Dance Dance Evolution

Posted by Amanda | Posted in | Posted on 9:54 PM

This musical panacea theme is a tricky one, I think, because the context of my disappointment or frustration totally determines what music I listen to, so I just picked a specific context to work with: love.

My first instinct was to follow that urge to wallow, so I picked out some Coldplay, some Johnny Cash, and some Melody Gardot, for starters. Then I thought, nah, I'd rather go for some fist-pumping raucousness, indulge in some rage and fury--turns out I don't have much music that fits into this category. Perhaps I could go for the musical shaman thing? But that would turn into a list of my favorite classical pieces, the stuff that really heals and binds me, and that felt a little serious for this theme. So I opted for power. Power to the ladies--but before you roll your eyes or glimpse the obligatory Shania Twain track out of context, I'll ask you to consider the playlist as a whole:

We start off with a few classics about earnest but illusory love before learning that, more often than not, love leaves us battle weary and broken. In our brokenness, we fall back on shallow reassurances of our sexuality and the superficial strength of it, but this quickly fades (hopefully) as we wizen up, dig a little deeper, and put some soul into it. By the end, we feel better, we feel stronger, and then it's time to dance with somebody new, someone who is actually ready for "a love that burns hot enough to last." And so we dance our way back into love.

Enjoy!
  1. "Like a Prayer" by Madonna
  2. "Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks
  3. "Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar
  4. "Some Days You Gotta Dance" by Dixie Chicks
  5. "Independence Day" by Martina McBride
  6. "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor
  7. "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" by Shania Twain
  8. "Fancy" by Bobbie Gentry
  9. "Single Ladies" by Beyonce
  10. "Superwoman" by Alicia Keys
  11. "Video" by India Arie
  12. "Respect" by Aretha Franklin
  13. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" by Whitney Houston

Comments (3)

Scrumpestuous D Said on March 9, 2010 at 8:36 AM

I finally know what #2 is called. I had no idea. And #8 was pretty great.

The Shark Said on March 9, 2010 at 10:48 AM

Dance therapy = win. Nice list.

Cabeza Said on March 17, 2010 at 12:36 PM

I'm playing some catch-up with the panacea playlists. I like the progression on yours, and excellent use of Stevie Nicks.

That said, I'm going to go ahead and roll my eyes at the Shania Twain track. I got called out by a female coworker for listening to "Man I Feel Like a Woman" too loud! I thought these ear buds were more muted...

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