A Songlist for Every One

In the darkest hour of the darkest night... what is real and unreal are one and the same... what is truth and untruth are one and the same... what is terrifying and benign are one and the same...

It is not surprising nor unexpected nor shameful... then... how timorously we jump from shadows... scream at whispers... cry for ghosts... when what is up is down... and what is right is not...

But... there is hope...

But... not always is there starlight... nor always is there Galadriel's vial... nor always is there eternal springs...

In these darkest of dark places... there is song...

Wish songs that heal... that nurture... that succor the heart and soul through unremitting torture and unrelenting tribulation... that light the way... from dying to living...

Though lists abound... everywhere... as plentiful as advise from friends and families and enemies and neighbors and loved ones and strangers and too, coworkers and dopplegangers...

This is a special list...

A playlist for hope...

A playlist for peace...

A playlist for love...

Songs to breathe into hearts and souls... hope and peace and love...

(in parentheses, notes)

• Sydney Carter's Lord of the Dance (substitutions: evil instead of devil; variation: switch tense to present, throughout)
• Hark the Herald Angels Sing (verse 1, 3)
• Joy to the World (verse 1, 3, 4)
• Joan Osborne's What if God Was One of Us (omit chorus, from lines ending in 'great' to 'yeah')
• Bette Midler's From a Distance (variation: substitute one instead of man; omit just before cannot)
• Fun's Some Nights (substitutions: any relation, that is personally meaningful, instead of sister, nephew; omit last verse)
• Jessie J's Price Tag (before chorus, omit lines ending in 'serious' to 'time'; after chorus, omit lines ending in 'time' to 'tired'; omit 'featured' solo)
• From Tangled: I See the Light (substitutions: any pronoun, that is personally meaningful, instead of she's)
• From Aladdin: A Whole New World (variation: substitute gets better instead of red letter; variation: substitute race instead of chase; if soloing, second to last verse, Aladdin's lines; last verse, Jasmine's lines)
• From Frozen: Let It Go
• From Home: Jennifer Lopez's Feel the Light (substitutions: we instead of I, throughout; omit lines ending in 'under' to 'thunder'; are instead of were)
• Stan Getz's The Girl from Ipanema

Love... when we're awake... when we're alive... when we see... is... was... will be... yours... mine... ours... one and all... all and one... a hug for the world... the world for a hug... love for the world... the world for love...

Love...