Music is the most transcendent expression of energy that you experience in your daily life. Music is the language that bridges all dimensions of existence — intensely personal and gloriously communal — there is no complexity of thought and emotion that music can not communicate. Singing raises your vibration, activates your throat chakra, and tunes your heart. The beat has accompanied humanity’s practice of ritual ecstasy from the bonfires to the dance floors.
- What songs inspire you and fire you up?
- What songs make you want to drive with all the windows down, the speakers blaring, singing at the top of your lungs?
- What songs help you cry when you need to, release the anger and frustration in your body, dance you around your house like a fool, raise you up, wear you out, and remind you that you are alive?
What songs tell others something about you that you can’t put into words alone?
What would be the soundtrack to your blog?
This was a deceptively ambitious project! I thought it would be a simple post to create, but after two weeks of working on it, I had a massive list of 200 songs. One song recalls ten others, and the list grows with no end in sight.
So, for the sake of focus, I decided to limit my selections to the concept of a Shift Your Spirits soundtrack and to a number of tracks that might fit on a CD. But since we are now in the age of the MP3 and gigabyte iPods, I cheated a bit with a list whittled down to 25.
25 Songs that Shift MY Spirits
listed alphabetically by artist
Silent All These Years — Tori Amos
Hallelujah — Jeff Buckley
Cloudbusting — Kate Bush
Fields of Gold — Eva Cassidy
Heaven or Las Vegas — Cocteau Twins
Viva la Vida — Coldplay
Bea’s Song (River Song Trilogy) — Cowboy Junkies
Bring Me to Life — Evanescence
Rhiannon — Fleetwood Mac
The Feeling Begins — Peter Gabriel (from Passion - Music from The Last Temptation of Christ)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow — Judy Garland
Now That We Are Free — Lisa Gerrard (with Hans Zimmer from the Gladiator soundtrack)
Moon River — Audrey Hepburn (from Breakfast at Tiffany’s)
I Shall Not Walk Alone — Ben Harper
Every Grain of Sand — Emmylou Harris
Hide and Seek — Imogen Heap
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill — Lauryn Hill
The Water is Wide — Indigo Girls (with Jewel and Sarah McLachlan from Lilith Fair)
Into the West — Annie Lennox (Howard Shore from The Return of the King soundtrack)
The Mummer’s Dance — Loreena McKennitt
Sweet Surrender — Sarah McLachlan
Shine — Dolly Parton
Be With What Is — pH Balance
Today — Smashing Pumpkins
Where the Streets Have No Name — U2
Your Turn!
I’d love to gather absolutely tons of audience participation on this one.
If you had to make me a mix of 10 or 20 songs that shift your spirits, what tracks would make the cut? Leave a comment and share your songs.
If you have a blog, play this like a tagging game, create your own blog soundtrack and link back to this post.
PS — Talking to Your Spirit Guides Teleclass is about Half Full! Register now and join me this Saturday.
The voice is also very much an instrument. In fact the Sufi’s saw both voice & dance necessary in opening the chakras and thus reaching higher states of consciousness. The “Mystic Rose”(very close?) found here is a pure example of that.
But yes, I know what you mean with a lot of ‘story telling’ in music. Have you listened to Micheal Hedges? (lots can be found on YouTube).
and yes… we are getting a lot Older! lol!
OnE LoVE
G
I love to put my ipod on shuffle because I think God sometimes has control of the play list
Just today I experienced a wonderful testament to God’s protection over me, and when I put my ipod back in my ears the song “Lullaby” by Josh Groban was playing. To me a lullaby symbolizes love, nurture and protection. I started to tear up in the moment but was in a situation where I didn’t want to cry. So I said, “God, I love you and Thank you for this song! I’m so grateful!…but I can’t cry right now… so know that my heart is leaping but help me to settle my shell so I can stay strong”. Immediately my ipod changed to “Get your freak on” by Missy Elliot (which always makes me laugh and dance all silly like 
Slade,
I had an Experience on Saturday playing at an open mic while I’m here in the States. I played ‘Shift Your Spirit” and was approached by a woman later on who handed me a note. I won’t go into it, other than to say the song touched her at a time when she needed to hear that message.
Her response helped me too. Music heals and it works both ways.
“Shift Your Spirit, And Fly”
Thanks again for the inspiration!!!
xoLynette
Lynette!
How cool is that for both of us?!
Thanks for telling me. Made me smile.
Wow, I have been going through the posts on this site and I must say that I enjoy all of the articles I have read so far. This one in particular caught my attention. I have had many experiences in my life where something is not in balance and I may have brought more stress to myself then necessary, where the song playing on the radio when I turn on the car will ensure me instantly that everything will be ok. There have been other instances where I will be thinking a certain thought or asking a question inside my head and the next song will be the answer. Example of that one; I had been stressing myself out over tasks I needed to get finished in the time frame I wanted. I’m sort of a get everything now type of girl, lay-a-way is my worst nightmare! I was beginning to become irritable and anxious thinking I wouldn’t have time to “do it later” or later is “too long from now!” I hopped in the car and the first song I heard was “Patience” by Guns n Roses. So now when ever I start over stressing the “chaotic” factors of life I just start whistling that song and magically I feel better.
