Songs to commit to
October 13, 2019 2:29 PM   Subscribe

I'm trying to build a playlist of songs about committing to one's art / work / values (or commitment in the abstract, just not in the explicitly romantic sense) -- anything with the theme of not wasting time or hesitating. Help me add to it?

Examples of what I want include Doomtree's Team The Best Team (Don't lie to yourself:/ almost ain’t good enough,/ ain’t no extra lives) and Chris Thile &al's Here and Heaven (We can practice our lines/ 'til we're deaf and blind/... Have we all forgot that we're getting old?). Other suggestions?
posted by Westringia F. to Media & Arts (19 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: And FWIW, I'm open to religious songs (though I don't want only religious songs). The only criterion is that they be abstract enough that they can be interpreted as commitment to one's vocation rather than to a specific figure/person. Same goes for anything romantic -- it's ok as long as it's abstract enough that I can willfully misread it as being about one's art.
posted by Westringia F. at 2:30 PM on October 13, 2019


Best answer: Gwen Stefani's 'What You Waiting For?' was written because she was suffering from massive writer's block and Linda Perry told her to just commit (well, she literally asked "What are you waiting for?")
posted by thebots at 2:42 PM on October 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: "Come Downstairs and Say Hello" by Guster is one of my favorite songs of all time for how beautifully it captures this exact sentiment.

I also like Seinabo Sey/ Kygo "Younger" remix.
posted by robotdevil at 2:43 PM on October 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Well, I have a playlist intended to goad me on when I'm up against it. I imagine you may not like some of my choices, but FWIW:
- Guts Over Fear (Eminem)
- Here I Go Again (Whitesnake)
- One Moment in Time (Whitney Houston)
- Raise It Up ("August Rush" soundtrack, Jamia Simone Nash; Impact Repertory Theatre)
- Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day (Jethro Tull)
- The Sound of Silence (Disturbed cover!)
- Under Pressure (Queen)
- While You See a Chance Take It (Steve Winwood)
- Give It a Go (Timbaland Featuring Veronica)
posted by forthright at 3:10 PM on October 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Dessa's 5 out of 6 might suit
posted by wellifyouinsist at 3:56 PM on October 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Get Better, by Frank Turner, maybe?
posted by gideonfrog at 4:16 PM on October 13, 2019


Best answer: Move on Up - Curtis Mayfield
Gonna Build a Mountain - Sammy Davis Jr.
High Hopes - Frank Sinatra
Climbing Higher Mountains - Aretha Franklin
Fight the Power - Isley Brothers
You Can Make it if You Try - Sly and the Family Stone
It's Tricky - Run DMC
posted by brookeb at 4:19 PM on October 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: If you're not allergic to early 2000s synth-goth: the Crüxshadows Sophia:
Stand up when no one else is willing
Act not in hatred or in spite
Be to this world as a perfect knight
Even if it means your life

and Birthday.
Look at your life
Who do you want to be before you die?
Look at your life
You haven't got forever

posted by Pallas Athena at 4:33 PM on October 13, 2019


Best answer: Aesop Rock - No Regrets
Propagandhi - Anti Manifesto <- About commitment in the face of self-doubt.
posted by zchyrs at 4:38 PM on October 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Vienna Teng's song "Level Up" is exactly this.

I'm going to put my musical theatre pedant hat on and recommend "What I Did for Love" which many people get wrong, but is not about romantic love, but love of their art (it's sung in response to the question "What if you could never dance again?" )
posted by DebetEsse at 5:10 PM on October 13, 2019 [4 favorites]


Best answer: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
posted by reren at 6:31 PM on October 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: "My Shot," and (somewhat less positively) "Non-Stop," surely?
posted by praemunire at 9:55 PM on October 13, 2019


Best answer: Wow no one mentions “Come from the heart?”
posted by spitbull at 3:35 AM on October 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: John Cale and Lou Reed - Work.
posted by chbrooks at 9:04 AM on October 14, 2019


Best answer: Not a song, but el_lupino and I have long used Bukowski's "air and light and time and space" for this purpose.
posted by jocelmeow at 10:50 AM on October 14, 2019


Best answer: Watsky - Moral of the Story
posted by octothorp at 12:48 PM on October 14, 2019


Best answer: Daylight's Wasting by Savoy
posted by MinPin at 1:58 PM on October 14, 2019


Best answer: "Together (wherever we go)" from Gypsy.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:31 PM on October 14, 2019


Response by poster: Oh wow, thank you all! My playlist is so damn INSPIRING now! Yes!

What I especially love about all these suggestions is the variety... some are slower and more introspective, while others are faster & fightier. And although not all the selections made it into the playlist, I am marking them all as best answer b/c I got something from each one: music (or poetry) I hadn't heard before; reminders of songs I'd overlooked; new ways to interpret songs that I hadn't thought of. This is awesome -- thank you!
posted by Westringia F. at 3:51 AM on October 19, 2019


« Older How to find an MDMA therapist in New York   |   A welcoming fantasy role-playing community?... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.