20in20

[20in20]

One of the best things to happen to me this year was in Summer. I think it was mid-July when my dad asked me to share some music with him. His request was simple. “Send me ten songs.” He wanted 10 songs that I liked. They could be stuff he hadn’t heard before or songs I thought he should hear again. He would do the same for me. We agreed that we may want to share more, but 10 was a good place to start. Now, just five months later, we have shared over 24 hours of music with each other. I think it’s pretty cool that as I approach 40, my musical taste is still being influenced by my dad.

When this began, my thought was to gather 10 songs that would lead him to listen to each of the 10 albums that they came from. How could I possibly choose only ten? Sure, those albums are great but there’s so much more to hear. Before I was even done with the first list, I was already arranging the second. It quickly became clear that instead of recommending albums, I wanted to focus on creating a rounded listening experience within a single playlist. I could see that I was leading myself into a much larger undertaking than had been previously conceived. It was also apparent that my “clever” naming system was not going to last. You see, the first one I named “Quarantunes," the second was “Quaran2unes”. However, by the time I got to 4 this was getting old and much less amusing. So, I simply called the next one Q5. About once a week on a random day at a random time, he’d get one of my “Q drops” (yeah, still trying to be clever). I, in turn would receive a “Back Atcha” with a number attached to it.

This was fun! It was exciting. I would stay up late at night while my family slept and explore the music I loved. I thought of artists I wanted to be sure he knew about and browsed their albums. Listening to their songs, trying to pick one that would fit in with the theme or emotion that was being presented by the current group of collected songs. I began to look at these playlists more like mixtapes. I wanted to create an emotional arch like you would find in a movie. I wanted the songs to flow from one to the next. There had to be a beginning and an end but even this became malleable, as I wanted them to flow from one playlist to the next.

It became an ongoing television series rather than a collection of random movies. I wanted them to simultaneously stand alone and fit into a larger story. There’s action and suspense, humor and heartbreak. Some scenes are only a few minutes, others tie multiple songs together. There are main characters and supporting actors. A couple of the main, recurring characters in this series came directly from my childhood. The piano and the saxophone are the two instruments I learned to play as a kid, back when I lived with my dad. They are featured prominently in this collection of songs. That was not intentional, but was rather intriguing once I recognized it.

I began pondering how my father’s musical taste had influenced my life and, more directly, my own musical taste. I thought about listening to the harmonies of The Beach Boys while riding in the backseat of his car, windows down on a hot summer day. I remembered the songs of James Taylor and Carly Simon filling our home on a Sunday afternoon. I thought about that Twin Peaks soundtrack CD that had such a huge impact on me, even though I was listening to it decades before I would actually watch the show. That box of Dad’s CDs was a lot of fun. He had (and still has) a very impressive record collection. I still remember opening the gatefold sleeve to his vinyl copy of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” when I was eleven or twelve years old and thinking “Wow, this has been here the whole time?!” As I explored music to share with him, I wanted to pay homage to those things while also expressing who I’ve become.

I spent a lot of time thinking about who I’ve been at different points in my life and the music that I have experienced throughout. I wanted to expose my dad to music he’s never heard before, just as he did for me for so many years. I’ve included music that I listened to in my childhood home up through music I discovered just this year. At times in this process, I’ve gravitated to songs that speak directly through lyrics. Other times, it’s about finding a groove that acts as a bridge between two songs that have already been chosen. I found a way to work in songs that define moments in time and tied them to emotions I am currently experiencing.

2020 has not been easy. Collectively, we have worked through many emotions. We have examined our roles in society and reflected upon the things that matter most to us. We have witnessed unimaginable horror. And we have grieved. This was my therapy. Many of the songs my dad chose to share were joyful. There was a playfulness to his playlists. Some days, listening to that music, made quarantine feel like vacation. Then, late at night, I would contemplate my life experience through the music that has been with me along the way. For me, this has been a year of reflection. I have my father to thank for that.