Often I will be thinking about a person and a song that reminds me of them plays shortly after (normally with people who have passed) Sometimes I have woken up with a song stuck in my head so I’ll listen to it through out the day, or continue to only sing/whistle a certain part out loud.
As for my list (since this is topic anyway…)
In no particular order! =)
1. Patience-(obviously)-GNR
2. In the air tonight- Phil Collins (always gives me the chills)
3. The sound of silence- Simon and Garfunkel
4. Anything by Queen (Mercury had such emotion)
5. Call me- Shinedown
6. Island in the sun- Weezer
7. Medicine and Gasoline- Lucky Boys Confusion
8. Invincible- Crossfade
9. Until the end- Breaking Benjamin
10. Forever- Papa Roach
11. Far behind- Candlebox
12. There you’ll be- Faith Hill
13. I swear- All-4-One
14. End of the road- Boyz II Men
15. I get it- Chevelle
16. Through the fire and flame- Dragonforce
17. Rapture- Hurt
18. Don’t cry- GNR
19. Tears in heaven- Eric Clapton
20. Everlong- Foo Fighters
21. Bullet proof skin- Institute
22. Ring of fire- Johnny Cash
23. Open arms- Journey
24. First time- Lifehouse
25. Silhouettes- Smile Empty Soul
That’s just a small list off the top of my head. I I actually racked my brain over this I would have a mini book! lol
Slade,
I love the topic! My top 20 Shift My Spirits songlist:
1. Silence – Delerium featuring Sarah McLachlan
2. Flowers Become Screens – Delerium featuring Kirsty Thirsk
3. It’s a Beautiful Day – U2
4. Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
5. Troy – Sinead O’Connor
6. Never Be Mine – Kate Bush
7. Stranger – Clan of Xymox
8. Under the Milky Way – Lords of the New Church
8. Looking from a Hilltop – Section 25
9. Winter Kills – Yaz
10. Drink Before the War – Sinead O’Connor
11. Vox – Sarah McLachlan
12. Sadeness – Enigma
13. Bring Me Back to Life – Evanescence
14. In the End – Linkin Park
15. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
16. Hotel California – The Eagles
17. Winter – Tori Amos
18. Just Remember I Love You – Firefall
19. Sara – Fleetwood Mac
20. In A Lifetime – Clannad featuring Bono
Great vibe-it-up game, Slade. Thanks. I just added a few of yours to my own playlist, which is here: http://www.playlist.com/lifeblazing
Where to begin!
Here are a few:
Enjoy the Silence- Depeche Mode
Song to the Siren- Tim Buckley (or the Paula Arundell cover)
Adrian- Mason Jennings
The Knot Comes Loose- My Morning Jacket
World Without Tears- Lucinda Williams (particularly live at the Fillmore version)
Don’t Dream It’s Over- Crowded House
Song to The Moon- Dvorak
How Will You Go- Crowded House
The Wings- Gustavo Santaolalla
Sparks- Coldplay
Woo, awesome post Slade, and it seems from the comments that it really inspired many others to get into the music of upliftment
I really love your taste too! I love everyone of those songs and artists except Dolly Parton, and pH balance (both of whom I’ll check out shortly!) – Thanks man.
This reminds me of a post I wrote you might like called ‘Focus Wheel Mixtape’
http://spiritsentient.com/focus-wheel-mixtape
Hey Slade,
I blogged about this today (and linked to here). Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Slade,
The songs that raise my spirits are as follows in no partocular order.
Smile written by Charlie Chaplin, You Raise Me Up as performed by the BH(a)GMC, A Day in the Life of a Fool as performed by Jack Jones, All the Things You Are as perfomed by Ella Fitzgerald, Amigos Para Siempre as perfprmed by Jose Carerras and Sarah Brightman, Do I Love You as performed by John Barrowman, Elusive Butterfly as performed by Val Doonican, Hushabye Mountain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, In the Still of The Night by Cole Porter
Secret Kingdom by Sherman and Sherman, Losing my Mind from Follies
Nobody does It Better by Carly Simon, Serenata as performed by Sarah Vaughan, So In Love by Cole Porter, The Desert Song by Sigmund Romberg, The Shadow of Your Smile as performed by Matt Monro, It’s Better with a Band by Barabra Cook, This is My Song by Petula Clark, You LIght Up my Life as performed by Roger Whittaker and You are my Heart’s Delight by Romberg and Hammerstein.
Best Wishes
David
Maniac-Michael Sembello
Don’t fight it-Kenny Loggins
Only God Knows Why-Kid Rock
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for-U2
I gotta feelin’-Black Eyed Peas
Everybody Hurts-REM
Celebration-Cool and the Gang
You Can Go Your Own Way-Fleetwood Mac
Can’t Touch This-M.C.Hammer
The Sweetest Thing U2
Better man-Pearl Jam
Oh, and Don’t Stop Believing – Journey!!!!
….just to add a few of my own….
Anything by Bob Marley,
Til Shiloh by Buju Banton
Earth song by Michael Jackson
When doves cry by Prince
September by earth, Wind and Fire
Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder
Thru the fire by Chakka Chan
I can fly by R Kelly
I’m every woman by Whitney Houston