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Each week for the summer, our fabulous counselors will be contributing to a Spotify playlist with songs that they love and want to share with you – and that apply to the week’s theme! And each week, we will publish some of their thoughts about why they chose their songs.
Here’s the playlist to Week 4: Get Creative!
And here are our counselors:
Charlotte Abrams
Green Onions- 45 Version (Booker T. & The MGs)- anything by them is a bop, a vibe, whatever you want to call it.
Baiana-CloZee Remix (CloZee, Barbatuques), this is the ultimate hype-song. It has everything: Digeredoo, a sick beat, chanting. EVERYTHING. I cannot overstate how energizing this song is. You can listen to this song 100 times and hear a new layer each time. This song doesn’t light up my world IT IS THE WORLD.
Beewin
Come Along (by Cosmo Sheldrake): Who remembers the creative birthday prank we did at Hive last year for Rebecca Smith? This was her favorite song, and I loved learning it with you all to sing to her on her big day!
Georgia Dare
Kids of the Future (by Jonas Brothers)
Henry DeRuff
People Everywhere (by Khruangbin): This song immediately grabs me with its guitar riff over subtle bass & drum hook. It has limited vocals, but I don’t think it needs them at all; the creativity comes from the way the instruments (especially the guitar) fill in. There are some ambient vocals in the middle of the song, just repeating “still alive,” but they’re really just an accent to the beauty of the instruments. However, the vocals are significant for one reason: at the end of the repeated “still alive” lines, there’s a brief cheer that punctuates what I take to be a sentiment of gratitude just to live another day. I listen and feel the urge to use that day to create, whether by writing or building on a relationship.
Colors (by Black Pumas): Also love the guitar of this song. It’s literally about the great colorful world we live in (the browns and greens of the outdoors, for example) and the special connection we have (either with friends or family, and for so many of us at the Alohas, with our camp family) where we know each other so well that we see what brings each other joy: “my sisters and my brothers, they see them like no other, all my favorite colors.” It’s another celebration of this day we’re given and all the incredible colors (experiences, opportunities, and relationships) it has in store for us if we’re open to noticing them. Also, the brief solo piano riff toward the end is just bursting with energy & joy!
Val Elefante
Waving Through A Window from Dear Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) – Literally this song never, ever, ever gets old! I play it and walk around the streets of New York City smiling ear to ear. I can’t help it. When the beat drops – gets me every time.
Take Me Or Leave Me from Rent (Idina Menzel, Tracie Thoms) – Another fave!
Meg Fitzpatrick
Cello Suite No 1 in G Major, Prelude (by Johann Sebastian Bach): Sometimes when I’m making my art, I can’t listen to songs with words or it throws me off! When that happens, I love to listen to beautiful classical music.
Hal Juster
California Soul (by Marlene Shaw)
Mam Yinne Wa (by Alogte Oho and His Sounds of Joy)
Eliza Kissick
Hair Up (from Trolls): At Aloha, Trolls has become a way of life. This song, Hair Up, was the anthem of 2017. Plus, the movie is filled with bright colors and exciting collages! The perfect movie to watch if you need some inspiration, some good music, or a quick reminder of Aloha.
Alex Lipoff
Look-Ka Py Py (by the Meters). An iconic track by one of the pioneering funk bands from New Orleans. All 4 members work together in elegant lock-step, and the lyrics (starting at 1:39) fit perfectly with this week’s theme of being creative!
Sara Liptrot
Artangels (by Grimes): I love Grimes. She produces, writes, creates, plays every instrument on all her songs and makes all the art for her releases as well as the art directions for the accompanying videos. I think she is super creative and any time I listen to her music I am inspired to create something. This song is super upbeat and the flow of it reminds me of that skip that gets added to my step when I am at camp.
Charlie Mayhew
Mr. Moustafa (by Alexandre Desplat): Sometimes — when I have to write something — I’ll put just this on repeat. For, like, half an hour.
Nocturnes, Op. 48: No. 1 in C Minor (by Chopin, this version played by Arthur Rubinstein): My favorite piece of solo piano music right now. If I could play anything at a Chapel, it would be this.
23 Seconds of Silence (by Wilco): Sometimes the best thing for creativity is just a little moment of quiet.
Matt Smith:
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (by U2): I don’t have anything solid here – just a feeling. I get a feeling from this song that’s the same as the way I feel when I’m really into writing something or when I’m singing with some people I love. It’s a sense of being so, SO close to being whole and at peace, and yet still really unsure about myself and my place in the world, like if I could just get one more sentence out, I’d be totally content. No idea why, but that’s where U2 takes me with this song.
Morgan Towle
Take off your cool (by OutKast and Norah Jones): Really beautiful song and iconic collaboration
