It’s Saturday, the hardest day of the week to find motivation to get things done. Luckily for me, I have almost unrestricted access to all the music ever written (thanks, Google Play!), a stereo with a volume dial that goes all the way up to 10 (thanks, technology!), and neighbors who don’t mind my loudness because they appreciate a discriminating, eminently informed and astute musical palate (thanks, humans of good taste!).
Nothing motivates me like good music, but good music motivates me in ways that are frequently hard to categorize, much less explain. Some songs are lyrically rich and motivate with the same narrative power as novels, sermons, locker room speeches. (Think: “I Will Survive”) Some songs motivate with their fundamental mathematical beauty; by masterfully layering melodies and harmonies that iterate the basic ratios and relationships of the Universe itself. (Think: “God Only Knows”) Others motivate with something deeper and more mysterious,something funky or groovy or aggressive or desperate, something that reaches in and grabs hold of the primal, the animal in us that wants to survive, to express, to be pleasured, to overcome. (Think: “Get Up Offa That Thing”) There are a lot of different switches that turn us from “off” to “on,” or maybe just a lot of different ways of flipping that one switch. For my part, when I’m “off,” nothing motivates like music.
Readers of this blog will already know that I blog about music each day in June for the #30DaySongChallenge, which is hands-down one of my favorite things to do every year. (I’m finding that it’s far easier, by miles and miles, to write for 30 days straight about music than it is to blog every day without a theme or prompts, as I’m doing this month!) So, today, I thought I’d share some of my current go-to “motivational” songs, in case you’re in need of a little extra push in these cold, dark and paralyzing winter months.
First, “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars ft. Mark Ronson (also, not incidentally, recorded right here in the 901!). I keep waiting to get tired of hearing this song, but it hasn’t happened yet. “Uptown Funk” is a bona fide get-up-offa-that-thing track.
Next, “Some Nights” by Fun. I’ve written about how much I love this song before here, and I stand by everything I said about it then. “Some Nights” is currently my wake-up alarm track, which may be the greatest testament to its motivational force. Nothing will rouse your inner go-getter and motivate you out of a warm, comfy bed quite like having Nate Ruess singing/screaming/asking you, at the ungodly hour of 5:30am, what do I stand for? what do I stand for?
And now, a classic: Aretha Franklin’s “Think.” You know, people walk around every day, playing games and keeping score, trying to make other people lose there minds. Be careful you don’t lose yours. You better THINK. There’s nothing quite like a modulated, ascending bridge in which the only lyric is Freeee-doooommmm to motivate. I like to call this my favorite “come-at-me-bro” track.
Having a hard time getting the engines started? I give you Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” I’ve told this story before, but I once had “Smooth Criminal” stuck in my head as an earworm for over a week, so much so that I found myself actually walking to the rhythm of Annie are you okay? Are you okay, Annie? That bizarre experience notwithstanding, “Smooth Criminal” is an excellent motivator, for the same reasons that its such an infectious earworm. It thumps along like a heartbeat, it has a life-force propelling it, the insistence of a life-or-death question. And then, all of the sudden you’ve been hit by, CLACK CLACK, you’ve been hit by, CLACK, a smooth criminal.
Lastly, a perhaps non-obvious selection: Etta James’ “Oh Happy Day” (accompanied by the Brooklyn Choir). There are thousands of amazing recordings of this gospel standard, but Etta James and Brooklyn Choir’s is not only my favorite, but is one that I listen to almost every morning. As someone who grew up in the church, there are few art forms that I find as motivational as gospel music– and as gospel music goes, this version of “Oh Happy Day” is the gold standard. If the promise of redemption (real or imagined), sung in the glorious harmony of a hundred human voices, can’t get you up and moving… well, I fear that true existential despair is your only remaining option. Or pharmaceuticals. Illegal ones. For the record, I recommend Etta James over jail.