Inside my Musical Heart

Last summer, I was in the back yard with my friend and he was on a ladder hanging lights, and I was raving about my obsession with my favorite artist of the moment, Chappell Roan, and he said what kind of music is you? What is in your musical heart?

It took me months to answer. I debated in what format my reply would take. Genres? Albums? Songs? Artists? A narrative? A written list of specific songs? A Spotify playlist? Youtube videos? Explanations of each song, the story of when I first heard it, what I was doing, what it brings back to me now, how it makes me feel? What it made me feel then?

The answer I came up with is a list of the songs that are in my musical heart. The songs that pierce right through me. The songs that stop me when I hear them, that I have to focus on and listen to, that call out to me over the years. That I loved as a child or a teen or a young adult or last year. That stir and move and soften me now, that settle in me. But it’s not a list of my favorite songs. I may not even love them or want to listen to them now; but each song here is contained within the most influential building blocks of my musical heart.

There are 191 songs on here plus 7 Broadway plays.

Whole Spotify Playlist, with complete Broadway shows

Spotify Playlist without Broadway shows

1. Gun Shy
2. Cherry Tree
3. Verdi Cries
4. Take on Me
5. The Winner Takes It all
6. Someone Like You
7. Lost in Love
8. The One that you love
9. Paper Bag
10. Somewhere in my heart
11. Give me back my man
12. Eternal Flame
13. She Used to be Mine
14. Help
15. Oh! Darling
16. Stayin’ Alive
17. Tragedy
18. Venus as a Boy
19. Call Me
20. You Light up my Life
21. Gloria
22. Do You Love Me Now?
23. Fame
24. Flashdance (What a Feeling)
25. Lovefool
26. Superstar
27. Sing
28. Hurt
29. Cat’s in the Cradle
30. Baby Can I Hold You
31. I’ve never been to me
32. Devil Went down to Georgia
33. Hard to say I’m sorry
34. Travelin Soldier
35. London Calling
36. Suzanne
37. Don’t Leave Me This Way
38. Little Conversations
39. Welcome to the Black Parade
40. One Tin Soldier
41. Zombie
42. How Far I’ll Go
43. Operator
44. Arthur’s Theme
45. A Forest
46. Birdmad Girl
47. Close to Me
48. The Kiss
49. How Beautiful You Are
50. Lovesong
51. The Lovecats
52. I Will Follow you into the dark
53. Annie’s Song
54. America
55. Love on the rocks
56. She
57. Circle
58. A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall
59. A Little Respect
60. Like the Way I Do
61. My Immortal
62. Axel F
63. (Last Night) I didn’t get to sleep at all
64. Same Old Song
65. Bizarre Love Triangle
66. Presumably Dead Arm
67. Head over Heels
68. Summer Nights
69. Pull It Together
70. City of New Orleans
71. Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
72. Closer to Fine
73. Keeper of My Heart
74. Never Tear Us Apart
75. She’s Out of my Life
76. Don’t Stop  till you get enough
77. Rock with you
78. Sometimes a fantasy
79. She’s always a woman
80. Me and Bobby McGee
81. Open Arms
82. Faithfully
83. Ice Cream
84. Walking on Sunshine
85. Beautiful
86. Beth
87. Bad Romance
88. Shallow
89. Always Remember Us this Way
90. Million Reasons
91. Caesar on a TV Screen
92. The Feminine Urge
93. All through the night
94. Royals
95. Borderline
96. Two out of three ain’t bad
97. All my little words
98. The Rose
99. A Fifth of Beethoven
100. Bloodbuzz Ohio
101. Age of Consent
102. Sister Christian
103. Something I can Never Have
104. Black Boys on Mopeds
105. Jackie
106. Wonderwall
107. I Ain’t Marching Anymore
108. Here’s to the State of Mississippi
109. John Allyn Smith Sails
110. A Chorus Line
111. Pippin
112. Godspell
113. Annie
114. Hamilton
115. In the Heights
116. Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree
117. Fuck and Run
118. Blow Me (One Last Kiss)
119. Just Give me a Reason
120. Brain Damage
121. That Day
122. Every Little Thing she does is magic
123. King of Pain
124. Can’t Stand Losing You
125. Message in a Bottle
126. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
127. When Doves Cry
128. Darling Nikki
129. Sometimes it snows in April
130. Kiss
131. Creep
132. Perfect Circle
133. Talk About the Passion
134. So Central Rain
135. Fall On Me
136. Swan Swan H.
137. Cuyahoga
138. Angie baby
139. You’re so Fucking Pretty
140. Take it on the run
141. Hello
142. Does he love you?
143. Pink Pony Club
144. Kaleidoscope
145. Coward of the County
146. Be my baby
147. Desperado
148. Touch me in the morning
149. Theme from Mahogany
150. It’s my turn
151. Love Hangover
152. Subdivisions
153. Come on Eileen
154. Little Boxes
155. Those Magic Changes
156. Unstoppable
157. Chandelier
158. Cheap Thrills
159. The Boxer
160. There is a light that never goes out
161. I Know It’s Over
162. On the Radio
163. How
164. Buildings
165. Time is all Around
166. Father and Son
167. Rock Steady
168. One World (Not Three)/Love is the Seventh Wave
169. Bring on the Night/When the World is Running Down
170. Different Drum
171. The Best of Times
172. Babe
173. On the Radio
174. Heaven Knows
175. No More Tears
176. The Logical Song
177. Where did our love go?
178. Baby Love
179. Love story
180. Sweet Baby James
181. Hold Me Now
182. Total Eclipse of the Heart
183. Running to Stand Still
184. October
185. New Year’s Day
186. Luka
187. Love’s Theme
188. Behind Blue Eyes
189. Back to Black
190. Tears Dry On Their Own
191. Dear God