Learning rhetoric (but through song)
You know, I wasn’t too sure where to start building my playlist. Just ten songs? Any songs I want? I was left with a few choices to make, and I had to think about what exactly I wanted my playlist to accomplish. What order should the songs be in? What songs should I pick in the first place?
Ultimately, I decided to choose ten songs I’m into these days and order them based on their overall feel. For example, I couldn’t decide on a faster or slower tempo song as the opener, but ultimately chose “Gimmie All Your Love” by Alabama Shakes because it feels fast and slow at the same time. That and the fact that it rocks.
Here’s the playlist in its entirety, I’ll go over some more of my choices further down the page.
Since I’ve already explained Track 1, I’ll begin with the second, “Varsity” by Smith Westerns. It’s poppy, bubbly and feel-good — a nice contrast to the previous song’s heavy guitar.
Track 3 is “Strangest Thing” by The War on Drugs, and it once again slows everything down (although the guitar solo picks it right back up). That is followed by “The Moment” by Tame Impala, which sounds totally different with its electronic elements. Then the pace drops way back down on Track 5, “Beach Comber” by Real Estate, with its relatively soft guitar and drums.
Track 6 is more like two tracks in one, and they both feature some of the catchiest hooks in history, which is why I chose them. “Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go?” by Soft Cell will guaranteed have you tapping your foot alongside it, plus it has a really awesome interlude that links the two songs up.
While catchy and upbeat, those Soft Cell songs still sound slow compared to “Walcott” by Vampire Weekend. It is absolutely frantic at times, and makes Tracks 6 & 8 surrounding it sound more sluggish than they actually are. Track 8 is “Sprawl II (Mountains Over Mountains)” by Arcade Fire, which is a medium paced song that adds back in some electronic elements.
Track 9 is “Crystal Express” by Raury, chosen because of its excellent lyrics and overall toe-tappyness. I picked “Time” by Pink Floyd as the final track because it closes out The Dark Side of the Moon, the album it comes from, and it works well there so it might as well work for my playlist too.
Thanks for reading and/or listening.
