Flapjack Friday: On Our Crazy Covid Supermix & Music that Soothes the Soul

COVID and Quarantine propelled Bob and I into the world of YouTube and reignited our love for music. Nearly every night since last March, we have spent the hour between 7:00pm and 8:00pm listening to rock-n-roll from the 70s (the best decade of music ever), reacquainting ourselves with artists like James Taylor, Led Zeppelin, Doc Watson, Leo Kottke and Carly Simon. We have listened to Taylor Swift’s and Paul McCartney’s new albums written, produced and performed during lockdown (Bob has always been impressed by Taylor Swift’s business savvy). We have also discovered and rediscovered artists like Lukas Nelson, Ed Sheeran, Music Travel Love, Lauren Daigle, Housefires, Justin Johnson, Pat Barrett, Allie Sherlock and a host of others singing their hearts out from all corners of the earth.

If there was ever a moment for music to sooth the soul, it was 2020.

My dad passed away in September 2020—I was (fortunately) able to travel to Montana to see him before he died and spent a week there with my sister and my brother and his family. On our last night together, we ended up in the kitchen doing the dinner dishes and singing, dancing and laughing to all kinds of old songs—many of the same songs that drove our dad crazy back in the day and some that will always remind us of him.

The healing balm of music soothed our grieving souls.

This past Wednesday night while Bob was out with the guys, I spent the evening dilly-dallying, dusting and dancing. This time I chose to listen to my YouTube generated Supermix. I was curious to discover my covid-crazy, computer-generated style. Interestingly, the supermix included: Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Paul McCartney and Switchfoot, Evvie McKinney and Creedance Clearwater Revival, Alley Sherlock and Walk Off the Earth, Leonard Skynyrd and John Legend, and Crowder and Toby Mac. In such a fitting way, the random genres perfectly depicted the random year.

We will never forget 2020, nor will we forget oh so many songs—old and new—written and sung to troubled hearts, jogging memories of days gone by, instilling laughter and love, hope and promise, soothing our souls and instilling new memories all over again.