Today is a rough day. It’s the five-year anniversary of my grandmother’s death, which marked the end of an era in my life. She will always be special to me, but I’m grateful to say that music is still an important part of my life and of our relationship.
So, I made a resilience playlist for hard days and posted the playlist today on Spotify and on Apple Music. YouTube links are also below for each song.
1. “Feeling Good,” Nina Simone
To my ears the most versatile singer in all of twentieth century popular music, Nina Simone, self-assured owner of both a rich contralto voice and virtuoso classical piano technique, defied genre labels time and time again only to be relegated to the marginalized label of “jazz.” Her 1965 album, I Put a Spell on You, features a showstopping rendition of the pop standard “Feeling Good,” imitated by many, most popularly by Michael Bublé, duplicated by none. Her a cappella intro and scatted buildup to the song’s climax bring out the passion in the somewhat drab horns.
I chose this to start my playlist because it illustrates the promise of a new day and a new life, unencumbered by limitations. If James Baldwin was right that Black people understood the feeling of freedom better than whites, Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” is a fantastic example of a self-possessed performance of freedom at its most skillfully uninhibited.
2. “You Gotta Be,” Des’ree
Des’ree’s 1994 hit “You Gotta Be” is one of my favorite hits, one hit wonders or otherwise, of the 1990s, and its simple message of staying present still hits hard today, even as those ‘90s keyboards in the intro provide comforting nostalgia for me.
3. “You Can Do Anything,” Carole King
One of the most important and commercially successful singer-songwriters of any genre, Carole King continued writing great songs decades after her blockbuster 1971 hit album, Tapestry. 2001’s Love Makes the World yielded “You Can Do Anything,” a collaboration with fellow hit songwriters Babyface and Carole Bayer Sager, has a positive message: “You can do anything, and you don’t have to do it alone.”
4. “I Like the Things about Me,” Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples is a living legend in and out of my city, Chicago, and her twenty-first century run of albums has to be among the most impressive achievements in her long and distinguished career. Her 2013 album, One True Vine, one of multiple discs produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy reimagines multiple songs she recorded earlier in her career, including with her critical family gospel and soul group, the Staple Singers. This track is one of them.
Describing the narrator’s growth to embracing herself amidst struggles with internalized racist standards of beauty, Staples sings, “I like the things about me that I once despised.” Many, many people, whether or not they are Black, can appreciate that message, including myself.
5. “Unstoppable,” Sia
This game-time anthem is the embodiment of the pursuit of fearlessness. “I’m unstoppable today,” Sia sings, and I believe her.
6. “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain),” Gary Allan
Gary Allan seems to be one of the more underappreciated country stars of the last quarter-century, and this song has helped me on many a bad day in the last few years.
7. “No More Rain (In This Cloud),” Angie Stone
Angie Stone’s 1999 soul anthem of post-breakup clarity, “No More Rain (In This Cloud),” samples Gladys Knight & the Pips’ classic, “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye),” and turns it on its head. Stone’s honeyed, wise timbre and delivery is like medicine for my soul, and this track illuminates what scholar Emily J. Lordi calls soul logic: resilience from struggle.
8. “Till You Get There,” Ty Herndon
As much as I hate when people say, “Everything happens for a reason,” country artist Ty Herndon provides a more convincing kind of statement in this track released on his 2022 album, Jacob: “Every scar, every broken heart is exactly what you needed, I swear, but you won’t know it ‘til you get there.” With my own story, I feel this message down to my bones, though there are certainly times when I struggle to believe it. This is a great country record.
9. “I’m a Survivor,” Reba McEntire
This song’s story speaks for itself. Reba McEntire is one of the icons of country music, and this is a tale of working-class determination and self-possession. When she sings, “Who I am is who I wanna be,” I feel her conviction and I can feel my own embodiment of that message, however imperfectly.
10. “I Don’t Ever Give Up,” Patty Griffin
The eternally underrated singer and songwriter Patty Griffin, one of my all-time favorites in both categories, consistently knocks me out with songs and vocals like this one. Her 2007 album, Children Running Through, is known for her biggest song, “Heavenly Day,” and this anthem similarly soars.
11. “Live Like You Were Dying,” Tim McGraw
One of the greatest country hits ever, not just of this century, McGraw’s vulnerable performance and hard-driving resilience powers through this story song about a man nearly killed who says, simply, “Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.” Now, that is inspiring.
12. “Like There’s No Yesterday,” Mark Wills
This is one of the most personally meaningful songs on this list. “Dance like you’ve never been hurt, like you’ve never been sad, baby,” and historically, I’ve found that very difficult to do. But this song gives me hope on rough days.
What are your picks for songs that help with your resilience? Comment and share!