Now that I am a father, I feel a stronger connection to my dad. I have a deeper understanding of his point of view in my memories of him. I wonder how he remembers some of those shared experiences. I wonder how his impression of me has evolved over time. I thought about those things as I chose music to share with him. And, in doing so, I came to realize that the man I want to present myself as to my father is very much the person I truly want to be.

All of that being said, at the end of the day this was about compiling a bunch of music that resonates with me and who I am right now, with the intent of sharing stuff with my dad that he might enjoy. He did mention at the beginning that it wasn’t necessary to expect him to like everything. He was interested in hearing what I like. I appreciated that sentiment and it stuck with me. I mean, I never would’ve thought that as an adult I’d be sending my dad House and Jungle tracks, but here we are.

-

-

I have posted links to all 20 playlists plus the full, bingeable list of all 200 songs below. They are available in Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music

[20in20]

[20in20]

Quarantunes

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Z0yR5MC2Ogq7TNkTGlt80

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/quarantunes/pl.u-xl03Fk5vLpv

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/3595e1f09d604beababe957c3bb6c333sune?ref=dm_sh_02e1-b781-bb82-e046-68487

[20in20]

Quaran2nes

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3hvTq95n7n2Xk4IdQoQpfa

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/quaran2nes/pl.u-KV73tZx0Wm0

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/e1fde381d7ed484ba1283069a5de3f43sune?ref=dm_sh_2d0a-5feb-4dca-8d66-61bee

[20in20]

Quaran3ne

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0gQgEYoZhyKJmyF9BBdAB4

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/quaran3ne/pl.u-oZMYFRBaJ0a

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/51abc2422a12437cbb25373c0f49632fsune?ref=dm_sh_c732-6faf-24fa-bd9c-09254

[20in20]

4antunes

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5W530gR9ZCFs8KnCzFud2o

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/4antunes/pl.u-Np8ptmVyKpy

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/f5cae59da1f44198b7ccfaed300ebfb2sune?ref=dm_sh_68cf-ad20-4324-3193-9aefc

[20in20]

Q5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7yTeopQ6NQCo3oGfbZ5EaU

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7yTeopQ6NQCo3oGfbZ5EaU

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/7976480dd0e94d94a568c107dd7bbeb7sune?ref=dm_sh_c331-b17a-0397-78ad-1c352

[20in20]

Q6

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2SRB9jegxSZlkxb9l792AC

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/q6/pl.u-WaNVFdAN2vN

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/4cac42c42c044c31b54607e07b4cbf41sune?ref=dm_sh_db99-f34b-8db8-de2c-c9c51

[20in20]

Q7

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5zhxhynP8LtGqGpdx2kPHD

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5zhxhynP8LtGqGpdx2kPHD

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/c3c28e83dbf14b1c987b879cfa1f292dsune?ref=dm_sh_b0c7-bfaf-cb1a-f730-617a0

[20in20]

Q8

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4JjgTk1lv7Jp47WTqePJXD

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4JjgTk1lv7Jp47WTqePJXD

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/63efd4565d8344ce925325186908617asune?ref=dm_sh_78aa-a041-b39a-e16d-8644d

[20in20]

Q9

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ux8LUQvGkNHNM8VcpRRxJ

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ux8LUQvGkNHNM8VcpRRxJ

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/eefeed0bfc1c494b8aa2af0f94e282d0sune?ref=dm_sh_e979-be5b-51ff-2e00-08ea1

[20in20]

Q10

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6mGa0qJ54TxwSahNp25tok

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/q10/pl.u-jVWWTd2BLqB

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/876899dc4b184b3082f15cbe4c62e30bsune?ref=dm_sh_9dd5-6071-1b18-d88c-23f44

[20in20]

Q11

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4lkv4sM3wdujx0YILM3ltF

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/q11/pl.u-gxK7u5aljMl

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/7c6b3e821c984241a3d015c54b6f624esune?ref=dm_sh_e8cc-7932-e595-2ade-7c8d0

[20in20]

Q12

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bQ0QxpVkWql48ZAmrE0Ys

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bQ0QxpVkWql48ZAmrE0Ys

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/607aa0cc0136417cac84c6289ac32a8dsune?ref=dm_sh_2144-e56a-9cd8-ba24-a6f98