As a teenager in the late 80’s, the tape cassette was the revolutionary step up from record albums and allowed music to go mobile for the first time.  Next CD’s arrived on the scene and digital music saw in the age of the MP3 and the rise of Apple Industries. The other day my 17 year old commented that today’s toddlers will probably not know what CD’s are. There are two things I love about digital music, one: no CD’s to declutter and two: playlists!
I love being able to compile a playlist.  I have a road trip playlist, a ‘lift my spirits’ playlist for Monday-itis and a playlist for walking. A couple of years ago when I was tackling big decluttering projects I wrote a post which mentioned I was doing my warm up for the task ahead to ‘Eye of the Tiger’ from the Rocky movies. As 365’ers do, some other songs were suggested and this formed the basis of my decluttering playlist.
Recently after a visit to the computer tech for an upgrade my music was safe but my playlist menu was gone.  As I am helping a couple of friends declutter their houses, can you recommend your favourite decluttering songs so I can compile a new playlist?
 The songs don’t have to be current top 100 nor do they have to be or not be any particular genre or generation.  What songs do you like to work to?
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Before I go ~ From Colleen
One avid reader (who doesn’t comment) was inspired by 365 Less Things to start her own declutter challenge and begin a blog about it. Here is a link to the post she wrote about her big purge.
Today’s Mini Mission
Find something to declutter in your laundry or linen cupboard.
“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?†— Unknown
How about Queen’s We are the Champions…and we’ll keep on fighting to the end! or Sisters are doing it for themselves by Annie Lennox and friends. I also find a bit of Mozart will often clear the mental cobwebs if I need to get going.
Salley – Yes! I do recall Sisters Are Doing It being on my original playlist, it’s a great song for feeling empowered or singing into a hairbrush, whichever makes one happy! And We Are The Champions is a classic! I love me some Queen!
Good post, Moni! I can’t think of any particular song, but when I have a day alone in the house to clean, I like rock and roll. Great White, Tesla, Collective Soul. If I am feeling a little more subdued, it’s Fleetwood Mac, Alice In Chains (the acoustic CD), Counting Crows. Happy Decluttering!
Michelle – Mr Jones by Counting Crows was my favourite song the year it came out. i just watched the video of it on YouTube and had a good giggle at what was cool back in the day.
there is this german song by a combo called “jeans team” (title is “Kopf auf”), I imediately thought of it. it includes the line: “throw out what you dont need” – I love this song very much. its very repetitive and minimalistic.
a tiny attempt to translate most of the lyrics:
what you should do, comes out
what you shall be, comes out
everything you have, comes out,
what doesn’t fit gets out,
what they tell you, comes out
all the questions come out
what you are allowed to comes out
and what not, also.
happy weekend! I am going to listen to this song now and tackle the black holes. too many little homeless pieces!
Lena – what an awesome song!
Lena, that is FANTASTIC!
Would you consider sharing your playlist? I would love it.
Thanks!
Marilyn – I am compiling it off suggestions here, but I admit there seems to be a strong 80’s and 90’s vibe to it.
Mine would all be Christian songs. If you like that type music I can give you some.
Deb J – do you know the old hymn “This World is not my Home”? This was a family favorite and would be great for decluttering!
Deb J – I am only familiar with a few Christian songs that crossed over into the pop charts. I’ve been meaning to ask you if your mum is still on a decluttering roll?
Moni, I am so lost on where to start with digitizing our music. I don’t have any recommendation for your playlists but if I think of something I will post it. I love Enya, some of her stuff could be appropriate.
Colleen, that’s my personal motto like the blogger in her post, “A house of order”. When we feel our younger son will let us put pictures up on the wall that will be the first quote going up in a frame. I actually repeat that I my head sometimes when I am organizing or assessing a situation.
Deb J, we are Christian music nuts here. We do Pandora and we have about a dozen channels with about half being of the faith kind. They really can be upbeat and encouraging without being in your face.
Jean – my daughter sings and she learnt Enya’s ‘May It Be’ a few years back and then last year re-visited it so its a favourite of mine. My daughter discovered a group called ‘Celtic Women’ you would probably enjoy them too.
I digitised our music a couple of years ago. I downloaded iTunes onto my pc and uploaded our CDs onto that.
