What I Listen to When I’m Feeling Blue

So everyone does something different when they’re feeling a little down. Me, I tend to need swing music asap. Similar to the narrator from “The Drowsy Chaperone,” so I hope that means I’m not alone with this problem. (Oh it’s just me? That’s great…)

Anyways, a while back I put together this playlist for when I’m feeling blue. (It’s called “When I’m Feeling Blue” surprisingly enough.) And here’s my top inclusions and why I included it. (It’s also not really in any particular order.)

First of all, there’s songs from musicals. I’m talking Cole Porter and the Gershwins type stuff. I think you just know songs so much better when you have done a show that involves them. For starters, you have all of the lyrics and choreography to them memorized, and if you’re like me and tend to be in the pit, then you also know all of the instrumentation. They also have memories associated with them, like maybe “You’re the Top” brings to mind the good times putting on “Anything Goes!” and hanging out backstage with your friends and learning how to tap dance. (This may or may not reflect my life.) So there’s that.

Then there’s jazz pieces. Most of them are Duke Ellington big band type stuff, but there’s also Cannonball Adderly and Louis Armstrong. I’ve played most of them in jazz band, so once again I have my part memorized. (I’m convinced that Ellington hated his second alto player, because those parts tended to suck.) And they’re great to dance to, get you up and out of this slump!

And there’s songs covered by singers like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. Sinatra was the person who really got me into swing, so of course there’s all of his stuff. And Ella is just amazing. Both of them had such talent, it just sounds so good to listen to them. And there’s also a few by Michael Buble and Tony Bennett thrown in there. I like having a few different versions of the same tune, because you hear a few different perspectives on it that way. Even just having a vocal and an instrumental version can be very telling.

So that’s the basics of my playlist. There’s also stuff like how I choose the order of songs and the mood and whatever, but these are the main components. But it’s really up to you, whatever makes you feel happy is what needs to be included.