You can read a lot these days about how to lift yourself out of a funk. Do this, don’t do that. Pray, meditate, commune with others, don’t commune with others. For many of us, there are a hundred ways to soothe your soul – and some of them have actual staying power. Methods come, methods go, books are read, finished and shelved. A lot has worked for me and a lot no longer works. But two things have remained constant: One is helping others. Nothing breaks you free of your own crap like helping others. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
My favorite t-shirt saying currently is a trusted 12 Step adage: “Trust God. Clean House. Serve Others.” I’m all in. I would add one more: Find joy in your music. I have hesitated to take on this topic because it is so subjective — even within. What moves you today may not move you next week. Something I’ve never heard as of today may heal me in thirty minutes. The kind of music that can have the most lasting impact on your life, seems to me, are those songs that you can feel. Literally. They are visceral experiences that literally change the way you feel about yourself and your day when you are listening. But you can ask 50,000 people for their Top 40 list of songs that bring great joy – the kind they feel in their bones – and you’ll get 50,000 different lists.
Music that makes you joyful are not necessarily your favorite tunes of all time. I have always counted “Aja” by Steely Dan, “Fat Man in the Bathtub” by Little Feat and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who as the three songs that I have never and will never tune out. They are, to me, masterworks of their genres, but they don’t necessarily make me joyful. They don’t rattle my spiritual bones.
The following playlist does. My list may or may not contain some of the songs you would find to be works of joy that have literally made your life better for the five or ten minutes you are in the moment. But I’m pretty sure at this stage in my life, this is a joy playlist that will be with me for what remains of my time. In no particular order. Let me know if I’ve missed any:
MY JOY TOP 40:
—“Love Train,” The Spinners. If you doon't feel the joy, check your pulse, man.
—“Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” Neil Diamond. Ditto.
—“Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing;” “Sir Duke,” “As,” “Do I Do,” “For Once in My Life,” Stevie Wonder. For my money, nobody brings the music joy like Stevie. Repeated listenings of “Ngiculela” and “Do I Do” are what prompted this joy list.
—"Shower the People," James Taylor. Love, love and more love.
—“Another Park, Another Sunday,” Doobie Brothers. Had always been meh about this one until six years ago when I walked into a shop in Mystic, Conn., and watched a 50ish-year-old woman customer dance and sing the entire song while she waited in line and thought, that’s who I want to be.
—“The Drifter,” Bee’s Knees. Old Dallas group from the 70s and 80s; Pure beauty.
—“Drift Away,” Dobie Gray
—“Shambala,” Three Dog Night
—“Healing Rain,” Michael W. Smith. A family thing, and a surefire method I use to help me drive across high bridges and steep mountain roads.
—“Walking in Memphis,” Mark Cohn. A magical place for music lovers
—“Waking on Sunshine,” Katrina and the Waves
—“Love Shack,” B-52s
—“Love is the Answer,” England and John Ford Coley. The Gospel in 4:41.
—“Somebody to Love,” Queen. Nobody can quite mess up an impossible-to-dance-to song quite like the Patterson family rendition at weddings.
—“Don’t Stop my Now,” Queen. Hopefully my funeral song.
—“Steamer Lane Breakdown, Doobie Brothers. Nothing brought my dad and I together musically like this. My goodness he loved this song.
—“Roll Me Away,” Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The unabounding joy of the open road.
—“Daddy’s Back,” ”I Believe in Love,” “I’ve Got the Melody,” Kenny Loggins. Kenny’s catalog is loaded with joy, these are personal favorites.
—“Caprockin,” The Panhandlers, “West Texas Heaven,” Kimmie Rhodes, “Lubbock Texas in My Rearview Mirror,” Mac Davis, “ “West Texas in My Eye,” The Panhandlers, “Gringo Honeymoon,” Robert Earl Keen. Songs that capture the essence of my adopted home like no others.
—“What I Like About Texas,” Gary P. Nunn
—“Cumbia Raza,” "Come on Let's Go," Los Lobos. How… you… party. Danced to this on the LA Coliseum field while the Boys from East LA played during a conference in 2000 – and at Fiesta in San Antonio.
—“Tremble,” Lauren Daigle. So much vocal passion and joy.
—“What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace Love and Understanding,” Elvis Costello, “Pump it Up,” Elvis Costello
—“We’ve Got a Good Fire Going,” Don Williams.
—“The Motown Song,” Rod Stewart. Another pulse verifier.
—“Oh, Atlanta,” Alison Krauss and Union Station. Blown away by AKUS at the Lubbock Municipal Auditorium in the 1990s by this unforgettable performance.
—“Rosalita,” Springsteen. Maybe the most joyful rock and roll song ever recorded.
—“Jungleland,” Springsteen. Timeless classical music disguised as rock and roll brings a range of emotions.
—"Land of Hope and Dreams,” Springsteen. Probably my favorite song ever that puts to use the word “thwarted” in the lyrics.
—“Night Train/Youngblood,” Rickie Lee Jones. These will just seep into your bones. For my ears, the high point of Rickie Lee’s career.
—“Listen to What the Man Said,” Wings. Guilty pleasure. OK, I’ll sop before you lose all respect. 😊
The point of all this is to not show off my playlist (although I guess I did a pretty good job of it), it’s to encourage you to make your own.
May doing so bring you some much-needed joy.
A very good piece, loved it.