I'm a Porsche With No Brakes
November's Earworms Challenge
Some days are just rough. Yesterday was one of them. I got angry at myself early in the day, and it only spiraled. Other things happened that made me angrier, and I had to really fight to keep myself in check. Getting out of the house helped a lot, and eventually I was ok. So let’s just say, it was a reeeeally interesting day to be doing an Earworms Challenge. You wanna know what I’m actually like? You can figure it out pretty well based on the songs that I had stuck in my head on a rough day.
In case you’re new here and you’re wondering, an Earworms Challenge is a thing I do once a month, when I keep track of every single song I get stuck in my head for an entire day, then I make a playlist out of those songs. (I don’t include songs I can’t stand or songs that have made it into previous Challenges.) Then I share that list here with you, along with commentary on how most (if not all) of the songs got stuck and/or why they’re important to me. I absolutely love doing these, and I would also love it if YOU took the Challenge yourself and shared it with me in the comments!
So as I stated earlier, this was a rough day. Surpringly, my absolute favorite angry song (Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit) did not make it, nor did its runner-up (Nugget by Cake). I do love how all over the place this list is, and I really wish I could find the memes to support some of these songs and the feelings associated (I’ll explain that a little later). Without further ado, I present the playlist:
NOTES:
A Pirate Looks At Forty, by Jimmy Buffett: I woke up with this song stuck in my head. I don’t know why. The most recent time I heard it was Halloween while we were running Karaoke (we called it Scaryoke, cos how could we not?), and one of our friends did this song, of course, dressed as a pirate. It was perfect.
Kiss the Girl, from The Little Mermaid: This got stuck in my head because of the previous song. After the line, “Yes, I am a pirate,” I naturally want to immediately follow it with, “look at her, you know you do. Possible she want you too, there is one way to ask her.” And suddenly I’m all in on Kiss the Girl. That’s how my mind works.
Centuries, by Fall Out Boy: I think this one came in cos I was thinking about the Jimmy Buffett song and just how much people’s Karaoke choices have an effect on me, and it made me think of Centuries because that same night a 10-year-old girl had belted out this Fall Out Boy tune. Seriously, we have some crazy awesome regulars, and sometimes the stuff that these kids pick out makes me feel like this future generation might just be ok. We regularly have kids coming in singing stuff like Coldplay, Dolly Parton, Twenty One Pilots, Queen, Michael Jackson, Weird Al, I mean I can go on. It truly makes me hopeful.
I Hate Everything About You, by Three Days Grace: Yeah I guess you could say this is where I started going downhill. One of my phrases when I’m having a hard time is “I hate everything,” (even though of course I actually don’t) so that’s what I was thinking, and it naturally led me to this one. Not even close to being my favorite Three Days Grace song, it’s the first one I ever heard, and I really loved it initially. These days I try to stay away from songs that are this negative, but sometimes it’s exactly what you need. Feelings gotta be felt.
Raining in Baltimore and Anna Begins, by Counting Crows: I’ve been thinking a lot lately (I think I mentioned this in the last Earworms post) about doing a playlist of songs from my all-time favorite albums. August and Everything After definitely makes the cut. It’s a frigging masterpiece. I think I thought of Raining in Baltimore initially because it is kind of a dreary, saddish song, and that’s how I was feeling. So thinking of that song, and that album, and which one might be my favorite to put on that playlist, and the clear answer was Anna Begins. “Everytime she sneezes I believe it’s love, and ohhh Lord, I’m not ready for this sort of thing.”
(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song, by B.J. Thomas: This one is another Karaoke tune that one of our regulars does. I don’t too much care for it, but I had been thinking about how I kept coming up with sad songs (this whole Earworms process gets so meta sometimes), and this one appeared.
Hanging On By A Thread, by The Letter Black: Yeah pretty much just how I felt in the moment. I hadn’t actually heard this song in a very long time. I used to hear it quite often when I was mostly listening to Christian rock music. There’s a lot of great stuff out there, actually. I can’t tell you a single other song by this band, but this one is great.
Algorithm Ghetto, by Tesstamona: Ohhh, you need to hear this one if you haven’t already (and even if you have). This is the newest release from
(check out her Substack, too!) and she is a personal friend of mine. I got this stuck in my head from seeing one of her posts on Instagram. Tess is one to watch, because besides her obvious musical talent, she boldly speaks the truths that others either don’t want to see/admit, or are too scared to speak themselves. And let’s be real, we need that now more than ever. Check out her other songs while you’re at it, and you’ll be glad you did.That’s All, by Genesis: I want to say that this got stuck in my head from hearing it on the radio in the car. And honestly, it led me down an internet rabbit hole, of which you’ll see the results a few song listings from now. I remember a few times recently seeing a meme about Phil Collins on either Facebook or Instagram (perhaps both), and it was one of those that was basically just a picture of somebody’s Tweet, and I can’t for the life of me remember who said it or the exact words. It was something about how growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, there was such a vast array of great music, and there was SO MUCH Phil Collins. So much. Anyway, I dare you to search Phil Collins memes, I just dare you. And hey, a thousand points if you can find the one I was looking for, cos I never did.
