PK’s Playlist: A Quarantine Survival Guide

Spons: www.cailorfleming.com/  https://chickfilasouthernpark.com/  https://www.hbkcpa.com/consultants/joseph-c-ledford/ Ps 16: Lord, you will show us the path of life.

​Oh my gosh, I absolutely LOVE being home all the time, every single day, 24/7.
 
It’s nothing short of awesome, being confined to the house for work, play, and every other imaginable human action.
 
Toss in the total fabulosity known as the daily (er, not daily, hourly, no, wait, second-by-second) pandemic-watch news coverage offering scary predictions about the virus, economy, and the overall precarious, calamitous state of the planet earth. That’s a trifecta, yo.
 
“Quarantine rocks,” SAID. NO. ONE. EVER.
 
Speaking of rocks, could you please find a big one, knock my noggin, and render me unconscious? Okay, maybe it’s a better idea is to use this cooped-up time to work on my life soundtrack. You know, your all-time top songs list; stuff you’d want played at your mercy dinner, capisce?
 
These are just a few tracks; not the whole album, mind you.
 
There are the top preferences: “Screen” (arguably my favorite song of all time) by Twenty One Pilots, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, “Anything’s Possible” by Fatburger, “Mambo Italiano” by Rosemary Clooney, Luciano Pavarotti’s version of the  “Ave Maria”, “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, Fastball’s “The Way“, “Now is the Time” by Charlie Parker, “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison and Michael Jackson’s“Man in the Mirror”. Plus, “Sex & Candy” by Marcy’s Playground, “Stand” by REM,Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” “Havana” by Camila Cabello, and “One Hand, One Heart” from West Side Story.
 
Yeah, my brain is a pretty eclectic jukebox.
 
There’s the rap-ish stuff I love: “Lose Yourself” by Eminem, “White Crime” and “Pillow Talking” by Lil Dicky, Childish Gambino’s “Sweatpants,” “Redbone,” “3005”, and “This is America” and “Hotline Bling” by Drake.
 
Ones that make me think of Mom: Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings”, “Tusk”by Fleetwood Mac, “The Sounds of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel.
 
And natch, the Pop songs: any opera by Puccini or Verde; actually most classical music, he especially loved “The Nutcracker” and “Nessun Dorma” from Turandot by Luciano Pavarotti. My big brother and I made sure it was the last song he heard.
 
As for the classics: “Oye Come Va” by Santana, Led Zeppelin’s “Fool in the Rain”,“Baby Blue” by Badfinger (though I’d be lying if I denied “Breaking Bad” didn’t influence that one), “Baba O’Riley” by The Who and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Oh yes it is a classic; I will fight you into virtual oblivion on this one.
 
My seasonal selections: “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, “Adeste Fidelis”, “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t be Late)”, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”, and the entire Peanuts Christmas Soundtrack
 
The Kyle-inspired songs, you know, for cryfests: “From this Moment” by Shania Twain (most lyrics apply to the Mom/Son bond), “Telephone Line” by ELO (sang it to him every day as an infant; only song for which I every word), “I Hope You Dance” (obvi choice) by Lee Ann Womack, and Twenty One Pilots’ “House of Gold” about a boy caring for his Ma into old age.
 
Then there are the “Don’t play these at my wake or I’ll haunt you” picks: Anything by Neil Young except Cinnamon Girl, “MacArthur Park”, “After the Lovin’”,“Afternoon Delight”, and “American Pie”. Blech.
 
Last but by no means least? My Catholic clingers; “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”,“Immacolata”, Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, and the biggie: “Let There Be Peace on Earth”. These are the ones that’ll keep me from pushing my TV set off the roof, you dig?
 
Kimerer is a columnist trying hard not to lose the rest of her marbles, though she’s got plenty of time to look for them.

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