The Perfect Playlist- Kayla Beebout

This playlist is for when you know you’re going to be doing homework for hours and you need some epic music to help you along.

1.       I am the Doctor by Murray Gold.  This music has a perfect blend of gentler, flowing passages and bold, loud ones.  It’s very happy and upbeat, which helps get you started on whatever it is you have to do.  Then the more dramatic moments start making your heart rate speed up and suddenly you’re scribbling your homework down furiously, because it has to be really important if this music is playing, right?

2.       Avengers Assemble by London Music Works.  I absolutely love this song because it automatically adds a dramatic flair to whatever you’re doing.  Doing math homework?  This song will make you feel like the answers to those math problems will save the world.  This song adds a heroic element to this playlist.

3.       Skyrim Theme by Peter Hollens (feat. Lindsey Stirling).  This is an amazing version of the Skyrim theme done by an a cappella artist and a violinist.  Peter Hollens is immensely talented, and puts lots of work into his covers.  He and Lindsey performed the entire song using only layered tracks of his voice and her violin.  The music is already inspiring as it is—it was designed to be the theme of an epic fantasy world, so it would have to be.  It brings a strong, ancient Norse element to the playlist that reminds me so much of all my favorite stories.

4.       Courtyard Apocalypse by Alexandre Desplat.  This song is sad and dramatic and makes me feel like I’m doing something immensely important.  I love the way it carries the dire stakes of the scene it was written for, and yet can still translate to other situations.  It adds just a touch of sadness to the playlist—enough to make it feel dramatic without making you cry all over your homework.

5.       The Lighting of the Beacons by Howard Shore.  I have loved this music since fourth grade—in fact, it made this scene in The Return of the King one of my favorites.  It starts soft and unassuming, then builds to add a sense of dramatic tension, then bursts into a loud, triumphant melody.  It’s really good for when you’re on the home stretch because of this feeling of triumph. 

All of the songs in this playlist share dramatic undertones which I find energizing while working.  Also, the fact that these are all wordless songs (well, Skyrim has words, but they’re in another language, so it doesn’t count) makes them less distracting.  In fact, I find them helpful for blocking out white noise around my house.  The order of the songs in this playlist reflects my mood while working: first I’m alert and upbeat, but get more tired as the work goes on.  At last, I know I’m almost done and feel a sense of relief and triumph that I got everything done.