“Mood rings are jewelry pieces that purportedly reflect the mood or emotions of the wearer.”
For many years, I’ve tried to keep a long-running playlist for each year, putting in a song a day. Usually, I’d abandon the playlist by the beginning of February, when I could no longer use the number of songs to tell if I’d added one that day. On the first day of January this year, I set out with the same goal, promising myself that I would stick to it. I’m happy to be able to report that I’ve succeeded in my goal throughout two months of the year, which is notably one more month than I usually do.
I see a song a day as a digital diary of how I was feeling throughout the year. Each song holds a memory of the day, whether it was the first time I heard it, it held special significance that day, or it was just an old favorite I played on loop. Of course, being that it is already the end of February, it would be difficult to list out every single song I’ve added. For the first edition of Mood Ring, though, I’m rounding up a few favorites that I’ve added thus far.
January 11: All I Ask by Adele
On Jan. 11, I drove back to DC from New Jersey for my final semester at AU. I had to get my oil changed, which took forever. By the time the entire ordeal was over, I realized I had left my wallet back at my house, which would have set me back an hour by the time I got back on the road. My beautiful younger sister, Nora, drove the wallet to me in exchange for a Baja Blast from Taco Bell, just so I could save a bit of extra time.
While I was waiting in the Taco Bell parking lot, All I Ask began playing from my liked songs. I hadn’t heard it in months, and I remembered how much I used to love it. Bruno Mars wrote it, and his live version of it is great, too.
January 13: House Tour by Sabrina Carpenter
My roommate adopted her kitten, Mary Sanderson, on this day. We drove out to Virginia to pick Miss Mary up, and played this song on the way back – because, of course, we had to give Mary the house tour of her new home.
January 19: Try and Love Again by The Eagles
On our day off, my friends and I took the car to one of the closest Chili’s to get Triple Dippers. Our driver made a joint playlist; this was one of the songs that one of my friends added.
January 21: Don’t Look Back In Anger by Oasis
Sometimes you just have to remember.
January 22: Aperture by Harry Styles
My roommates and I listened to the new release in my car while we were leaving. Fun fact: the SIS parking garage was so backed up, we finished the song before we even got to the road.
February 13: Silly Love Songs by Wings
This one is self-explanatory.
February 18: Tomorrow Never Came by Lana Del Rey ft. Sean Yoko Ono
The day before, Tuesday, it was pleasantly warm and sunny after weeks of bitter cold. I drove home from work with my windows cracked and was transported back to my senior year of high school. I had only had my driver’s license for around six months, but I loved driving through the woods and farmland of my hometown and its surrounding towns. My car only took CDs, and I remember driving around listening to my copy of “Lust for Life” in early spring; this specific song was a favorite. I listened to it over and over through Wednesday.
February 22: The Last Great American Dynasty by Taylor Swift
My roommate and I had possibly the most overstimulating Costco trip in every possible aspect. The traffic to Virginia was horrible. Everyone in Costco was apparently doomsday prepping for the two inches of snow we got the next day. The line for food took about forty-five minutes. I had a Costco hotdog for the first time, though. This was the first song we played as we pulled out of the carport, before we realized what we had gotten ourselves into.