MUSIC

My Gen X Playlist for 2025

Songs to listen to at The End of the World as We Know It

Photo by Elice Moore on Unsplash

I don’t have a good ear for music, which is too bad for someone married to an audio engineer with a recording studio in the attic. But I still love music for its ability to affect and intensify mood. Sometimes, listening to the right music is enough to draw me out of a funk.

There is no music stirring enough to fix my dark mood as my country sinks into fascism, but recall that we have been through dark times before. We even survived a civil war. To survive, you must carry on. And sometimes that might mean trying to feel a little bit better with music.

This is my list. People of different ages who like other styles of music will have their own, and should share them in the comments. We could all use a good playlist right now, right?

Do You Hear the People Sing?

From Les Misérables

I have never been able to actually see this play, but of course I’ve read Victor Hugo’s book and have seen the movies. Despair has led me to this song many times, but it’s even better now: The U.S. Army Chorus had the absolute balls to perform a version at the White House Governors Ball. It probably went over the head of the one to whom it was…