Life has been hectic with exams and college preparation (wish me luck), so I thought would do something fun. That’s when I got this random, but fun idea. I listen to a lot of music, so much so that there are songs I love that I have completely forgotten about because I haven’t listened to them in a while. I have almost 3,000 songs saved onto my Spotify, I was bound to forget some gems that I saved. And because Spotify’s shuffle feature isn’t as random as it should be, I found an alternative way to discover songs randomly: a random word generator. Basically, the random word generator finds a word for me and I put that word into my Spotify playlist and filter through the playlist (which has exactly 2,858 songs in it) and recommend you a song with that word in the title. I don’t know how this came to me, but this is the kind of randomness that I like and a different way to rediscover some music I once loved, but haven’t heard in years.

Word 1: Resort

It took about four times until I finally got a word that was on Spotify and the word was Resort. I knew immediately what song I would find by searching for it in my playlist.

Talk about not hearing a song for years! Even still, Last Resort is still an awesome song! It’s a song that pumps you up and takes you back to a past memory of listening to it or when you first heard it. And no matter how many years it’s been since you last listened to it, you can’t forget that chorus. It’s a chorus that kids today would call iconic and since I am a kid of today I can confirm they would be correct. Last Resort is a great song and will still pump you up as it did however many years ago.

Word 2: Hand

Okay, I had a couple of choices for this word. I had quite a few songs in my playlist that included the word hand in the title, but there was one in particular that I love and have to spotlight here.

I love Kylie Minogue, still, when I listen to her I usually stick to her Fever, Body Language, and her modern albums. But I can’t deny how much I love this cute bop from her 1989 album Enjoy Yourself. This is ironic because every time I listen to this song I do end up enjoying myself. It’s such a cute song that leaves me with a smile on my face at how adorable Kylie sounds in it.

Word 3: Parachute

When I got this word I almost ignored it and picked another word because I didn’t think I had any songs with the word parachute in the title. Luckily for me, I did have one and not only did I have one and it’s a really good one at that.

I only listened to Caroline Polachek’s Pang album last year, but it looks like I had already forgotten about this gem from the album. I’m not sure how. Re-listening to Parachute, it’s exactly what I like in music. It’s dreamy paired with nice vocals from Caroline and it has a nice message attached to it. Not sure how this wasn’t an immediate favorite of mine from the album, oh well at least I have corrected that wrong. This song will definitely be on replay for the next few days.

Word 4: Salt

I knew I would have at least one song under this word, and I was right. I was a little surprised to see only one song, I feel like salt could be used in many song titles, but at least the one song I do have I like a lot.

Salt was one of my favorites when I first listened to Tinashe’s Joyride when it was first released. I love the old jazzy RNB vibe it has to it. It separated itself from the rest of the album for me and quickly became one of my favorites. I wouldn’t say I forgot about it, but I have been playing Tinashe’s newest work nonstop and haven’t been listening to a lot of her older work, but I do still love this song and remember all the lyrics.

Word 5: Storm

I figured I would have some choices for this one. So many songs relate whatever topic they are singing about to weather and of course, a storm. I chose the song I did mainly because of how much I love the artist, not necessarily the song.

I adore Delta Goodrem and love her music. Her album Mistaken Identity is one of my favorite albums by her. It has some of my favorite songs by her including the self-titled song, Last Night On Earth, and Out Of The Blue. Electric Storm is what I put in the mid-tier of the album. I think it’s a good song, but Delta has better songs including on the album itself. But, Electric Storm is a good showcase of Delta’s talents and I would call it a good introduction to her if you have never listened to her before.

Word 6: Place

I had plenty of choices for this one, but I didn’t want to go with an obvious pick. So I picked the saddest song choice instead.

A Place Called Home by Kim Richey transports me back to a particular moment of a television show. If you know what show, then you know what I mean by that. I don’t revisit this song often unless I want to make myself very sad. Still, I can’t deny how good of a song it is and how beautiful Kim sounds on it.

Word 7: Set

Set is such a simple word, but it’s not used in many song titles. At least not many songs that I listen to it, I was able to find two. Neither of the songs I am particularly fond of, but I went with the one I find a bit more interesting.

Goodbye To You and Michelle Branch’s work with The Wreckers remain my favorite work from her, but The Spirit Room is a good album that still holds up. You Set Me Free is a decent song, but it’s not that memorable to me. I’ll listen to it and like it, but then promptly forget about it. Nevertheless, it’s not a bad song at all, just not one I return to often.

Word 8: Thank

Okay, obviously I could have gone with Ariana Grande’s Thank U Next, but that would have been boring and I had more interesting options. There were two, in particular, I wanted to include, but I chose the one I first thought of.

I hate that Leona Lewis is only remembered for Bleeding Love and some other songs from that era because she has released some great songs in this later stage in her career. Case in point, Thank You is one of my favorite songs by her. Her vocals sound heavenly like they always do and really make the song shine. And yes the message of the song isn’t a new one, but the authenticity Leona brings to the song is what makes it a special one.

Word 9: Feel

Singers sure do like singing about their feelings, so there is no surprise I got a abundance of choices for this one. I narrowed it down to one, but that was not an easy task. A lot of songs I like have the word feel in it.

I love Kali Uchis’s album Isolation, so much so that I did an entire blog post about it. Feel Like A Fool was immediately one of my favorites from the album and it still is. I still listen to the song and the album regularly. There is something about the album including this song, that is instantly re-listenable. No matter how many times I listen to Feel Like A Fool, I love it as much as I did the first time I heard it. A fantastic song.

Word 10: Get

Get is another simple word that it was bound to be featured in many songs. I didn’t know right away what song I might see, but once I saw a particular song I knew I would pick it just based off how underrated I think it is by many of the artists’ fans.

Get Back is peak Britney, which is what makes it insane at how underrated it is within her fandom and the general public. It’s my favorite song from Blackout and definitely one of my favorite from her entire music catalog. Britney is her classic self in the song, she’s charming and yet she demands your attention. The instrumental is amazing. I especially love when the song slows towards the end only to return to the normal instrumental, it really shows how great the instrumental is. And finally, it’s just a great song to dance to. It’s not one you want to sit down and listen to, you have to dance when listening to it. It’s such a great song, and I wish it was appreciated a bit more by the fandom.

That was fun. It was nice revisiting some songs I haven’t heard in years and listening to songs that are still a favorite of mine. Hopefully, you rediscovered or discovered a song you like as well. I’ll probably do another one of these, as I only went through 10 words and have 2,848 songs I can select from.

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My book Living Rent Free In My Head: Essays On Pop Culture comes out on August 2, 2022. Pre-order it now for only $3.15 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other vendors.