We Need Something Stronger Than Advil
We Need Something Stronger Than Advil
October's Earworms Challenge
The first four songs I got stuck in my head on this day? All of them happened before 7:00 a.m. That might be a record.
Welcome to my Earworms Challenge for October! It’s that once-a-month thing where, for an entire day, I keep track of every single song that gets stuck in my head, and turn them into a lovely playlist for myself and you to enjoy. If you like this one, I recommend checking out some of my previous Challenge posts. I’ll link one or two of them at the end.
So this was for Oct 22, 2024, and as I’m beginning this write-up for it, it is two days later (and it’ll probably be even longer before I post, because Momlife). I might not remember all the details as to what got some of them stuck in my head. But I’ll do my best. Shouldn’t be too hard though, because I only had eleven songs. This is definitely a first. Usually it’s at least sixteen or seventeen. I’m inclined to believe that there probably were others, I was just so damn busy that I forgot I was doing a Challenge and missed a few. Which is a shame, cos I actually took some notes this time to help me remember what triggered some of them. Because of its shortness, I was tempted to scrap this list altogether and redo the challenge a different day, but then I decided to just go with it. This list is all over the place, although one artist did get repeated, and since it’s one that my daughter plays a lot, there’s no surprise there. Pretty sure that guy makes the list almost every month. Actually, Coldplay got repeated as well, so that’s pretty impressive. Anyway, without further ado:
Notes:
You’ll Be In My Heart, by Phil Collins: This one popped in my head from an Instagram post by artist Christina Perri. She has made an album of lullaby songs for each of her children, and she she covered this one on the album for her youngest. I saw it on the track list, and while I haven’t heard her rendition of it, the version that I do know immediately wedged itself into my cranium. Good luck trying to dislike any of the material Phil wrote for Disney’s Tarzan movie, it’s just great stuff.
Shiver, by Coldplay: This one was leftover from the previous night. Just before bed, I made a Facebook post (pictured below) about going to bed much earlier than I’m normally able to. There’s a line in Shiver that goes, “I’ll be there by your side, just you try and stop me,” and it was similar enough to what I wrote in my post, that when I saw notifications about it in the morning, that was all it took to get it stuck again. Just like it did the night before when I first shared the post. Anyway, this song is off their debut album Parachutes, which is definitely on my list of favorite albums of all time. Start to finish, it’s a masterpiece.
Passionate Kisses, by Mary Chapin Carpenter: I remember this song from my brief days in middle school (mid ‘90s) when I was really into Country music. It didn’t last very long, but there was some good stuff in there that I love to this day. I thought of this one because an old friend who’s always liked this song made a post on Facebook, and even though there wasn’t any mention of anything related to it, I just associate her with Mary Chapin Carpenter. It’s weird how we make mental links like this, but hey, it helps me remember things.
Oh My Dear Lord, by the Unlikely Candidates: This song should have made it onto my “Influenced by Miranda” playlist (in fact, I may or may not have gone back later and added it after I had already written the blog piece about that list). It’s all songs that my daughter has introduced me to or helped me appreciate more. You can read that post here:
Anyway, Miranda was singing this song early in the morning while she was getting ready for school. Didn’t take long for me to start singing it too. And as I said, this was the fourth song, and it wasn’t even 7:00 yet. This is a great song. It takes me on a journey every time I hear it, because it reminds me of several other songs before I actually realize it’s this one, but then I’m thrilled that it is. This is a banger, and the guy’s voice is super impressive. Give it a listen!
The Life That I Got, by Lit & American Authors: Lit’s A Place in the Sun album (songs include My Own Worst Enemy, Miserable, Ziplock) is still one of my all-time favorites. It’s its own vibe. So when I heard they were teaming up with one of my favorite bands, American Authors (who can also boast having produced one of my all-time favorite albums, Seasons), I was super excited. So excited, in fact, that I added it to my Watch Later list on YouTube as soon as it was available. Where it then sat for like a year, un-listened to, because my Watch Later list eventually approached almost 700 videos. I recently made it my mission to get that list down to a reasonable number by watching and/or deleting as many as possible every day until it wasn’t as overwhelming (I’m now well below 100), and so I finally got to this song. Before the first chorus was over, I saved it to my Favorites list. I freaking love this song. It’s such a great reminder that we all have the power to create a life that we love, and that begins with gratitude for what we’ve already got. The track I saved here on the Earworms playlist is the edited version, for those of you who are bothered by profanity. If, like me, you are not, then here’s the YouTube video for the unedited version.
Crawling, by Linkin Park: I wrote a post last week about how Betsy (my 2-year-old with Down Syndrome) has just started—you guessed it—crawling. So naturally, this song gets stuck in my head while I’m writing. Not even close to my favorite song from this album, but it is the single that really made Linkin Park popular. I read the other day that Hybrid Theory was released 24 YEARS AGO. Yet another of my Favorite Albums of All Time. It is perfection. It deserves to be listened to in its entirety with zero interruptions, and on a regular basis. And you deserve to listen to it that way. I’m really starting to think I need to make a new playlist with one song from each of my favorite albums ever…
Viva La Vida, by Coldplay: This one got stuck in my head after hearing it on the radio in the car. I’m surprised Miranda didn’t cause this one, since she plays it a lot. She came to love Coldplay all on her own without my help, and I love that about her.
Circles, by Post Malone: Circles is one of those songs that sometimes follows me around. Like I’ll hear it played on multiple radio stations in the same day, or 5 or 6 times within a few days, like it’s a brand new song that they’re playing too much. I can’t explain why it happens with this song. On this particular day it just popped in my head out of nowhere.
Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, by U2: This was on the radio in the car. Achtung Baby is definitely my favorite U2 album ever, I’ll fight you over it. Just so epically good. I liked so many of these songs separately as a kid, and I was a teenager before I realized they were all on the same album. What a masterpiece.
Sad Still and U & Us, by Quinn XCII: Since these are back to back and by the same artist, I’m clumping them into one entry. I got both of them stuck in my head from Miranda playing them in the car. I wrote about U & Us on my “Influenced by Miranda” post, so I won’t duplicate my sentiments, just reiterate that it’s a great song. Sad Still is newer to M and me, and we both love it. I don’t usually like sad songs (except when I do), but this one hits deep. Like most people, I have definitely experienced depression, and it’s comforting to hear a song that relates to and justifies those feelings of being stuck in such a dark place.
We don't wanna feel this bad
Rather sweep it under the mat
We take this red pill, green pill, black pill
I know deep down we're sad still.
It's not normally how we act,
They should see what's under our mask.
We need something stronger than Advil
I know deep down we're sad still.
Well that’s it for this month! I’ll link a few previous Earworms Challenges below in case you want to check them out, but hey—what if YOU did the Challenge yourself? I am hereby challenging you, dear reader, to take the Earworms Challenge. Go for a full day and note every single song that gets stuck in your brain, and turn it into a playlist on Spotify or YouTube Music. Come back here and leave a comment with the link to your playlist, and I will check it out!
Oh yeah, there was one other big thing, wasn’t there? That’s right, I just released a new song yesterday! I am super proud of this one. Give it a listen and follow me on Spotify, while you’re at it.
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