Items14The creator’s order
  1. 1Fast CarFast CarTracy Chapman The car offers a way out, but a way out still has to pay the bills. The same guitar figure keeps coming back as the narrator’s hopes change shape. Play it when you want a song that takes both the rush of leaving and the cost of staying seriously.0
  2. 2Still CryingStill CryingSara Bareilles Bareilles and Aaron Dessner wrote this around the feeling of coming back to the same grief after you thought you’d moved forward. The repeated question gives that experience a sound. It’s a song for a day when it helps to have somebody name what keeps happening.0
  3. 3Stand for MyselfStand for MyselfYola Yola sings about how much effort it took to make herself small. The guitars give her something to push against, and by the chorus you can hear the difference between going along with things and taking up room. Start here if you want the moment when resolve becomes audible.0
  4. 4God SometimesGod SometimesJulia Jacklin Jacklin describes the temptation to change yourself in small ways so you can stay in a situation you’ve already outgrown. She wrote it during a residency in Iceland and uses God as a metaphor. The song catches the conversation you have with yourself before you can admit how much…0
  5. 5Speed Trap TownSpeed Trap TownJason Isbell A father in a hospital bed and a familiar high-school football field make the town feel hard to leave. Isbell lets the details accumulate before the narrator finally drives out of town. It’s the song to try when the place you need to leave still holds people and memories you care…0
  6. 6A Better Son/DaughterA Better Son/DaughterRilo Kiley It starts like someone struggling to get out of bed. The drums turn up as Jenny Lewis starts listing the things she hopes she’ll be able to do. The lift feels earned because the song has already spent time in the part of the day where getting up is the whole job.0
  7. 7Cranes in the SkyCranes in the SkySolange The verses keep trying ways to make a feeling go away. Solange sings about drinking, shopping, and changing her hair. The airy arrangement gives the list room to hang there after the distractions run out. It’s a good one to play when keeping busy has stopped feeling like a way forward.0
  8. 8(Just Like) Starting Over(Just Like) Starting OverJohn Lennon Lennon opens with the sound of Yoko Ono’s wishing bell, then sings to someone he’s already spent years with. That makes the bright rock and roll feel like an invitation to try again with the same person. Listen for the hesitation and affection inside the bounce.0
  9. 9Brand New CityBrand New CityMitski The guitar is already crowded and urgent when the narrator imagines moving to another city. She can picture a new address much more easily than she can picture who she’d be there. Put it on when the thought of leaving feels both like a plan and a panic.0
  10. 10Just Like ThatJust Like ThatBonnie Raitt A stranger knocks on a mother’s door and tells her he received her son’s heart. Raitt lets the two of them sit together long enough for the encounter to mean something to each. Listen for how quietly the song makes room for a life going on beside a loss that’s still there.0