Just Good Bops: April
Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit
I’ve made a monthly playlist of what I’m currently listening to every single month, without fail, since March 2013. A couple of days ago, I went to add a song to my March 2020 playlist and realized there wasn’t one. And then I realized that it was April 3rd, so I’d missed the window to create one.
I know it’s a small, inconsequential thing, especially right now, but it made me feel incredibly sad. My playlists have served as a snapshot in time, something akin to a journal. I can travel back in time and experience anew how I was feeling based on what I was listening to. That won’t be the case for this period of time.
On the other hand, I suppose it’s fitting that March 2020 is just a big, gaping hole disrupting my seven year streak. It feels hard to maintain even the most ingrained habits right now, and I’m doing my best to be extra kind and patient with myself in this moment. Productivity is an unreasonable bar to set when you’re trying to understand the enormity of living through a pandemic and also missing your life prior to quarantine.
That’s all to say, 1) I recommend making monthly playlists if you’re not the journaling type, and 2) I took extra care crafting this month’s playlist for y’all and also made sure to get my personal monthly playlist up and going as well. It made feel something close to normal, which I was grateful for during this very not-normal time.
This playlist very well could have just been multiples of “People, I’ve been sad” by Christine and the Queens. It’s not, which feels like a personal victory, but I still recommend watching them perform it live for COLORS. Look at all that personal space! A social distancing queen. 🎧