I love a good playlist. This morning, I’m enjoying one I started months ago…

One thing I love about having most of my music collection on my computer is the ability to make my own playlists. Growing up, I listened to the radio and that meant hearing music chosen by a disc jockey or whatever the music business wanted to make popular. As I got older, I got away from listening to radio. I would listen to Pandora sometimes, but got out of the habit the last time we were in Germany because it didn’t work here due to licensing issues. So I would just listen to whatever I had on my computer. Then I started organizing my music. I’d make a disco mix for when I felt like hearing some catchy dance tunes from the 70s. I’d make a bluegrass mix for when I wanted to hear stuff by Alison Krauss or Ricky Skaggs. I’d make a classical mix for times when I wanted classical music… and 70s and 80s mixes. I even made a “Maneater” mix of songs about women who were up to no good. Naturally, Hall & Oates’ famous song, “Maneater” is on that playlist.

This morning, I’m listening to a playlist I call “Cool music.” It has over 1700 songs on it. I like it because it’s a mix of old and new songs. Since I don’t often sit down and turn it on, I’m rediscovering some pretty awesome music, a lot of which I found while playing on the Internet. I have a habit of downloading stuff on a whim, especially if I’ve been drinking beer. One song I found on YouTube came from a video about a water hole in Texas. I liked the background music the channel owner used so much that I found it on iTunes and downloaded the whole album.


The song is “Mth” by Wiretree. The video is about Jacob’s Well, a very cool place in Texas that I never got to visit when we lived there.

Then there are songs from old Van Morrison albums like Veedon Fleece, which I managed to get a copy of when we were in Texas. It’s a pretty rare CD, but it has some great music on it.


“You Don’t Pull No Punches, But You Don’t Push The River”, a great Van Morrison song.

And this playlist has Ray Charles on it, The Pogues, Chicago, and Eddi Reader, a lovely Scottish singer I discovered some time ago.


Eddi Reader sings “Ae Fond Kiss”… makes me want to go back to Scotland.

It’s fun to make playlists, especially when you have so much music that you don’t know what all is in your collection. It’s a great mix of old favorites and undiscovered gems. Unfortunately for my wallet, it usually leads me to download more music as I think of other songs I want to add!