A Playlist of Songs That Get Me Through My Illnesses

Music is my therapy. Always has been and always will be. There are days when I can’t fall asleep due to my pulsating tinnitus being in overdrive and I have to pull out the earphones and just listen to music until I can fall asleep.

“I’ll Just Fall” by Lucero

First I have to include that I’m a huge Lucero fan, but it never hit me how much this song fit being chronically ill until a few months ago. A few weeks ago I was had a spinal headache from a lumber puncture and literally could not stand or sit up but I had to go to work for a few hours and I was literally laying on the floor and I caught myself quoting this song. This tends to be my go to song when I have days/periods of time that I just don’t care about trying to fake being well anymore.

“Some Days You Gotta Dance” by the Dixie Chicks

I’m a huge Dixie Chicks fan and some of my closest friends are people I’ve met through our mutual love of the Dixie Chicks. This song is because even though we’re chronically ill, we do have good days and well, some days you’ve just gotta dance! This is my go-to song for my good days and when I go on road trips sometimes just getting in the car and driving and blaring this song!

“Fight Song” by Rachel Platten

The first time I heard this song, I was leaving my neurologist’s office last spring after a visit that didn’t go so well and I was feeling very defeated because being newly diagnosed, I was still fighting to understand all of it.  This song means so much to those of us fighting chronic illnesses and is usually my go to song when I’m having my lowest of lows but I know I have to keep fighting!

“Nobody Told Me” by Vintage Trouble

This song has been a favorite of mine ever since I discovered VT in early 2013 right before I saw them live for the first time in Atlanta. I had the chance to meet the guys the following year after winning a contest on Twitter, and I’ll never forget Ty Taylor asking me if I was tired from my drive down from Mississippi or something else. I think I said from the drive. He had never met me before but was a great judge of one’s expressions. At that time I was still undiagnosed and out of work due to losing my job from being sick so the words of this song hit me hard. Many people can relate to this song but as a spoonie, I think we can relate to this because of the lines about days getting heavier and heavier. This song is one I listen to when I realize that yes, nobody told me I’d become chronically ill, but I can get through it.

“No Guarantees” by Cody Jinks

This song hits home for me because no one is guaranteed anything in life especially those of us who are chronically ill. The only thing that we are guaranteed is that there are no guarantees is definitely true. The line about turning 35 this year hits me, too, since I did turn 35 this year. It’s a song I listen to when I need to jam and when I’m feeling sorry for myself.

“Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves

This song is one of my faves because I got to see her live around the time I was first told the name “pseudotumor cerebri/intracranial hypertension.” Since officially being diagnosed, I love this song because most of us who are chronically ill are told we’re not doing this or that right, etc. It doesn’t matter where our arrow is pointing; we only have one life and living like we’re told we need to live is no way to truly live.

“Old Me Better” by Keb’ Mo’

This song reminds me of growing up in New Orleans and I love Keb’ Mo’s music. It’s an upbeat song about changing for someone and then realizing how much you love your old self. There are days I miss the old me but I realize I’m still me, I just have a chronic illness.