Summer Playlist 2019.

I’ve had a very depressing week. Many of us have had to get away from the media, for a while, because the brain can only handle so much bad news that it can do nothing at all about.

This Summer, I’m experiencing a little music nostalgia, but then that’s something that’s never far from me. As I get older, it feels inevitable to think back to my youth, even though I am generally not a nostalgic person. I often remember moments like snapshots in time, the way the light fell on a particular Summer day, or looking out the window of a bus at a particular landscape.

I try to counter nostalgia by keeping my perspective, and  remembering that things WERE NOT perfect when I was younger. The problems were simply different, though just as terrifying as right now. One of the ways I maintain hope for the future is by reveling in the GOOD things humanity has produced. We are not all bad. I realize that’s poor consolation when the bad guys seem to be winning, but that what I got. As awful as we can be to each other, we are a species worth saving, and beautiful music is one those reasons.

I hope some of these songs make you feel good, even if, unlike me,  you don’t have any specific memories to go along with them. I hope that you listen to them and are soothed for a little while.

 

Lets Do It Again – Staple Singers

This is for those Summer Sunday love scenes:

 

 

Sunflower – Post Malone

I love this song, and its been on my Playlist since December. This is dedicated to all the mild mannered, carefree Black boys, just hangin’ out with their friends, trying to hit up the neighborhood hottie, and keepin’  it musical:

 

 

Easy – Commodores

This is another Sunday morning song, for when you ain’t got nothing in particular to do, and you’re laying in bed, feeling good about the day ahead:

 

 

It Feels Like Summer – Childish Gambino

This song perfectly captures those days in the middle of Summer, when its too hot to do anything but sit on the porch, with a cold glass of iced tea, and watch the world ride by:

 

 

Love and Happiness – Al Green

This is another one of those Sunday songs. I got a lot of these, since Sunday is really one of the only days of the week I have off from work, or medical appointments:

 

 

Y’all Know – Will Smith

Here’s something a little more upbeat. I’ve been playing songs for chilling around the house, but this is for those Saturday afternoons, when you’ve just had some sugar, got a little more energy, and you’re hangin’ out with, and entertaining the kids:

 

 

Apeshit – Beyonce

I love this song because it reminds me of all those years of art school, and its Beyonce, in the Louvre, exactly where such a beautiful artist belongs. She continues to impress me:

 

 

Kika – 6ix9ine

This song has a lot of cussin’ in it, but in my head, its a classic Summer jam. There’s no deep messages in it beyond drinkin’, partyin’, dancin’, and having fun!

 

Street Life – Randy Crawford

This song reminds me of Saturday afternoons, watching Soul Train with my Mom, or any relatives that happened to wander into the house:

 https://youtu.be/cnNyxy7XPfs

 

Higher Love – Steve Winwood

I was not a Winwood fan before he made this song, but I’ve been one ever since. Every time I hear it, I wanna dance, and sing along. It’s addictive, and I like the message. A higher love indeed💕

 

 

I’ll post later this week about the kinds of things you can do, and what is being done for immigrant children, who are being held in Concentration Camps here in the US. I don’t want to be like the news and just present bad news to you with no way to help alleviate people’s pain, or provide any real information. You feel helpless, but you can help, and we’ll will talk about how.