Pandora is a great idea. My husband gets Spotify for free with his mobile phone plan and he loves having millions of songs at his fingertips.
I LOVE Celtic Women! I am also a LOTR nerd so I love Enya’s performance of “May It Be” all the more. Your daughter must be very talented to be able to pull that off. I sing like a strangled crow. We have iTunes I just haven’t been brave enough to go on there yet by myself. I will have have check out that Spotify, someone I know mentioned how much they loved that but I didn’t know it was a music service.
Jean – I actually like Celtic Women’s version of May It Be better but Enya is certainly a bit of a legend. My daughter says it is a challenging song but a very rewarding song. Alas, she didn’t get the voice from me but I get to trundle her off to singing lessons each week.
Last year we did the tour of the Hobbiton set about an hour from our place, it was awesome. And we also got to do the tour thru Weta Workshops when we were down in Wellington, which is where the LOTR special effects are done.
I love Enya. I’ve never heard May It Be before….sounds a lot like Sarah McLachlan, who I also love. My favorite Enya song is Orinocco Flow, which is my favorite sailing tune.
If you’re feeling sentimental, then Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance) by Green Day is a good song. I’ve let go of a lot of things/times/people with this song.
If you want to have fun, listen to I Don’t Feel Like Dancing by Scissor Sisters. Trust me, you WILL feel like dancing!
Jean, Pandora is a good idea. I just listen to the radio in the car when I get a chance because mom doesn’t like music going in the house or when she is in the car.
Your comment rings true for me because my mother is the same way. Ironically, the only music I can think of that we do both like is Celtic Women. I love Pandora because of the variety, cost etc. We have a small stash of CD’s and sold most of them a few years ago but every huge once in a while we buy one
I listen to Classical music & Jazz.
Victoria – do you find you prefer soothing music versus upbeat? after reading comments I’m wondering if some people need relaxing music to declutter. Or are we talking ‘William Tell Overture’?
At the beginning of this post I was thinking I was going to have to confess how many cassette tapes I still have!! Phew!
“Danger Zone” from the Top Gun soundtrack comes to mind as motivational for decluttering.
Claire – we were separated at birth! And then at the end of day, when surveying the results ‘Top Gun Anthem’.
Lol – but you have caught my interest……how many cassettes do you still have? And do you have a cassette player?
Lol Moni! I too am an 80s girl! Good era, I miss those days!
Ok, I just brought the box out of the closet – 19 cassette tapes – and no, no player!! Oh my goodness, what am I going to do here?!
Claire – go on, share! What are some of the cassettes? We had New Kids On The Block, Janet Jackson’s ‘Rythym Nation’, Europe ‘The final Countdown’ , Whitney Houston, Footloose, The Commitments and Def Leopard. I can’t remember the rest but those ones it turned out we also had them on CD.
chiming in with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!
Moni, I think the only recognizable one is Huey Lewis and the News – Fore! purchased in Athens, Greece, 1991! Most of the rest are “mix” cassettes made by us or family from 1990-91. DH and I met overseas (during a war!) and our family members sent us mixed cassette tapes of some of our favorite music. We listened to these over and over again.
I also have 3 of DH singing kind of karaoke – you used to be able to pay $20 to do that at theme parks – you sing along to your favorite pop song.
Has anyone heard of Larry Norman?! We have a signed cassette from him.
I would like to get some of these copied to cd or digitized by I don’t have a reasonable way to do that at the moment.
Michelle, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is good for EVERYTHING in life. I also like to clean to Elvis Costello .
Claire and Moni,
I still have cassette tapes too. Not too many but a few stashed away in a small box. I still listen to them on my Walkman while doing the dishes.
Saigeetha – you have a working Walkman? That is awesome!
I’ve been on a rabbit trail through Youtube 80s music for the last hour! Yikes! Just adding one last for your playlist – U2 – “With or Without You”!
Claire – I also love their “Beautiful Day”
Hi, Claire & Moni. Do either of you also remember Ross and Rachel from “Friends” when you hear “With or Without You”?
Nicole V – sorry no, cos my hubby is a U2 fan and for a while there the CD was on continuous play. I wish we’d bought tickets when they came to New Zealand a few years back.
