or bad. The good memories will help lift my mood. The bad memories will help me appreciate the good ones as well as where I am at now compared to where I was then.

1 - New Rules by Dua Lipa

2 - If I Die Young by The Band Perry

3 - Drinking in L.A. by Bran Van 3000

4 - Roses (feat. ROZES) by the Chainsmokers

5 - Don't Let Me Down by the Chainsmokers

6 - Something Just Like This by Coldplay

7 - Yellow by Coldplay

8 - Boom Clap by Charli XCX

9 - We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth

10 - This Girl (feat. Kylie Auldist) by Cookin' on 3 Burners

11 - She's Dope by Down With Webster

12 - Superman by Eminem

13 - Cleanin' Out My Closet by Eminem

14 - We Made You by Eminem

15 - Work From Home by Fifth Harmony

16 - Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine

17 - Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand

18 - Budapest by George Ezra (I love the name Ezra)

19 - Thunder by Imagine Dragons

20 - Price Tag by Jessie J

21 - Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland

22 - Nightcall (feat. Lovefoxxx) by Kavinsky

23 - All These Things That I've Done by The Killers

24 - On Top by The Killers

25 - Do What U Want by Lady Gaga

26 - Up We Go by Lights

27 - White Walls by Macklemore

28 - Thrift Shop by Macklemore

29 - Lean On by Major Lazer

30 - Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5

31 - All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor

32 - Shake it by Metro Station

33 - Ghengis Khan by Mike Snow

34 - I Took A Pill In Ibiza (Seeb Remix) by Mike Posner

35 - Slow Hands by Niall Horan

36 - Messin' Around (With Enrique Iglesius) by Pitbull

37 - Home by Phillip Phillips

38 - Feel This Moment by Pitbull featuring Christina Aguilera

39 - Another Night by Real McCoy

40 - Wish I Knew You by The Revivalists

41 - We Found Love by Rihanna

42 - It Wasn't Me by Shaggy

43 - Soak Up The Sun by Sheryl Crow

44 - Santa Monica by Theory Of A Deadman

45 - Riptide by Vance Joy

46 - Lost Stars by Kiera Knightley (Bet you didn't know she ever sang!)

47 - Mr. Saxobeat by Alexandra Stan

48 - Always On Time by Ja Rule

49 - Still Counting by Volbeat

50 - Fallen by Volbeat

51 - Dirty Talk by Wynter Gordon

52 - Unsteady by X Ambassadors

53 - We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool

54 - Only Time by Enya

55 - Dreams by The Cranberries

56 - Zombie by The Cranberries

57 - I Don't Feel Like Dancin' by The Scissor Sisters

58 - Good As Hell by Lizzo

59 - Senorita by Shawn Mendez and Camila Cabello

60 - Good Old Days (feat. Kesha) by Macklemore

61 - Broken (feat. Amy Lee) by Seether

62 - Josie by The Glorious Sons

63 - Everything is Alright by The Glorious Sons

64 - S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun) by The Glorious Sons

So this is it - sixty-four favourites, in no meaningful order, although it looks to me like it started out alphabetically by artist and then randomized toward the end - way to go, iPhone.

Do you have a special playlist? I hope there was at least one song on mine that sparked something for you - one title you saw that you just couldn't wait another moment to hit "download" on. If so, then I feel like my mission is complete in sharing my playlist with you.