Usually, I feature one song or sometimes two. After writing about the January blues last Friday, I wanted to put together a four-song recommended playlist. How do you light the darkness? Play music.
Holly Cole Trio: I Can See Clearly Now
I tried to find the official video for the song but ended up with this home-made montage for Youtube. It’s a fabulous interpretation best played in stereo with the bass turned up.
Nelly Furtado: Powerless (Say What You Want)
I liked Folklore, Furtado’s follow up to her debut Whoa, Nelly. It sounded different from things released at the time and included Portuguese peppered on some of the tracks. The song came on at a time I took a look at my life and began dumping a lot of baggage.
Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth: Defying Gravity
Before belting out ‘Let it Go’ as Elsa, Idina Menzel was Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West. ‘Defying Gravity’ was part of my playlist while training for the half-marathon portion of the Manitoba Marathon. As a not-so-skinny runner, it was one of my two theme songs. I loved the bridge in this track as Elphaba tell the Oz residents off:
So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
“Everyone deserves the chance to fly!”
And if I’m flying solo
At least I’m flying free
To those who’d ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I’m flying high
Defying gravity
Firework by Katy Perry
Firework was the other theme song during half-marathon training. Forget training it should be a theme for anything artist notwithstanding. Sometimes you can’t call up a friend late in the night, the negative voices filling your mind nitpicking everything you ever did. Sometimes plugging in a song makes them disappear back into the night they came from and enabled the will to carry on in a brand-new day.
Unpaused Life 