Absolutemente! (with an American accent!)
Thank you for the link back to my blog! If I need some good pick-me-up music, big band is always my first choice. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy or Duke Ellington can really get me moving. 🙂
I have a double CD which is called “Housework songs” – favourites are Queen, I want to break free; Bangles, Manic Monday; Gloria Gaynor, I will survive; Madness, It must be love; Blondie, Sunday girl; Diana Ross, Chain reaction; The Weather Girls, It’s raining men; Cyndi Lauper, Girls just wanna have fun; Tina Turner, The best, and Kenny Loggins, Footloose. It’s a great mood booster, and I don’t listen to it often enough!
That sounds great Cathy. That playlist would get anyone motivated.
Cathy – I actually own that CD!
How about one from childhood? “Whistle While You Work†from Sleeping Beauty. It popped into my head as sonn as I read your request.
I have a playlist I call Surf’s Up, that I use for walking and whenever I need a boost of energy. It’s filled with Beach Boys, Dick Dale, Jan & Dean, The Ventures, The Surfaris…
I’m definitely giving away my age, here!
Um, the song is actually from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. And I meant “as soon as I read your request.
Thanks for that Marilyn. Don’t worry about your age, you are among friends here.
Love this Moni! Lots of great suggestions. Digitizing our CDs is on my list of things to do, I could then get rid of a large piece of furniture.
I find that I need peace and quiet if I’m having to think carefully about anything, but music will really help to motivate me for the more mindless jobs. Today I polished all the kitchen and laundry room cabinets accompanied by the Bee Gees greatest hits! Then I put Abba on! I ended up with gleaming cabinets in record time and even pulled out a few things and did a bit of rearranging too.
Christine – Abba’s Dancing Queen and Gimme Gimme!
We have the Bee Gees Greatest Hits too.
Great, now I’ll be on YouTube all day listening to 80’s music instead of doing my chores. 🙂
Melanie – search for an 80s compilation that will run for and hour or so and boogie thru the chores. I have a friend who dusts her house to “Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer.
Lol- this made me laugh so hard… Cant Touch this while Dusting… Hilarious! But its good too. I like too 80s Hits. My Kitchen Radio plays ABBA and Madonna and the like. I find it very nice, relaxend to listen to Music i know by Heart. It Makes housework more Cozy somehow. (Sorry for the Capitals- i have not Found out how to Write English on ms iPad)
Lena – I guess anything that makes dusting less tedious is got to be a winner. She used to vacuum to Salt n Peppers “Push It” but she’s now got a Roomba one of those robot vacuums.
Lena – my friend who dusts to ‘Can’t Touch This’ and vacuums to ‘Push It’ has admitted she cleans the bathroom to ‘Ice Ice Baby’ by Vanilla Ice.
Can’t Touch This and Push It? Hahahahaha! That is hilarious. I certainly do not make fun of others when it comes to music. I have a complete dance routine to Abba’s Dancing Queen. LOL, I have lots of dance routines. 🙂
I love that Green Day song you mentioned earlier, Melanie! That and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” are two of my GD faves. And that SS song sure is great – so infectious!
I think My anthem would be Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.
“I Will Survive”
At first I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
without you by my side
But then I spent so many nights
thinking how you did me wrong
And I grew strong
And I learned how to get along
and so you’re back
from outer space
I just walked in to find you here
with that sad look upon your face
I should have changed that stupid lock
I should have made you leave your key
If I had known for just one second
you’d be back to bother me……..etc etc.
Cheers
Wendyf – my inner Diva has just stood up and looked fabulous. I have a 70’s Disco CD which I bought while on a long road trip and this song was played a number of times!
I think we all have an inner Diva
Good choice Wendy.
Moni,
My favorite declutttering song is “Please release me (let me go)” by Englebert Humperdink 🙂
Also a good choice and sooooo appropriate.
Kimberley – I didn’t realise it was sung by Englebert! A friend of the family used to play it on his guitar and sing it at gatherings as part of his repertoire and Id just assumed it was an old time song, so it was quite a surprise to see it on YouTube as actually a fairly modern song.
