The Diary of Jane – Chapter 12: Obsession confession

Okay, it is confession time.
I have a huge obsession.
I am completely obsessed with creating playlists, on Spotify and Youtube.

Yes, I probably share this with a lot of people out there, but I really LOVE the feeling when you press ”Create New Playlist” and get to give it a name, and fill it with the songs you want to have there.

It’s a huge part of my festival preparations, creating the perfect mix of songs from bands playing at the festival together with other songs I like.
And for road trips (for those amazing sing-alongs in the car) and all kinds of travels.
For different kinds of exercise, gym, dancing, walking, running.
For cleaning.
For just hanging around, chilling in the sofa with friends or on your own.
As preparation for a show or a night out, to get in the best mood.
For home parties.
For memories.
For crying your heart out.
For hope, strength and energy.
For those times when you are just so happy that all you want to do is dance and jump around like crazy.
For a theme – with songs about butterflies, water, nature or whatever feels right at that moment.
Well, yes – for just about everything.

And definitely for tours – so far every tour I have been on has had it’s own playlist – for that moment when you climb into your bunk, plug in your headphones and shut out the rest of the world (also known as the rest of the touring party, and probably their party going on somewhere else in the bus). When it’s just you and the music, there is nothing else that matters. You recharge your own energy level and drift away….and fall asleep.

Every occasion just gets better with a special playlist.

And it doesn’t matter if there is something else I SHOULD be doing, there is just always time to create a new playlist.
(I even had to create one before I started writing this chapter, because music and words are always connected).

And I always start with a system, and a thought of how I want it to be, all ambitious and putting the songs in a matching order… But somehow every list I create ALWAYS ends up being a total misch-masch in the end, because I suddenly simply HAVE TO put this and that on the list, no matter if they ”fit in” or not. And sometimes it can even be songs I don’t really like, but I get in my head that they need to be there for some reason.

That is one of the beauties of not being genre stuck, being open to everything there is out there, finding new amazing songs and artists. Even though the suggestions for songs and artists both Spotify and Youtube come up with might sometimes be totally OFF. I know they are based on algorithms, but sometimes I really wonder… (I have a dear friend who explained this all to me, and pretty much all that got stuck in my mind was algorithms)(sorry, bro!!)

And the beauty of playlists is that they can always be modified – because maybe there is a song that suddenly feels like you can’t stand listening to it, or one that isn’t on the list but really needs to be there… And if the entire list feels boring or wrong…it can always be deleted and replaced by a new one. (That often still will have some of the same songs, haha)

The number of songs and playing time is also important. I am not a fan of even numbers (with number 6 being the exception to the rule), so whenever I can avoid those, I will. I also don’t like the number 5, so if that can also be avoided, it all feels better.

And this song is one of those that ALWAYS end up on every single one of my spotify playlists (well, except for the one band best of kinds), because it just always has to be there.