My Gen X Playlist: Baby, Now That I’ve Found You – Alison Krauss and Union Station

My friend’s son is on the high school track team. He is a long jumper and triple jumper. I competed in the same events in high school so I sometimes enjoy seeing him jump. Off season, he competes with a track club. They had a competition this past weekend and I came out to watch.

All jumpers have a ritual as they stand on the runway. Some rock back and forth, establishing a rhythm. Others remain still and focused, in deep concentration, visualizing their leap. A few of the competitors began clapping, the crowd joining in, creating momentum as they race down the runway. Everyone is different.

I asked my friend’s son what he thought about as he stood on the runway. His answer surprised me.

Nothing. You can’t think too much. It just gets in your head. Don’t think. Just do.

As I drove home from the competition, I thought about what he said. I’ve been in my new role after being off for over a year on sabbatical. I’ve been in similar roles for years. It’s not new to me. It’s what I do and you could say it’s in my lane. But being at a new company with new management, colleagues and clients, I recently found myself overthinking things, creating unnecessary clutter in my head. It hasn’t derailed me, but it certainly put pebbles of doubt under my feet.

Don’t think. Just do.

Wise words from a high school kid. Funny how lessons of advice come from the most unrelated and unexpected sources. I’m going to keep those four words close by and remind myself of them before I go down any mental rabbit holes.

So, I was searching for songs about thinking too much or overthinking things. There were a few songs that seemed to fit, but then I got sidetracked when I read about something completely unrelated. I came upon this story about a guy that hears music in his head all the time. Wow, really?

Am I crazy? I hear music in my head all the time since covid.

I have had covid twice. The last time was June 2023. It was very mild, like a cold. However, ever since, I hear music inside my head ALL the time, unless I am concentrating on something else. . . It’s always music I know I have heard, but not always music I like. I am getting tired of it. I am certain that it started with my most recent bout of covid. 

MayoClinic

I wonder what it would be like to have this long Covid hangover. I thought about what songs I wouldn’t mind playing in my head all the time. They couldn’t be too hard or too loud, just in case I needed to sleep at night. Here is a short list.

Ghost In You – Psychedelic Furs

Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths

Linger – The Cranberries

Every Day is Like Sunday – 10,000 Maniacs

A Letter to Elise – The Cure

Fields of Gold – Sting

Fall On Me – REM

August and Everything After – Counting Crows

All of these are already added on my blog playlist. If I had to choose a new one, I think I’d be OK with Baby, Now That I’ve Found You by Alison Krauss and Union Station. I discovered her randomly on Pandora one day. Afterwards, I looked her up and was surprised I hadn’t heard of her until now. She is incredibly accomplished.

As of 2019, she has won 27 Grammy Awards from 42 nominations, ranking her fourth behind Beyoncé, Quincy Jones and classical conductor Georg Solti for most Grammy Award wins overall. Krauss was the singer and female artist with the most awards in Grammy history until Beyoncé won her 28th Grammy in 2021. When Krauss won her first Grammy in 1991, she was the second-youngest winner at that time.

Wikipedia

Just curious. What songs would be on your playlist if you heard music in your head all of the time? Add a few in the comments below.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Baby, now that I've found you
I won't let you go
I built my world around you
I need you so
Baby, even though you don't need me now

Baby, now that I've found you
I won't let you go
I built my world around you
I need you so
Baby, even though you don't need me
You don't need me no, no

Baby, baby, when first we met
I knew in this heart of mine
That you were someone I couldn't forget
I said right, and I bide my time

Spent my life looking for that somebody
To make me feel like you
Now you tell me that you wanna leave me
But darling, I just can't let you

Baby, baby, when first we met
I knew in this heart of mine
That you were someone I couldn't forget
I said right, and I bide my time

Spent my life looking for that somebody
To make me feel like you
Now you tell me that you wanna leave me
But darling, I just can't let you
Now that I found you
I built my world around you
I need you so

Baby, even though you don't need me now
Baby, now that I've found you
I won't let you go
I built my world around you
I need you so
Baby, even though you don't need me
You don't need me no, no