Photo Credit: RJS Photos
Some of my taste in music is stable, and some of it changes over time. When I listen to things, I tend to listen to them over and over. And over.
In 2013, I listened to the radio more, and I learned a few new songs I liked. I actually like a lot of Katy Perry, and I even like Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball,” much to my embarrassment.
On my 25 Most Played Playlist:
1. Hey, Pixies
2. Greedy Fly, Bush
3. How To Save A Life, The Fray
4. Hate Me, Blue October
5. Under My Thumb, The Rolling Stones
6. Promise, Eve 6
7. Blinded by Rainbows, The Rolling Stones
8. Waiting on the World To Change, John Mayer
9. Without You, Motley Crue
10. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Taylor Swift
11. Clocks, Coldplay
12. Inside Out, Eve 6
13. Hold Me Up, Live
14. Where Is My Mind?, Yoav
15. November Rain, Guns N’ Roses
16. 1979, Smashing Pumpkins
17. 100 Years, Five For Fighting
18. Big Yellow Taxi, Counting Crows
19. Gives You Hell, The All-American Rejects
20. Glycerine, Bush
21. Independent Love Song, Scarlett O’
22. I Walk the Line, Johnny Cash
23. Standing On The Moon, Grateful Dead
24. Hurt, Nine Inch Nails
25. Stay, Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
My Top 25 List changes somewhat from time to time, but this is actually a good representation. Lisa Loeb, Nine Inch Nails, and Bush are ones I’ve liked from my college days. I actually didn’t get into Eve 6 in the 90s; sometimes music gets stuck in my head for no apparent reason, and I have to hear it. Or else. I got Inside Out stuck in my head like that one day, and as a result, went out and bought a bunch of Eve 6 CDs. The TV Guy introduced me to the Grateful Dead. Of course I’d heard of them, but never really listened to them.
I got into Johnny Cash after watching “Walk the Line.” I like a lot of his songs, but that one happens to be my favorite. “Hey” and “Hold Me Up” are from one of my favorite movies: Zach and Miri Make a Porno. “Where is My Mind?” is from Sucker Punch. That whole soundtrack is awesome. If you haven’t heard it, check it out on iTunes. Or better yet, just watch the movie. “Independent Love Song” is from “Bed of Roses,” another favorite movie of mine. The Rolling Stones are just awesomesauce. So there. I had actually heard “1979” many times, but it never got into my head until I watched “Clerks II.” Not one of my all time favorite movies, but the song has stuck with me since then.
The other songs on the list are just ones I’d heard here and there that I ended up putting into different playlists and then probably listening to on repeat until they made the list.
I also have two playlists for writing music (one all instrumental, the other not), “Moody Music,” “Stuff I forget I have,” and one I call “Favorites,” which is actually a list composed from a 25 Most Played Playlist on a different iPod. If you follow that logic.
What do you call your playlists, and what’s on them?
Doree Weller 
I LOVE this post! I’ve been working on essays for the next A to Z challenge that are all songs that have played a big role in my life. I think you’re current Top 25 is a great list. I seem to have similar musical tastes to you. (Confession time: Two of my current favorites are Roar and Wrecking Ball) Oddly enough I can’t listen to music with lyrics when I write, it distracts me too much. However I do enjoy my Enya channel on Pandora for writing. Thanks for inspiring me to look at my most played songs!
Enya and some Tori Amos are the exceptions to the rule when I don’t want music with words. I can tune out what they’re saying and their voices just blend into the music.
I feel like I’m on a different planet compared to your (and most everyone’s) musical listenings. There was such a variety of good music that I’ve become aware of in 2013; I was probably exposed to more excellent music this past year than any other of my life. This was in large part because of the internet, and the ease of research that it makes possible. This causes me to recall one person’s musical comment posting from Youtube: “MUSIC is like self-evolution… You start listening to certain kind of music and it evolves as your sub-conscious mind demands something different or music with some deeper state of consciousness…” This is certainly true for me with Electronic Dance Music (EDM).
That’s an interesting perspective, but I’d have to agree. Though EDM still isn’t my thing.