I was born early 80’s but grew up with my brothers listening to a lot of the music mentioned above. What a blast from the past. We had a great local radio station that played some really good stuff from that time and then got hijacked by high school Pop garbage. Very disappointing. It’s like the “oldies” my parents played for us, amazing variety, but the radio stations only play the really popular, kinda sleepy music from those years.
I meant sleezy.
Wait. Wait. Wait. In honor of our illustrious leader: AC/DC and Men At Work!!
Highway to Hell and I come from a land down under 🙂
Michelle – Thunder Struck is on my iPod.
Oh Holy Smokes, Moni! You have got to look up on YouTube “Thunder Struck by man in kilt and bagpipes”! You will go insane!
Michelle – that was AWESOME!!!!!!
Great question, Moni! I enjoyed reading all the comments as well. Here are two more Queen songs for your playlist: “Another One Bites the Dust” and “I Want To Break Free”.
I heartily second your friend on “Can’t Touch This” and would like to add “It Wasn’t Me”: Shaggy, “Who Let the Dogs Out”: Baha Men and “Hey Ya”: OutKast to that list. They work well for mind-numbing, repetitive chores.
You and your friends could start your decluttering sessions with The Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends” and proceed to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and P!nk’s “Get This Party Started”, “Raise Your Glass” and “So What”. If anyone gets stuck, launch into “Let It Go” from the “Frozen” soundtrack.
Some other songs from my playlist: Linkin Park’s “The Sun Will Set For You”, “I’m Still Standing”: Sir Elton John, “Breakaway”: Kelly Clarkson, “Born To Run”: Bruce Springsteen, and songs from the various “Glee” soundtracks.
Other feel-good songs: Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”, “Uptown Funk”: Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, Avicii’s hits, OneRepublic: “I Lived”, Imagine Dragons: “I Bet My Life”, “Starships”: the “Pitch Perfect” version, “Dancing in the Moonlight”: Toploader, and Weezer: “Pork and Beans”. I also love anything by Michael Bublé, fun., Taylor Swift,One Direction and Linkin Park.
Nicole V – there’s some great tail-feather shaking songs in there!
Lol – I’m glad someone mentioned “Let It Go” – my three year old niece gave her rendition a couple of weeks ago, which was singing the line ‘let it go’ over and over repeatedly about 30 times. Only someone little and cute could do that and it be adorable.
Omgosh, I love the song Let It Go. I don’t have kids, so I didn’t even know about Frozen until my sister told me about it and the song. I looked it up on YouTube, and I love it! It’s one of those songs that I love to sing at the top of my lungs. For you mommies out there, you must look up the mommy parody version. It is hilarious.
Melanie – just watched two different versions and had a really good laugh. My daughter learnt a parody version of ‘Do you want to Build A Snowman?’ which is a stalker-ish version ‘Do You Want To Be My Boyfriend’, just about wet myself with laughter when I heard it, it wasn’t what I was expecting.
I love listening to Neil Diamond – Play Me…, Forever In Blue Jeans.., Song Sung Blue.. are some of my favourites.
Also love listening to Phil Collins – Genesis and Strangers Like Me are awesome. Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Ani DiFranco is a cute song. And 1000 miles by Vanessa Carlton.
Bryan Adams, Bootylicious(Destiny’s Child), Superstar(Jamelia), Macarena, Billie Jean are my go-to songs when i’am upbeat and energetic.
Saigeetha – sweet Caroline would definitely be a crowd pleaser around here, especially since Glee covered it.
Good choices for the upbeat songs too!
Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day
Right there with you, Eileen. Excellent!
Hi, Eileen & Michelle. That’s a great song with motivational and positive lyrics!
I just found your blog today and love it! This post really hit home because the first step of my decluttering adventure was digitizing and then selling my over 300 cd collection. I uploaded everything to Google Play and now subscribe to All Access. I have never looked back since.
You guys have great suggestions, I’m going to build myself a decluttering playlist today! 🙂
Hi Julie and welcome to 365 Less Things. Sorry I am so slow and moderating my new comments. Life gets away from me sometimes. My husband is looking at uploading all our DVDs at the moment. We will not be decluttering the hard copies though because digitising isn’t foolproof and for legal reasons one should keep them, but they will be getting relegated to the cage in the basement of our apartment.