Playlist

This is a playlist of songs we compiled because their lyrics and themes relate to positive relationships, negative relationships, and personal growth. We made a link to the playlist on Spotify and listed it below, along with a youtube playlist. The songs foreshadow ideas developed on subsequent pages, describing several kinds of relationships discerned in oral histories collected by us, as well by collaborators at American University in Cairo.

Feel invited to sing along.  Singing and listening to music can improve health and well-being, with some effects attributed to music's promotion of human interaction and cohesion (Wang and Agius, 2018; see also Daykin et al., 2018).  Other mechanisms may exist, too.  For example, drawing evidence from six case studies, Ruud (2013) suggested that musicking -- either consuming or producing music -- affords a sense of agency, since the person can control the engagment with the music (e.g., the choice of music).  Ruud also suggested that musicking can act like a mirror, allowing a person to reflect on an inner state and to accept it and its associated emotions.

I’ll Be There for You - The Rembrandts (Friends theme)

True Colors - Cyndi Lauper

Sister - K.Flay

End of August - Carter Hodge

Runs in the Family - Amanda Palmer

Eudaemonia - Them Are Us Too

I Want You to Love Me - Fiona Apple

Heroes - Ann Reed

Big Strong Girl - Deb Talan

Better Together - Jack Johnson

Upside Down - Jack Johnson 

For Good - Wicked Cast

Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits

Works Cited

Daykin, N., Mansfield, L., Meads, C., Julier, G., Tomlinson, A., Payne, A., Grigsby Duffy, L., Lane, J., D'Innocenzo, G., Burnett, A., Kay, T., Dolan, P., Testoni, S., & Victor, C. (2018) What works for wellbeing? A systematic review of wellbeing outcomes for music and singing in adults. Perspectives in Public Health 138: 39-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913917740391

Ruud, E. (2013) Can music serve as a "cultural immunogen"? An explorative study.  International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being 8: 20597. https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v8i0.20597

Wang, S., & Agius, M. (2018) The use of music therapy in the treatment of mental illness and the enhancement of societal wellbeing. Psychiatria Danubina 30 (Supplement 7): 595-600. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30439854/