How I Am Beating The Lockdown Stress With Music: Playlists Inside

The coronavirus lockdown has confined us all to our houses or hostels. We have plenty of free time that we always yearned for. But the “free time” is not as relaxing as we wanted or thought it to be. Most of us are sitting inside our room, gazing out through the window with the news of how the pandemic is wreaking the world surrounding us. All one can think is how life will be after this ends? All that we can do is to try and change the course of this pandemic with social distancing.

But life still has to go on. We have to ensure that coronavirus doesn't affect our mental wellbeing. Each one of us has a hobby or escape that is helping us beat the anxiety of the pandemic. For me, it is music. I am a person who wakes up with a song and sleeps to another. A song, with soothing music and introspective lyrics, is my morning and evening coffee mate. While songs that trigger childhood nostalgia help me fall asleep at night.  So here are my lockdown playlists, for every mood, that are helping me course through the morning, noon and night every day as I wait this crisis out.

Songs That Twin With The Morning Chirps

Perhaps what has remained unchanged for most of us is our morning routine. Though jogging and morning walks are prohibited, morning tea or coffee and some workouts at home I think remains the same. So I begin my day with a cup of coffee and these songs that help me refresh my mind.

1. Mr Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan
2. Hymn for the Weekend by Coldplay
3. A Million Dreams by P!nk
4. Breathless by Shankar Mahadevan

Also Read: Living Under COVID-19: Taking care of your Mental Health

Songs That Get Me Going

What most of us miss at this time is commuting. Sure, commuting is exhausting, waste of time and whatnot. But I really like that hour I spend on the Metro, observing people and listening to some of my favourite tracks. Since now commuting stands cancelled from the routine, I divide that hour into breaks between daily routine and listen to tracks that boosts my energy.

1. Try by P!nk
2. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith
3. Tere Mere Saath by Lucky Ali
4. Hairat hai by Lucky Ali

Songs That Take Me To The Beyond

With my evening cuppa I allow my mind to travel into the past or future or just think about what I see from the balcony. I usually spent this time with my friend who has the same taste in music. But since she isn't with me right now, it is the music that we used to listen to together that provides me comfort.

1. Yellow by Coldplay
2. Skyfall by Adelle
3. River by Bishop Briggs
4. Sham by Amit Trivedi, Newman Pinto and Nikhil D’Souza
5. Nadaan Parindey by A.R. Rahman and Mohit Chauhan

Also Read: How Indian Classical Music Can Help Women Achieve Work-Life Balance

Songs That Lul Me To Sleep

As the sun drowns into the horizon, I feel anxiety and hopelessness rushing through my nerves. Though I am a person who loves watching the moon and feel the night's silence, the lockdown has made this experience a tiring one. The sleepless nights either make me cry over this unpredictable situation that I am in or create what I want to read. So as a self-therapy, I go back to my childhood when I slept to the soothing music and meaningful lyrics of Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and other singing legends, those that my father introduced me to.

1. Neela Aasman So Gaya, both Lata Mangeshkar’s and Amitabh Bachchan’s version
2. Do Naina Aur Ek Kahani by Aarti Mukherji
3. Surmayee Ankhiyon mein by Ilaiaraaja, K.J. Yasudas (Movie Sadma)
4. The evergreen: Tujhse Naraaz Nhi Zindagi by Lata Mangeshkar
5. Chingari Koi Bhadke- Kishore Kumar
6. Raat Hamari Toh by K.S. Chitra and Swanand Kirkire (movie: Parineeta)

And there are still many more songs that I sing along, depending on my thoughts and mood. In fact, I appreciate some Bollywood singers who composed passionate feminist songs that express female desires. Two that top this category of my playlist are Prem Mein Tohre by Asha Bhosle and Mai Ri Mai by Neeti Mohan and Hardeep Kaur.

Also Read: Meet the Women Disruptors in Mainstream Music in India

I don’t listen to these songs every day but they top my playlist. Some people have a particular song that they listen to throughout the day. But, I change my playlist with my mood. Also, I am a little old school. I don’t always keep a track of the latest music albums. But what I have recently added to my playlist is Deathbed by Powfu. I believe music and a song that you can connect to is your best mate in every situation. So turn on your speaker and swing till the last note.

Rudrani Kumari is an intern with SheThePeople.TV. The views express expressed are the author's own.