By LJ Nicholson
This year has followed the pattern of the 2020s by being an emotional trek for many people.
Whether you are afraid of the continuing dangers of COVID-19, dealing with the sadness of what is currently occuring in Eastern Europe, or just trying to survive life and school itself as an individual, whilst all this destruction occurs, life can be super challenging.
A lot of people have different ways of coping with the hardships of life, but music has always helped me maintain a sense of peace in a world full of chaos.
According to PsychCentral, listening to music can help reduce your stress. These include increasing your mental health performance, helping you fall asleep, and decreasing negative side effects from depression and anxiety. Likewise, a report from Stanford University mentioned a study they conducted that listening to rhythmic music can produce a calming, meditative effect on the listener.
Even if you don’t believe music can help calm you down, a lot of people still love to listen to music in their free time. Whether it’s exclusively listening to one artist or album, or never listening to the same song twice, a majority of people enjoy listening to something.
This playlist I created is compiled of 22 songs I find help calm me down. Actually, it’s a selection from my go-to sleep playlist, but I know not everyone can sleep to these kinds of songs, or music itself. I usually turn off the playlist before I inevitably do fall asleep, but it certainly helps me get there.
I structured the playlist with three parts. The first 10 songs are a selection from five artists who I believe have a lot to offer with their catalog, and I wanted to showcase more of their works to people. Most of my favorite songs in the playlist are featured in the first 10. Songs like “Matter to You” and “Confirmation (SSBD)” are favorites of mine. I play them even when I don’t need to relax.
The next eight songs are an arrangement of solo songs that I really enjoy. Some are by popular artists like Madonna and Taylor Swift; others are by artists with less than 1,000 subscribers on YouTube.
The last four songs are all by an artist named Najma Wallin. All of them are atmospheric, piano/instrumental tracks that really are transportative. Wallin currently only has the four songs on Spotify for their whole catalog, and all of them are so peaceful and freeing.
Even though I organized the playlist into parts, listening to the songs in order is not required to enjoy the music. I normally just put the playlist on shuffle, and try to let go of any restraints inside my mind. You don’t have to hold onto reality so tightly, especially when enjoying music. But if structure and organization brings you peace, then by all means enjoy the songs in the order I placed them.
If you want to check out my playlist, you can click on the links here to YouTube and Spotify. Or take a look at the list below of all the songs featured.
LIST OF SONGS
- “Confirmation (SSBD)“ by Westerman
- “Blue Comanche” by Westerman
- “god’s chariots” by Oklou
- “galore” by Oklou
- “smiling when i die” by Sasha Alex Sloane
- “Matter to You” by Sasha Alex Sloane
- “Lost” by Forester
- “Falling Fire” by Forester
- “Make Believe” by Shallou
- “Fading” by Shallou
- “Emotion” by Hazey Eyes & Panama
- “No Sympathy” by Kayobe & Zoe Sky Jordan
- “This Love” by Taylor Swift
- “Show Me” by Zeeland
- “Numb (Chill Mix)” by Elderbrook
- “Radical (Edit)” by Amtrac & Totally Enormous Dinosaurs
- “To Have and Not to Hold” by Madonna
- “Let It All Go” by Birdy & RHODES
- “Lugnet” by Najma Wallin
- “Nära” by Najma Wallin
- “Med slutna ögon” / “Natlig Søvn”* by Najma Wallin
- “Midsommarnatt” / “Ren Stilhed (432 Hz)”* by Najma Wallin
*Some of the songs by Najma Wallin were not available on different streaming platforms. I included different songs to make each playlist 22 songs.