Good As Hell, by Lizzo: Also from the radio in the car. Not a big fan of Lizzo, but I do love some good female empowerment tunes. And I was definitely ready to start feeling good as hell, rather than how I had been. And getting out of the house and enjoying a little change of scenery, along with some good music, definitely had a positive impact on my headspace.
Unstoppable, by Sia: This is my phone’s ringtone. I don’t get many actual phone calls (thank God), but ugh lately I’m getting an abundance of spam calls. So anyway, given my spiraling and heavy thoughts during the day, a spam call that I could easily decline gave me a few seconds of a great song to give me a slight shift. This song has been around forever, but I didn’t hear it when it was new—I was introduced to it via a cover done by the Christian band Red, and it is incredible. Check it out (and be sure to not miss the twins’ synchronized guitar spins near the end):
In the Air Tonight, by Phil Collins: If you took seriously my dare about searching Phil Collins memes, then you already know why this one’s here. I was searching for that one particular meme, and based on my search results, there was absolutely no chance of this song not sticking with me. No chance. And it’s really no wonder, I don’t think anyone is immune to this song’s power.
The Boy’s Gone and No Stopping Us, by Jason Mraz: This is yet another entry, and another double one, at that, involving songs from my favorite albums of all time, these two being from Jason Mraz’s Waiting for My Rocket to Come. This was Jason’s debut studio album, and it’s absolutely perfect. From the first time I heard You and I Both, I was forever hooked. I even have an autographed cd copy of it from when my sister and I saw him live (and met him afterward!) in Dallas back in 2003 (also an autographed poster from that show is hanging in my hallway). The Boy’s Gone got stuck in my head due to some lyric from it, but I can’t remember which line. The entire song is a perfect example of Jason’s lyrical genius. I’m going to take a wild guess based on my headspace for the day that it might have been: “And what becomes of a day for those who rage against it? And who will sum up the phrase for all left standing round in it?” Once that song was stuck, I realized it had been forever since I’d listened to the album, so I pulled it up on Spotify. I can’t tell you how much this helped me get back out of my funk. I ended up having to go do something, so I stopped the music while No Stopping Us was on, so that was my next stuck track. It is suuuuch a fun song, and if it doesn’t make you feel a little better, I don’t know what could. The climax of this song is one of the absolute best moments on the entire album, and when you hear it, you’ll know exactly what I mean. If you’ve been missing out on Jason Mraz for the past 20+ years, now’s the time to fix that.
Kickstart My Heart, by Motley Crue: I believe this took over my brain very briefly after hearing it on the radio in the car. I barely remembered to include it. That’s all I got.
Happier Than Ever, by Billie Eilish: I was playing some Sesame Street songs for Betsy on YouTube, and one that popped up was Billie singing a much-altered version of this tune with The Count. That’s one of my favorite things about Sesame Street, honestly, and the Muppets in general—all the good songs, especially when an artist parodies their own songs. This was an adorable video. Of course, even though she obviously didn’t sing this part on Sesame Street, the line that stuck with still-kinda-angry Kristen was “Just fucking leave me alone.”
Exceptional, by China Anne McClain (from A.N.T. Farm): I said something to one of the girls at dinner, maybe like “exceptional job,” I guess? I don’t remember for sure at this point. Miranda liked this tv show when she was 4 or 5, and she’d go around singing this, it’s theme song. She completely forgot about it for a long time, and two or three years ago, I reminded her of the show and she watched it through again almost like it was for the first time. Anyway, it’s a pretty basic Disney Channel show, with a catchy theme sung by the main character. There ya go.
Could Have Been Me, by the Struts: Miranda and I share a Spotify playlist where we both add songs we think (or know) the other would like. While adding a song to the list, this one was suggested to me by Spotify. I think she probably would like it, actually, so maybe I’ll take that suggestion.
Arms, by Christina Perri: I’ve always loved this song. It’s definitely one of my favorites to sing at Karaoke, and it’s absolutely beautiful. It just popped into my head outta nowhere while I was getting ready for bed, and I was instantly grateful. What a lovely thing to be thinking at the end of the day, especially after such a difficult one! “You put your arms around me, and I’m home.” It just goes to show:
Well, I enjoyed this particular playlist, and I hope you did, too. Now for some shameless self-promotion, you can check out more of my writing on my own Substack,
, where I write about Betsy, our two-year-old with Down Syndrome. Also be sure to check out my YouTube channel, which is mostly Betsy, but also sometimes my own music. Speaking of which, be sure to check out my newest single, Coming Together, available on most platforms. Here’s the Spotify link.Thanks for reading! Please feel free to take the Earworms Challenge yourself, and leave me a link to your own playlist. I’d love to hear it! Link to last month’s is below.
Here’s last month’s Challenge, in case you missed it: