I call these anthems because they’re the sort of songs the remind you of an era in your life. The one you put on repeat in your kitchen while you’re baking, or the one that everyone put on the CD player in your car on your way to ski practice in high school.  These are the songs everyone dances to at weddings and proms and basement keg parties.  They’re summer songs or graduation themes or general I feel awesome songs.

And now, they’re the songs I run to, because I’m old like that.

So you remember, here are the rules, as designed by Pavement Runner:

• Something Old: These will be songs that are at least 5 years old. I know that isn’t too long to be considered old, but music turnover happens quickly.
• Something Current: These will be songs that have been released within the past year. I know, but you have to give me some leeway here.
• Something to Consider: These will be songs that are not typically heard on the radio and may be by artists you’ve never heard of or considered running to. This is the wild card category, can be old or current.

Something Old

Artist: The Postal Service
Title: Such Great Heights
Side Note:  Used to dance around my beach apartment to this song with my roomie and best friend while we got ready for Thursday nights at O’Maddy’s … Long Island Ice Teas and staying up way too late on a work night.
Quotable: “I am thinking it’s a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned.”

Something Current

Artist: Fun
Title: We Are Young
Side Note:  I dare you not to sing along to this song.  I have a feeling it’s playing out at every graduation party in the universe this month.  I credit Pavement Runner for reminding me to add it to my playlist.
Quotable: “Tonight, we are young.  So let’s set the world on fire. We can burn brighter than the sun.”

Something to Consider

Artist: Silversun Pickups
Title: Lazy Eye
Side Note:  Seriously one of the most climactic songs on my list, the tension as it builds makes me nuts.  Imagine watching it live at Bonnaroo with 700 of your closest friends screaming out the crescendo.  Hitting it around mile 4 isn’t quite as nice. *sigh*
Quotable: “I’ve been waiting; I’ve been waiting for this silence all night long
It’s just a matter of time.”

These are three of my favorite songs on my playlist – and no matter how many songs I add, I never take these off. Just shuffle them around.

Do you have any anthems that stick out in your head?  I could probably add a dozen more to this list, but these are the ones on my actual playlist.