Songs Worthy of Repeat
Back in the mid 90s CD players were just taking off. I saved months of babysitting money to buy a tiny boom box with a CD player and dual cassette deck. On the player was a new button, labeled “Repeat.” What did this button do? Why was it there? Flip through the manual and it is all made clear — this button is for playing a track on a CD over again instead of moving on to the next song on the album.
My friends and I could see the appeal of hearing a song again, but why not just push the back button and get the same effect? Unless you didn’t want to keep having to push that button. But why would anyone, EVER, want to play a song that many times in a row? Surely, no one would ever —
My best friend’s younger sister discovered Repeat. And she used it. On ‘N Sync songs. Daily. Hourly. We grew to hate Justin Timberlake (sorry, dude, we totally love you again after that parody song on SNL). We wanted to destroy the Repeat button. What a stupid thing to do! What song could ever be worthy of repeating over and over and over and over…
The best thing about my new CD player was the ability to make mix tapes from CDs. Just pop in a blank tape, push play on the CD and Record on the cassette deck. It was like a dream come true! You could put all of your favorite songs on one tape and listen to them while driving, a privilege we had just started to enjoy.
That summer we were excited to take our friend’s van out to Cedar Point, a local amusement park, and we needed some music for the long drive. While arguing one day about what songs we should put on this tape, we somehow came up with the idea that every song should be something we could listen to over and over again. These would be the songs WORTHY of using that stupid Repeat button. It would be the best mix tape ever!
Somehow, over time, every mix tape I made became a volume in the “Songs Worthy of Repeat” genre. At one point, I had at least six rewrite-able CDs in my car labeled “Songs Worthy of Repeat Vol. __,” six CD changers being a thing in cars at that point.
Then the iPod and mp3 listening happened and changed everything.
Funny enough, though, I still make playlists based on the criteria of adding songs I want to hear over and over again. I may add new favorites, but the classics remain the same. Now that we’re sitting in quarantine, people are sharing songs, albums, and artists that are keeping their spirits up and making life at home bearable.
Here are a few of the songs that were on the original “Songs Worthy of Repeat” that still make my cut today (remember, the original was a group effort, and we were heavily into 80s New Wave):
“The Promise” by When in Rome
“Always” by Erasure
“Bizarre Love Triangle” by New Order
Songs that I’ve added over the years that consistently make my playlists:
“Vultures” by John Mayer
“Love Song” by Sara Barelleis
“Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People
“Night Moves” by Bob Seger
“Get Ready” by The Temptations (thank you, high school show choir memories)
“Tell Her About It” by Billy Joel
“The Ballad of John and Yoko” by The Beatles
“Smile” by Uncle Kracker (my son and I danced to this at my wedding to my second husband)
“What Have I Done to Deserve This” by The Pet Shop Boys
“This Old Heart of Mine” by The Isley Brothers
“Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley
“Hold Me” by Fleetwood Mac
“Cry to Me” by Solomon Burke
“Yours” by Shai (a cappella version, featured on the TV show SeaQuest, DSV)
“9 to 5” by Dolly Parton
“The Wire” by Haim
“Uptight (Everything’s All Right)” by Stevie Wonder
“Little Bird” by Annie Lennox
“It’s in the Way that You Use It” by Eric Clapton
“I’ve Got My Mind Set On You” by George Harrison
I’m sure there are more, but these are the ones that come strongly to mind right now.
If you were only stuck with one playlist for all of quarantine, what would you put on it?
