Hi Bestie!!

The current state of the world (as always, since before TLTO started) is a lot, so it's time for some intense navel gazing.

I'm trying to like my birthday this year, and it's a "landmark" year, so I made a playlist with all of my favorite songs. (I won't tell you when, and I'm not making plans; some things don’t change.) Not just the songs I want played at my funeral. Not only my songs of the year. Every single song since 1985. (Which explains Bobby McFerin's 1988 hit "Don't Worry Be Happy.")

There are more than 340 songs. The playlist length is more than 24 hours.

Now, I know that for some of you, choosing a Pete Seeger cover of "Both Sides Now" is sacrilege. (Moreso since I couldn't otherwise pick a favorite song by Joni Mitchell.) But I vastly prefer other versions of his many hits (Trini Lopez's "If I Had A Hammer" makes my heart sing), and I'm sorry to the O'Jays, but Heavy D & the Boyz hit a bop.

Seeger played in Lower Manhattan during the Occupy Wall Street movement, and my friend Matt (hi, bestie) said, "That guy you liked performed," and I had a minor meltdown. That guy I like? America's grandfather, legendary Pete Seeger? I'm not sure why Matt is still my friend, but I'm glad he is, and I'm glad one of us had the opportunity to see Pete Seeger perform before he passed away.

Speaking of men with guitars, Hank Williams was a real prick. "I Saw the Light" is considered a country gospel song, but the light was not the Lord; it was the headlights of other cars. He was drunk in the backseat. It wasn't an immediate hit, but it's one of his best-known songs. His other hits, "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Hey, Good Lookin'", and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" are also bangers. I think when we're all gathered in the streets in celebration of a brighter future, I'll start singing "I Saw the Light," followed by "This Land is Your Land." Even though we are on stolen land! It is my favorite song (maybe ever?) and I demand it be played at my funeral. 

Jeremy Enigk's "Mind Idea" ("Desire finds its way back to you/Designed by your grace we live on") might be religious. "You Were Sent to This World" by Johnnie Frierson definitely is, but I don't care, because I agree. (You were sent to this world to feel the sun on your cheeks, to laugh so hard milk shoots out your nose, and to fall asleep satisfied in the love and friendship in your community. Fight me!) Frierson was briefly signed to Stax Records in the 1960s. He dabbled in radical politics, joining a Black nationalist group in Memphis. He was drafted by the Army in 1970; his Vietnam War experience was not great, and he suffered tragedy upon his return. By the 1990s, he had returned to music and hosted a gospel radio show. He then began to record his own gospel music on cassettes, which he sold around Memphis. His work was sampled by Alicia Keys and the Wu-Tang Clan. In 2016, six years after his death at the age of 64, Have You Been Good to Yourself was released by Light in the Attic Records, a Seattle-based label specializing in reissues.

Light in the Attic has re-released several albums by The Free Design, including Kites Are Fun. The Free Design makes an appearance with "Love You."

Choose Your Own Adventure: Speaking of Funerals/Speaking of Land

FUNERAL:

Of course, to make this playlist, I dug through my old playlists. I created Funeral Songs based solely on the premise that I wanted a handful of hair metal songs played at my memorial. (You don't need to have a church funeral.) I know Quiet Riot's "Cum On Feel the Noize" is a cover. I know you think it is embarrassing. But I have only genuine affection for AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, and their numerous peers. There are even some songs that are thoroughly funeral songs that aren't on this playlist. 

To be fair, I limited myself to one song from each artist, with notable exceptions for American Football and Fairweather (Who have two, though really, I should have included "The Culling Song" in tribute to teenage Katherine: "And now it seems so odd to me that I believed in anything/Will this winter hold let go in spring?" Additionally, it seems that I prefer songs that are quite long. I am not allowed to listen to Lusitania, most of Everclear's oeuvre, or Elliott Smith when it gets dark this early, by the way.) 

For American Football, I limited it to one song per album, with self-permission for two from their (first) self-titled album, because the songs complement each other. I will not elaborate further. (Mostly because I can talk for hours about how much I love American Football, and you nod politely with zero interest. Let's save you the trouble.)

Is having "Super Rich Kids" by Frank Ocean and "White (featuring Frank Ocean)" by Odd Future cheating? A little? (No? I don't like Odd Future and the grudge will live beyond me.) So too is having (very similar to the themes of "White") "Teenage Talk" and "Marry Me" by St. Vincent. There are also two from Broken Social Scene, and though I sorted the playlist by artist, I think you should follow "Marry Me" with "Lover's Spit."

LAND:

Several years ago, I learned that "Take Me Home Country Roads" was written about Route 117 (I always think it's Route 355), specifically in Montgomery County. The song is co-written by Denver, Bill Danoff, and Taffy Nivert wrote the song after taking 117 to Gaithersburg. I thought it was cheesy and sentimental until I started volunteering in Medora, and the former coordinator played it the night before we all left to go home. (And then I cried! The song still does that to me.) 

Today, Denver's "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" is played at Orioles games. (Most stadiums did in the 1970s, and the Orioles and a few other teams have held on. It was the "Hot to Go" of its time.) For Baltimore representation, we have Amal and DJ Swisha.

You can look to the suburbs with Barry Louis Polisar and Snail Mail. (Polisar was always in the background of my life — he frequented the library system as a performer — but "Heat Wave" had a death grip on my 2021 summer. Lindsey Jordan is from Ellicott City, MD. "And I hope the love that you find/Swallows you wholly/Like you said it might.")

Are there enough women? Is there enough jazz? Is there enough ska? Shouldn't I have found something from Paul Robeson? No, no, no, and probably.

Is your favorite song here? Have you found something new you like? Let me know.

Always your friend,

Katherine

Sources

I've only linked to YouTube videos and Spotify this week. (If this is delivered to your inbox, you should find all of the videos at the end of your email. Online, you should find two playlists embedded within the post.) Here are the songs I linked to:

Amal and DJ Swisha, "Hit Dat"

Barry Louis Polisar, ""All I Want Is You"

Bobby McFerrin, "Don't Worry Be Happy"

Broken Social Scene, "Lover's Spit"

Fairweather, "The Culling Song"

Frank Ocean, "Super Rich Kids"

The Free Design "Love You" (I was sneaky and linked to an episode of Julius and Friends.)

Hank Williams, "I Found the Light"

Heavy D & The Boyz, "Now That We Found Love"

Jeremy Enigk, "Mind Idea"

John Denver, "Take Me Home Country Roads"

Johnnie Frierson, "You Were Sent to This World"

Mötley Crüe, "Girls, Girls, Girls"

Pete Seeger, "Both Sides Now"

Quiet Riot, "Cum On Feel the Noize"

Snail Mail, "Heat Wave"

St. Vincent, "Teenage Talk"

St. Vincent, "Marry Me"

Here's the playlist: Bangers for Besties and Cookie Bobbies 

Versions of past Katherine:

Hot Vax/Sad Bitch Summer (2021)

TONY SOPRANO SUMMER (2022)

Dirt Bag Summer (2023)

Sleazy Summer (2024)

Another Tony Summer (2025)