I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST: ~Just the Jams~ Edition

A celebration of household chores.

Oct 15, 2020

So many playlists, so much to do, so little time. Welcome to my quick-and-dirty (Lol—get it? Because you need to clean??!) celebration of household chores and the songs that soundtrack them. These playlists are some of my very favorite Spotify creations, and I return to them so frequently (and not just when I’m doing chores!) that I thought I should share with the class.

Of course everyone has their own go-to’s for dinner prep, living room vacuuming, etc. etc., but if you’re in need of a sonic reboot or an extra hit of motivation, may I suggest…

CLEANING: “Go Clean Your Room”

Those cargo pants aren’t going to fold themselves, Avril.

VIBE: Nothing is going as planned so you might as well exercise some control over your closet, with the help of mid-2000s pop queens like Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch. (In my opinion, the overarching feeling of this playlist is best verbalized by 16-year-old Lara Jean Song Covey in the iconic YA novel/movie, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: “My life was a mess, but I could clean my room.”)

FEATURING: Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton, Jessica Simpson, Aly & AJ, JoJo, Fall Out Boy, Kelly Clarkson, joan, The All-American Rejects, Soccer Mommy

*Side Note/Hot Take: Avril Lavigne’s debut album ‘Let Go’ is secretly a country project. It’s like the shy farm girl who wore a studded choker to school on the first day of freshman year because she thought it was cool and then got mislabeled as the goth kid for the remainder of her high school career. If you peel back the pop production and over-the-top angst, the bones of the songs are SO COUNTRY. Yeehaw. 🤠 Just something to consider as you revisit Avril’s masterpiece.

DINNER + DISHES: “Chef’s Kiss”

Soul-adjacent songs best served on shuffle.

VIBE: Kitchen is covered in flour from the group pizza-making session earlier in the evening, but it’s fine because Aretha is singing and everyone is full of homemade dough and mozzarella and wine.

FEATURING: Durand Jones & the Indications, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Natalie Prass, Yola, Jim Croce, Anderson East, Leon Bridges, Wilder Woods, The Dip, The Rascals, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Labi Siffre

*While you’re in kitchen: This NY Times “Letter of Recommendation” for washing dishes is a fave read of mine from last year. Dishes = Therapy. Embrace them.