What are you listening to? Here are 5 songs that completely changed my taste in music.

So, I’m going to be totally honest: the last year or two, I haven’t really listened to a lot of music, and I’ve barely played or written any myself. Hell, even the song I recently released with Ian Dawkins was written and recorded two years ago. I finished it last July! It’s felt for a long time now like my passion and drive have been missing. I started listening to podcasts when I drive, primarily horror audio dramas, and hadn’t been discovering new music since I moved back to NC. Lately, though, I’ve been trying to give it another shot. I’m listening to old playlists some when I drive, making sure I have an epic soundtrack ready for D&D, and have been picking the guitar up here and there to learn a song or two. As I’m listening to music new and old, I thought that I would share here what I’ve been finding! So, without further ado, here are five songs from the last several years that have reshaped my taste in music.

5. You and I Can - Gardiner Sisters

I wanted to go ahead and get this one out of the way; a lot of people know that a few years ago, I went through a phase where I was utterly OBSESSED with the Gardiner Sisters. A friend of mine showed me their cover of “Home/Dirty Paws” our sophomore year of college, and it just spiraled from there. I bought merch, went to shows, and my siblings and I even sent them a Christmas present one year. This song in particular really got me when it came out. At the time, I lived 400 miles away from my family, and this song reminded me so much of my brother and sisters and helped me to feel close to them when I lived seven hours away (and it probably didn’t help that it came out just as I was going into a relapse of my GS obsession). I knew that regardless of which one, a Gardiner Sisters song was going on the list and it was a bit hard to pick at first, but the personal connection I have to this one just puts it over the top

4. In Bloom - Neck Deep

This one is a newer favorite of mine. I had never really listened to Neck Deep until earlier this year, despite having always been a fan of pop punk. My high school days were full of Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco and God knows how many other similar bands. My girlfriend introduced me to Neck Deep a year or so ago and around the start of the pandemic I decided to really give them a chance. This song, though it’s pretty different from a lot of their other music, got my attention without even trying. The poppy feel, catchy chorus, and honest lyrics (especially the matter-of-fact way Ben sings “I was such a little shit.” in the second verse) were pretty much guaranteed to suck me in and make a me a fan.

3. Numbers - Daughter

Another obsession that I went through a few years ago was with the game Life is Strange (which we’re not going to get into because that’s a whole blog post in itself). Long story short, I picked the game up during a Steam sale because the soundtrack hooked me and that was pretty much all it took. I was ecstatic when the prequel, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, was announced, and I felt no different about the music in the trailer than I did for the original. I had never heard of Daughter, but as soon as I figured out who was doing the soundtrack I bought both of the albums they had out and the game soundtrack. I love absolutely everything about this song: the reverse, reverb-drowned snare, the big drums and bass that pound the song forward, the somber tone. The chorus is simple but incredibly effective, and I instantly connected on a personal level. There was no way I could make this list without this one.

2. No EQ - Into It. Over It.

The summer of 2016 was my first summer away from home; I’d been in college for three years, and this was my first year in an apartment. That summer will always have a special place in my heart, and I often find myself wishing I could go back. I had new, incredible friends, had just turned twenty-one, and was getting my first real experience with freedom and adulthood. Near the end of that school year, the university radio station started playing this song that was completely different from everything else they played, and I had to have more. A quick search on my smartphone let me know exactly what I needed to know, and I bought the album without listening to a single other song. I got lucky and loved every minute of it; I listened to it on repeat for pretty much the entire summer. Into It. Over It. introduced me to a completely new genre of music, and this song kickstarted it all.

1. Sunflower - Post Malone and Swae Lee

As I sat here writing this post, I was going through my Spotify to find just one more song to add in; I had tons of songs in mind, but a lot of them were similar to songs I’ve already included and I felt like that wasn’t really a good representation of the variety of music I like to listen to. I saw this song at the top of my “Liked” playlist and I honestly can’t believe I was going to forget it. I watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for the first time on the plane to Japan last year (and watched it for the second time on the plane back to the States) and it’s without a doubt one of my favorite movies of all time. Spider-Man is my favorite superhero, which is ironic because I’m terrified of spiders. The movie was just so well made, from the art style to the writing, the voice acting, and the soundtrack. I danced along a little in my seat the first time, the second time I knew a few words, and on every viewing since I sing along to pretty much the whole thing (about as well as Miles does). I don’t listen to a ton of Post Malone, but this song made his work a bit more available to me, and I just don’t get tired of it.

Well, there ya have it! Remember, these songs aren’t necessarily my “Top 5 Songs Of All Time” or anything like that. Each one of these songs served a purpose in opening me up to new experiences, to connecting to someone in a new way, or just showed me a genre of music that I hadn’t discovered at that time in my life!

It was difficult to narrow it down to just five, so a few honorable mentions include “Poison Oak” by Bright Eyes, “To All of You” by Syd Matters, “Through The Cellar Door” by Lanterns on the Lake, “Hold my Hand” by Jess Glynne, and so, so many more than I can reasonably list in a single post.

I’m starting to find a connection with music again, and I hope I can get it to stick this time.

What are some of your favorite songs, songs that changed your life, or something you’ve just been listening to lately?