SINCE seeing an uplifting program on the power of music earlier in the year I have been urging my nearest and dearest to get their playlists into order.
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Never mind their financial affairs. What is their Top 100?
The Catalyst program – RIP ABC science journalism – reported on a program that revealed how personalised playlists could reawaken the brains of people with dementia and even allow people with severe Parkinson’s disease to move freely.
I couldn’t comment on the exact science behind it, but it was powerful to watch aged people reacting with pure joy to their favourite tunes from long ago.
While I know some of the artists my parents like, I wouldn’t feel confident to put together their playlists. I would be far better versed to compile my husband’s Top 100 songs – interestingly there is some crossover with my parents’ favourite artists here. At 45, he is far too young for The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones. Yet he still begs to differ: You Can’t Always Get What You Want!
Our eldest daughter by the age of two referred to The Beatles only on a first-name basis: Play John, Paul, George and Ringo, please Dad!
“OMG, you’re playing with fire,” I told my husband.
”What if your music choices make her totally uncool in school?”
“Won’t happen,” he assured me, “The Beatles will always be cool.”
Our daughter has not mentioned John, Paul, George and Ringo for many years since she first discovered Taylor Swift.
Not surprisingly the country singer-turned pop diva rated in three of our daughter’s Top 10 songs of the past decade.
I had asked her to put together a mini-playlist to celebrate her 10th birthday this month, promising that myself and my husband would not try to influence her song choices. Without looking, I handed over the finished list to my husband to collate for our daughter’s party.
Later when it came time to type up her song titles, I worried about the lyrics in Toothbrush and the political incorrectness of The Chainsmokers.
Then I texted my husband: She’s chosen a song called Moan by Cute Is What We Aim For! I’m not sure we can share this playlist with 10-year-olds at her birthday party!!
“It says: Mean,” he replied.
“By Taylor Swift.”
“Best news ever I’ve heard all day!” I texted.
Other highlights on her list were Better When I’m Dancing by the fabulous Meghan Trainor. Oh that there were more Meghans and fewer divas on the world dance floor!
Another selection I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers In Her Hair) harks back to her birthplace New Zealand in 2006, when Sandy Thom’s debut single got massive airplay and it was all I could sing to rock her to sleep in windy Wellington.
Fittingly, she finished with the New Zealand National Anthem. The stunning Maori verse elevates this song to one of the best anthems under the sun. Born and bred in Victoria, I want the All Blacks to win every time I hear the New Zealand anthem. It’s possible I may have coached the witness on this song choice. With 10 songs in the bag from her first decade, she is well on the way to her Top 100.
I’m still working on my playlist but it will comprise Blondie, Bowie and the Border’s own The Northern Folk.
It may even be the most eclectic mix in the retirement village.
