It’s the day before a major holiday, and you’re on the way to see your family. This year, you’re prepared. You have a gift for your niece, a Tupperware container filled with your famous German potato salad, and you even remembered to wear the hideous broach your grandmother gave you a couple of birthdays ago. As you step into your Lyft, there’s just one thing left to do: You’ve got to get your head right. And for that, you need the perfect playlist.
That’s why we reached out to Matthew Schnipper, who curates playlists on his Deep Voices Substack. “Any time I get in the car, I make a playlist,” he said. “I always think, ‘What am I doing right now?’ and I want the music to reflect that 100%.” Here’s what he recommends to ensure you show up pumped, positive, and ready to party.
When I’m making a playlist, I’ll start with one or two songs to be the bedrock of the tone I’m looking for. To me, this playlist is about community. I wanted to think about stepping into a different zone, like I’m going to unzip the tent and enter family mode. This song does that for me. It’s sort of ridiculous, but it has a purity to it — a firehose of warmth.
This is a very simple, ecstatic song. It’s literally about music, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be “Watching Football Is Better With You.” There’s something simple about the relationship you can have with your family. Those are the people who took care of you, who raised you, and it’s about being able to feel a kind of graciousness toward them and a relief and joy in spending time with them.
Rosalía is basically the most fun, versatile pop star out there right now. What I like about these three songs is they all have that excited-anxious-nervous good energy to them — a low-key kind of fun fervor, like “I can’t wait to get to this thing.” You know when you look at your GPS and you’re like, “Are you kidding me? I still have 35 minutes in traffic?” These songs feel like they will reach down and part the Red Sea to get you there quicker.
You may have heard of the trio of Holland, Dozier, and Holland, who wrote, like, every Motown song ever. This is the Dozier of that crew. This is one of the most exuberant songs that I know, a longtime personal favorite. It has these huge cinematic strings. It has an enormity, and it’s classic. Everybody understands this song is about joy and love immediately.
This is a great song that’s been in ten billion movies. It’s the “dancing in the living room” song. It’s the least dangerous song in the world; it’s just about warmth, happiness, and safety.
This to me is the ultimate holiday song. It’s a good reminder about appreciation, noticing. Your family may be incredibly annoying. But no matter what the circumstance, it’s good to take a minute to be grateful for whatever they have given you.
This is a really profound song. The beginning is about a friend who’s trying to get pregnant and can’t, and then it’s about watching her parents age. It’s a smart song that acknowledges the complexity of life while still being grateful for the basic love you have now, however complicated it is.
This is super funny, written in a classic country-western style, and it’s got a lot of swing to it. It’s about how excited you are to see your family but also how much you want to get away from them after three days: “Oh my god, I can’t wait to see them, but oh my god, they’re going to drive me insane.” There is no more perfect family song than this one.
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