Ultimate Playlist: Between the Boomers and Xers
This collection—from someone who straddles the Baby Boomer generation and Generation X—is by no means an “ultimate” playlist, but more of a backward glance at some meaningful moments in my life. These aren’t great rock songs, although I think some of them are quite good. Rather, these songs connect me to memories that make me smile. And we can all stand to smile more these days.
Close to You. The Carpenters. Hearing this song for the first time when I was nine years old kicked off a lifelong habit of mine—listening to music in the dark. I was at my first sleepover at a friend’s house. We were playing around on her family’s piano, and I left the living room to get a glass of water. When I came back, all the lights were off, and the living room was pitch dark. The Carpenters’ “Close to You” was playing on the stereo. I sat on the edge of the sofa and felt Karen Carpenter’s clear, beautiful voice envelop me.
The Ocean. Led Zeppelin. My best friend growing up was Catholic, and often when I spent Friday nights at her house, we’d go to the CYO dance at her parish church. Even though this song is not particularly danceable, all of us teens managed to do some line dance to it. It takes me back to being 13 and all the longing one feels at that age.
What a Fool Believes. The Doobie Brothers. The album on which this song appears—"Minute by Minute”—was all over the radio the summer of 1979 when I left home for college. This song takes me to my dorm room in Miller Hall and my roommate and me listening to this album while we decorated our room. We were awash in the giddiness of starting college.
I Will Follow. U2. One Saturday night in the early 1980s, I picked up a friend for a night on the town. He got into the car clutching a cassette and said, “You HAVE to listen to this band!” He popped in the cassette and the first guitar chords of “I Will Follow” burst from the speakers. Awestruck, we looked at each other . . . wow, who is this band?
(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? Elvis Costello. What a simple question! I find myself asking it all the time these days.
This Must Be the Place. Talking Heads. Upon returning to the U.S. after a summer study abroad program, a friend picked me up at the airport and couldn’t stop talking about the Talking Heads album that had been released while I was gone. When we got to his apartment, he dropped the needle on this song. I’ve loved it ever since.
That’s Entertainment. The Jam. Maybe the biggest British band few people in the U.S. have ever heard of, The Jam often recorded songs about working class life in England. The music in this particular song is simple—mostly an acoustic guitar, but the lyrics about the mundanity of everyday life have always resonated with me. I was heartbroken when they broke up in 1982.
Gardening at Night. R.E.M. As my boyfriend and I drove to North Carolina where I was starting graduate school, we spent most of the 16-hour drive from Louisiana listening to R.E.M.’s “Chronic Town” and “Murmur,” totally focused on trying to decipher Michael Stipe’s mumbling.
Sorry Again. Velocity Girl. I don’t remember how I heard of this band, an indie rock band from Maryland, probably from UNC’s student-run station WXYC. I had just bought my first house, and I listened to the album this song is on while tackling projects like ripping out old carpet and painting my kitchen cabinets. I was so proud of myself for having purchased my own home.
Demons. Imagine Dragons. In the early 2010s, I started listening to some bands my teenage sons were listening to. Imagine Dragons had recently released their first album “Night Visions.” My older son sometimes sang this song while he was in the shower. For his birthday, we got tickets for our family to see the band in Norfolk. It turned out to be one of the best concerts I’d ever seen.