Twenty-Five Tracks, One Unhinged Year: The Playlist That Kept Me Upright
Photo: Illegtn, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Music has always been my time machine, but this past year it became something closer to a life support system. Every song below is tied to a real moment — some I'm proud of, some I'm still processing. I'm giving you the whole thing, meltdown included, because a hype playlist without a breakdown song is just a lie.
The Songs That Held the Line
1. "Lose Yourself" — Eminem. The 5 AM call time for the biggest shoot of my career. I hadn't slept. I played this in the parking lot three times. Palms were, in fact, sweaty.
2. "good 4 u" — Olivia Rodrigo. For the day I found out someone who'd doubted me publicly was, well, watching me win. Petty? A little. Effective? Extremely.
3. "Freedom! '90" — George Michael. My first ever solo road trip, windows down on I-40 outside Nashville. I sang every word wrong and meant all of them.
4. "Titanium" — David Guetta ft. Sia. The comment section incident. You know the one. This song is basically armor you can stream.
5. "Dancing Queen" — ABBA. Played at full volume in a Walmart parking lot after I signed the deal I'd chased for two years. A stranger in the next car over honked in solidarity. America, baby.
The Breakdown Block (Yes, It Gets Its Own Section)
6. "Liability" — Lorde. The night I cried in a hotel bathtub in Chicago because I hadn't been a person in 41 days. This song found me there. It can stay.
7. "Someone Like You" — Adele. For the friendship that didn't survive my schedule. Some losses don't have villains. They just have calendars.
8. "Motion Sickness" — Phoebe Bridgers. On repeat during a very confusing situationship I have officially decided to never explain on the internet.
9. "The Night We Met" — Lord Huron. Three AM, my old apartment, boxes half-packed. Enough said.
10. "Breathin" — Ariana Grande. My therapist suggested I pair panic attacks with breathing apps. I paired them with Ariana instead. Close enough.
The Rebuilding Era
11. "Stronger" — Kanye West. Problematic artist, undeniable gym motivation. My treadmill and I agreed to separate the art. No further questions.
12. "Levitating" — Dua Lipa. The first day I genuinely had fun working again. It felt weird and great, like breaking in new sneakers.
13. "Mr. Brightside" — The Killers. A wedding in Ohio where I danced with strangers like my rent depended on it. Best three and a half minutes of the summer.
14. "Shake It Off" — Taylor Swift. For every time I almost responded to the trolls. I didn't. The song did it for me.
15. "Walking on Sunshine" — Katrina and the Waves. My mom's pick. She plays it when she visits and now I associate joy with her rearranging my kitchen. No complaints.
The 3 AM Drive Section
16. "Nightcall" — Kavinsky. The official anthem of the 3 AM drive from Phoenix to LA that I took because I couldn't sleep and the highway doesn't judge.
17. "Dreams" — Fleetwood Mac. Same drive, hour two, ocean of taillights. Stevie Nicks understood my situation before I did.
18. "Vienna" — Billy Joel. My dad hummed this to me as a kid. Somewhere around mile marker 88 it came on shuffle and I pulled over. Grown adults are allowed to cry at rest stops.
19. "Africa" — TOTO. The drive's comedic relief. I know every word. I'm not embarrassed. I'm a little embarrassed.
20. "Come Sail Away" — Styx. Hour four. I was fully delirious. It slapped anyway.
The Comeback Credits
21. "Run the World (Girls)" — Beyoncé. The morning of the relaunch. If you watched that livestream and thought I seemed unreasonably confident — mystery solved.
22. "Can't Stop the Feeling!" — Justin Timberlake. My niece's favorite. We had a dance-off in her living room in Texas that I lost on purpose. Mostly on purpose.
23. "Firework" — Katy Perry. Cheesy? Sure. But the first video I posted after my break used it, and the comments that day made me remember why I started.
24. "Good as Hell" — Lizzo. The self-care montage song of my actual life. Lotion in the basket and everything.
25. "I Will Survive" — Gloria Gaynor. The closer. The classic. The song I played when the year finally ended and I was still here, standing, weirdly grateful for all of it.
Your Turn
That's the soundtrack to my wildest year — breakdowns, highways, and all. Now build me yours. Drop your survival songs in the comments, and tell me the moment they got you through. I'll be reading every single one with a playlist open.
