Art of the Playlist
I have finally saved up enough cash to order my own new iPod Nano, and as I eagerly await its arrival, I’ve been putting together some playlists within iTunes. Now, one of the reasons I want to upgrade to a Nano is that I want to be able to store the 1200 songs I have in my library on one device, rather than the 64 or so that fit on my current Rio Chiba. So I imagine I’ll spend a lot of my time listening to the entire library on shuffle (as I’m doing right now), or listening to specific albums, or perhaps all songs by a particular artist. But there may be times that I am in specific moods, and I figure it wouldn’t be bad to have playlists ready to go for those occasions. Now, almost as long as I’ve been making musical compilations, I’ve referred to at least one of them by the name Daves Rich Pageant. It’s a riff on the R.E.M. album Lifes Rich Pageant which a friend once coined for me, and once I like something I tend to stick with it. Right now I’m using the Daves Rich Pageant tag for a general Best of the Best compilation – my favorite song from my favorite artists. (I try to limit myself to one song per artist per compilation. These rules are somewhat random, especially now in the iPod age. Once upon a time they helped me make sure every mix tape had some diversity on it.) The heck of it is, my memory must be shot. Because when I later put together two themed collections, I kept sticking songs there that I had already put on the latest version of DRP. What can I say? I guess I have a lot of ties in the favorite-song category, and I don’t always remember which one I picked.
The themes I’ve picked so far are Sonic Caffeine, for when I just want to hear a bunch of up-tempo songs that’ll get my enthusiasm and energy level going, and Sunrise Walk. Since I never really am awake at sunrise to take walks, I’m going more for a certain vibe. When I used to be really nocturnal, I sometimes stayed up until after dawn. And when I would walk outside, watching the sun come up and the world stir awake, I would feel a strange mix of exultation and calm. It’s a certain feeling of reflection, taking stock of the situation and feeling hope for what’s to come. There are certain songs that fit that mood, and I’m curious to see how it feels when I listen to them all in a row the next time I’m walking to class.
iTunes’ smart playlists already let me organize my library by year of release, but I’m still wondering if I should put together a list of songs from, say, high school or college. That might be a bit too backward-looking even for me. We shall see. In the meantime I’m gonna need to think of some more themes.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.