I love riding public transportation while listening to music. Something about the rhythmic rocking and bumping of a train or bus combined with a song to drown out the outside noises allows my thoughts to carry me away from reality — almost like I’m sleeping, but I’m sitting upright with my eyes open. These daydreams are colored by whatever song I am listening to. My mind makes associations between the tone or lyrics of a song and various trains of thought based on their similarity in mood, or sometimes I’ll choose music that I think will enhance the line of thought I’m already going down. In this way, I can kind of control my daydreams. Here are some playlists of songs for daydreaming in different moods.
1. Melancholia
“This is the Last Time” - The National
“There is a Light That Never Goes Out” - The Smiths
“Back to Black” - Amy Winehouse
“Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” - Tame Impala
A mindful sadness demands music with an artful gloom. “This is the Last Time” weaves the mournful tale of a love ending with post-punk doom. In “There is a Light That Never Goes Out,” Morrissey, the king of sadness himself, delivers lines depressing and odd such as “To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.” Amy Winehouse always delivers powerful melodies about addiction and heartbreak. Early Tame Impala songs like “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” have a dreamy, psychedelic quality, and this one in particular is about the pain of repetition and regression.
2. Anticipation
“Better” - Regina Spektor
“Stars and Sons” - Broken Social Scene
“And She Was” - Talking Heads
“My Little Corner of the World” - Yo La Tengo
These are the songs you play when everything is about to go your way, and you’d like to take a moment to dwell. The first two songs are a pure rush of excitement, building in exhilaration with every passing second — I’ve even known “Stars and Sons” to actually increase my heart rate. The latter two songs on this list sound more like utopia realized. “And She Was” is probably the sweetest song that ‘80s band Talking Heads ever made, and “My Little Corner of the World” is the happy ending of a love story.
3. Frustration
“Why Bother?” - Weezer
“Stupid Decions” - Fidlar
“Way Too Much” - Wavves
“Anarchy in the UK” - Sex Pistols
When feeling particularly obsessive, I like to pull out my favorite whiny whiteboy music. Weezer goes on about relationship angst, while Fidlar and Wavves songs are about drug addiction and general bad decision making. “Anarchy in the UK” is about exactly what it sounds like: sparking a political revolution. Despite the song’s brashness, something about its repetitiveness is almost soothing. In general, I usually find that punk and punk-adjacent music is good for an angry daydream.
4. Adventure
“Paranoid Android” - Radiohead
“Ize of the World” - The Strokes
“The Mother We Share” - CHVRCHES
“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” - Saint Etienne
Sometimes you want to get swept away by your imagination, and the right song can get you there. “Paranoid Android” has odd, almost cultish lyrics that definitely get you wondering. “Ize of the World” has fascinating lyrics as well — this song uses linguistics to a thought-provoking end. CHVRCHES songs have an unusual indietronica sound that is sure to take you on a magical journey. The final song is a dance cover of a Neil Young song. The song is highly repetitive, but that doesn’t mean that it will leave you where you started.
