Something better, something beautiful (my ’21 & ’22 music playlists)

“Stop asking musicians what they think”
He said softly as he poured himself a second drink
And outside, the world slipped over the brink
We all thought we had nothing to lose
That we could trust in crossed fingers and horseshoes
That everything would work out, no matter what we choose

The first time it was a tragedy
The second time is a farce
Outside it’s 1933 so I’m hitting the bar

If I was of the greatest generation I’d be pissed
Surveying the world that I built slipping back into this
I’d be screaming at my grandkids: “We already did this”
Be suspicious of simple answers
That shit’s for fascists and maybe teenagers
You can’t fix the world if all you have is a hammer

But I don’t know what’s going on anymore
The world outside is burning with a brand new light
But it isn’t one that makes me feel warm
Don’t go mistaking your house burning down for the dawn

-Frank Turner (from the song 1933)

If you’ve been following my blog/work for a long time, you may remember that I used to be very into making mix CDs. I even made a knitting pattern collection with pattern names inspired by albums and I made a mix CD to go with it. I was reeeally into making mixes in college and for years after I’d make themed mix CDs for occasions. I made a moving to Portland mix in 2007, a 2-year anniversary of living in Portland mix in 2009, and a wedding mix in 2010, and I posted about some older mixes here too. In the era of music streaming, mix CDs are a forgotten artform, but at least we can still make playlists!

I’ve made lots of playlists over the years, but in 2021 I got a especially obsessive and made a big one that I spent way too much time on. I started building it in 2020 then kept adding to it through around spring 2021 when I decided to finalize it and call it done. It’s called Rage & Hope and the whole 54-track playlist is available on Tidal (the streaming service I use and I highly recommend!! They pay artists way better than spotify and basically everything can be found there, and you can even transfer your playlists from one to the other if you decide to switch!), as well as on Spotify here, and on YouTube here.

And then I made a followup in 2022, again adding new songs as I discovered them throughout 2021 and finalizing the playlist in spring 2022. This one is only 44 tracks and I put more thought into the order, so the playlist name Anxiety & Action is the order of the songs, somewhat. I really really love this playlist. It’s also on Tidal, Spotify, and YouTube. (All the song lyrics in this post are songs from the Anxiety & Action playlist unless otherwise noted.)

Now that some time has passed, I’ve started slowly building a third one in the series, maybe to finalize later this year, we’ll see. Working on that has made me go back and listen to these two more and want to share them with you! I put a lot of work and heart into them so I hope you listen and enjoy ❤ And if you know any songs that you think would fit well with these, that might be a good track for my third one, let me know!

And now for more lyrics…

From common grief to Bristol up in flames
We came here begging justice and instead we got the blame
For peace disturbed, out on the streets tonight
And watching on the BBC you know something’s not right
When mourners come with candles and with flowers
Are wrestled three on one, and pinned down by the state’s full powers
This is their world. And these have been the rules
But we have come to break it down with bloody fingernails for tools

This threat of violence, this tightrope wire
We can no longer bear it, we are all too fucking tired
No minutes’ silence, we will sing higher
Don’t tell us to light a candle when we have come to start a fire

Safe at home, you watch it on TV
And never think that one day you could be the enemy
That you might one day be under attack
From all that should protect you, hoping someone has your back
The history books are screaming from the shelves
That no government who outlaws speaking to defend ourselves
Has good things planned; a storm ahead I see
And not one of us will bear it without solidarity
Oh I see trouble all my days
This ailing failing world sends signs of fire and flood and plague
But from the rubble, from the razed
The mightiest cathedral from these ashes we will raise

Take heart my sisters
And this fire will never die
And take heart my comrades
And no one left behind

If I spend my life on the losing side
You can lay me down knowing that I tried
There’s a better world and on a quiet day
When I hold my breath I can hear her say
She’s on her way

– Grace Petrie (from Losing Side)

If you like protest-y (some songs more than others, some not at all) folk-y singer-songwriter-y type music, I extreeemely highly recommend Grace Petrie! She appears multiple times on both of my playlists. I even made my old phone case (below) from lyrics of one of her songs (the last track on Rage & Hope), and I’m thinking about making a new phone case using lyrics from the song above, or using the Arundhati Roy quote that she’s referencing in the lyrics.

There’s a crooked line that runs
Through every crease in this map
And you want to take us all the way back

To see the rot in no disguise
Oh what a time to be alive
The scum, the shame, the fucking lies
Oh what a time to be alive

You’ve been carving tales for dummies
Out of live oak and out of pine
Let’s turn your heroes into mummies
Throw them straight onto the fire
Yeah just below the surface lurking
A shadow breathing through a straw
Clinging to the myth that you were cheated
Yeah the myth that you were robbed

– Superchunk (from What a Time to Be Alive)

Worriers also show up twice on each playlist, and I love them so much.

Set my sights on
The life that you get when you put the hard work in
Only to be told
Keep your fingers crossed that they vote you a person
I apologize
You’ve been trying to go with the safer bet
It’s true I didn’t think that far
But how do you plan for the death of a safety net?

– Worriers (from End of the World)

Sometimes silence is a loaded gun
In the hands of all of us
Nothing hurts like doing nothing can
They’ll only give it up when we rip it from their cold dead hands

– Worriers (from Yes All Cops, on Rage & Hope playlist)

And The Weather Station is another favorite who makes multiple appearances on Anxiety & Action, from the album Ignorance (2021), which is probably my number 1 favorite album of the last ten years or so, so check that out if you don’t know it!!

Thinking I should get all this dying off of my mind
I should really know better than to read the headlines
Does it matter if I see?
No really, can I not just cover my eyes?
Oh tell me, why can’t I just cover my eyes?

– The Weather Station (from Atlantic)

Separated by all the dreams you drift into
Separated by all the things you thought you knew
You don’t really see any problem here, but I do
You don’t really have to believe me if you don’t want to
Separated by the relief you want to feel
Separated by the belief this cut can heal

– The Weather Station (from Separated)

There is one song that’s on both playlists, each by different modern musicians, my favorite classic protest song, Bread & Roses. This song/concept is why I have bread and rose emojis in my social media bios. Lyrics vary a little by version, but the point remains always. Here are some of them…

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes
Hearts starve as well as bodies, give us bread, but give us roses

As we go marching, marching, un-numbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread
Small art and love and beauty their trudging spirits knew
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses, too

As we go marching, marching, we’re standing proud and tall
The rising of the women means the rising of us all
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes
But a sharing of life’s glories, bread and roses, bread and roses

And in case anyone wants to just see the tracklists here, each playlist divided into four screenshots, Anxiety & Action first…

And I’ll leave you with a song that was clearly written during the last administration but I can’t say I don’t still sing along nowadays…

I manage my fantasy baseball team better
Than I manage my anger these days
And I’d trade my best pitcher
For a draft pick and a picture
Of the president writhing in pain

It’s a weird thing to wish for, but I can’t stop wishing
Refreshing the browser, someday
If I live long enough
And the world doesn’t end
My wish will come true in a way

And he’ll die like we all die
In pain or asleep
And we’ll still have our fantasy baseball
And the next fascist fucker in line for the job
Of demolishing hope for us all

So I’m putting in love now, I’m putting in faith
Putting fear on a long term IL
I’m going outside, I’m gonna help organize
Something better, something beautiful

– John K. Samson (from Fantasy Baseball at the End of the World)