Even with the future of society hanging in the balance, your mental wellbeing is important. Here are 10 songs that will stave off Inauguration Day anxiety.
Inauguration Day is here. No longer can we live in denial, futilely imagining that some miracle – a loophole, a change of heart, the realization that we’re dreaming – will right the universe and rescue us from the bleak days ahead. Acceptance, however, doesn’t mean complacency. Rather, it means disavowing the mantra that ignorance is bliss, confronting reality, and taking responsibility for your role as a member of society. It means doing something.
But… how?
That’s always the question, isn’t it? How can we move forward when despair seems like the only rational option? People cope with adverse circumstances in a variety of ways, whether by talking to a therapist or attending religious services. We at Culturess, of course, like to find inspiration in art. Far from meaningless or distracting, art can, as a man named Barack Obama said, remind us of “the truths under the surface of what we argue about every day”, helping us make sense of the world and each other.
Music offers a particularly powerful tonic, relying less on narrative than pure emotion. So, we compiled a list of comforting, galvanizing, and otherwise hopeful songs to keep you company on this Inauguration Day:
10. “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone
Originally written for the English musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, “Feeling Good” has been covered by numerous artists, from Julie London to Muse. They all pale in comparison, however, to Simone’s version, which was featured on her 1965 album I Put a Spell on You. First of all, no one sings like Nina Simone. Her voice has a life of its own, simultaneously abrasive and mellifluous, fierce and soulful, never quite going where you expect (that scatting!). She turns “Feeling Good” into a declaration of defiance, backed by an emphatic chorus of saxophones and Bond-like violins. Now, that’s jazz.
9. “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie
Rapper Vanilla Ice may have co-opted the infectious opening baseline, but even he can’t fully diminish the glory that is “Under Pressure”. It’s the only recorded duet between glam rock icons Queen and David Bowie, their theatricality tamped down in a spare yet intricate arrangement. A palimpsest of sound – staccato vocals punctuated by finger snaps and scat verses, jaunty piano chords, a breathless drum beat – builds to a rousing crescendo, Freddie Mercury’s blues-inflected tenor blending seamlessly with Bowie’s metallic warble. And finally, the Cold War anxiety gives way to an impassioned, boldly sentimental plea for empathy: “Love dares you to care for / The people on the edge of the night.” Here’s to our last dance.
8. “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman
On the surface, “Fast Car” might strike you as a bit of a downer. Drawing inspiration from her childhood, Chapman sings about a young woman struggling to make ends meet. Her father is an alcoholic, her mother left (“She wanted more out of life than he could give”), and she dropped out of school to work an unsatisfying job. Rather than succumbing to ennui, however, she clings to the dream of a better future. As the narrator reminisces about driving with her lover “so fast I felt like I was drunk”, percussion kicks in and Chapman’s sonorous voice takes on a lively edge, and freedom seems so close you could reach out and grab it.
7. “7” by Prince
Lyrically, “7” isn’t particularly special – just another ballad about eternal love. But because it’s Prince singing, it sounds like something from an entirely different plane of existence. Backed by exotic drums and bass as well as a multi-tracked chorus, the pop icon croons, “I am yours now and u are mine / And together we’ll love through / All space and time,” and you believe him, damn it. It’s romantic, intimate, and sexy all at once. As the esteemed Wesley Morris said in his New York Times tribute, “Prince was a sexual orientation. His own. And it was oriented toward you.” Case in point:
6. “American Idiot” by Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong’s band made headlines last November when they chanted “No Trump, no KKK / No fascist USA” during a performance of “Bang Bang” at the AMAs. But Green Day has never shied away from delving into politics. The punk rockers are at their anarchic, angry best in the title track of their 2004 concept album American Idiot. Although intended for the Iraq War era, this profanity-laced diatribe against hypocrisy and cable news hysteria, complete with lyrics like “Welcome to a new kind of tension / All across the alien nation / Where everything isn’t meant to be okay”, continues to resonate. It’s not subtle, but resisting tyranny doesn’t exactly call for subtlety.
5. “Fireflies” by Caroline Herring
A folk singer-songwriter who grew up in small-town Mississippi, Herring is most well-known for her ballads based on the lives of historical figures. Her songs cover stories from a 19th-century slave (“Mistress”) to a child killed in an Appalachian mining accident (“Black Mountain Lullaby”). “Fireflies” takes a more allegorical route. It paints the image of a house on fire serving as a metaphor for the decaying past. Herring’s plaintive, melodic vocals belie the song’s quietly feminist message, as it urges the young protagonist – and, by extension, us – to “let the traditions burn down.”
4. “Hell You Talmbout” by Janelle Monáe
Monáe is impossible to pin down. A singer, songwriter, model, and (as of last year) actress, she has long challenged gender norms with her signature tuxedo ensemble, and her music blurs genre boundaries, mixing funk, soul, jazz, dance pop, and even rock. “Hell You Talmbout” comes in two iterations – one an overt protest song in which members of the Wondaland artist collective chant the names of African Americans killed by police, and the other a polished track released on the deluxe edition of Electric Lady. Plus, the latter revels in glittering, R&B-infused grooves, yet its politics are just as sharp, capturing the absurdity of society’s apathetic response to mass violence. Obviously, it’s pure Monáe: elusive, surreal, and enthralling.
3. “You Got Me Singing” by Leonard Cohen
If you experienced Leonard Cohen solely through film and television, you would probably think he was a one-hit wonder. On the contrary, the Canadian singer-songwriter spent half a century spinning brilliant yarns about love, spirituality, and political unrest that aren’t “Hallelujah”. One recent gem comes at the tail end of his 2014 album Popular Problems. The lyrics of “You Got Me Singing” are relatively simple. They consist of 16 repetitive couplets. Yet, Cohen turns them into poetry, his unmistakable smoky baritone seeming to contain saintly wisdom. In the wake of his death last year, its life-affirming message is all the more poignant: “You got me singing / Even though the world is gone. / You got me thinking / I’d like to carry on.”
2. “We Are the Youth” by Electric Youth
Innerworld, Electric Youth’s only studio album so far, is basically the aural embodiment of bliss. Bookended by a pair of ‘80s-tinged instrumental tracks, it is all hypnotic synths and dance-ready beats, which sometimes disguise melancholy lyrics (see “Innocence”). “We Are the Youth” is exactly what you’d assume based on its title: a delirious ode to the carefree recklessness of, well, youth. Lyrics like “We won’t age / If we’re young at heart” might be naïve. But Bronwyn Griffin seduces you with her air-light vocals. How can we resist nostalgia when it sounds this good?
1. “My Shot” by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Between Hamilton and Moana, Lin-Manuel Miranda provided 2016 with a much-needed dose of optimism. Pretty much any song with his name attached would fit on this list. Obviously, “It’s Quiet Uptown” would be the exception. But for unabashed pep, you have to go with “My Shot”, the third track on the Hamilton cast recording. In addition to encapsulating Miranda’s interpretation of Alexander Hamilton, a man both admired and resented for his relentless ambition, it presents a vision of America ripe with promise. Even as it throws reality into sharp relief, there’s something undeniably compelling about that vision; it’s enough to stir patriotic sentiment in even the most disillusioned listener. Our country is no longer young and scrappy, but we’re still hungry, and we have work to do.
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Looking for some alternative inauguration suggestions? Check out the rest of our Culturess Inauguration Day coverage!