Once, I went through a colossal break-up. It was shocking, and awful, and I’d been dumped. I told my friends I wanted to make a CD for myself of strong women singing empowering songs. I added some songs, they suggested some songs.
There was a lot of range in those songs, from Aretha Franklin to Pat Benetar to Avril Lavigne. They were perfect, because I knew he’d be sorry one day and I knew I would only move forward, even if it did feel like someone was literally ripping my insides apart with a butcher knife and a cheese grater.
Then a friend of mine pointed out that I wasn’t collecting strong women songs; I was collecting angry strong women singing empowering songs. It was true, but I was okay with that.
I’ve decided that I can’t make all of you CDs, because that’s illegal, but I can make a Pandora station. If you’ve ever had your heart broken and know you deserved better, I hope you enjoy it. Or, you know, if you feel like listening to some angry strong people (because Pandora is difficult and won’t let me use gender as a qualifier) singing empowering songs, you might enjoy it as well.
Click to listen on Pandora
*You’ll need a free account
About Lori Sizemore
Lover of nail polish, pens, her Kindle, and fresh coffee. She likes romance filled with messy, real characters and lots of snarky banter. Reading was (and still is!) her BFF; when she discovered writing she fell in love. Come for the snark. Stay for the story.
I’ve definitely need strong, angry women songs at some point or another. Thankfully not for a while, but still every once in awhile a day comes along where I need empowerment to survive.
In fact, that’s one of my songs ‘I Will Survive’ by Gloria Gaynor. 😀
Great post!
That’s definitely on the list! It hadn’t occurred to me, but it could come in handy for writing as well.
When I start a new story, I always go to Pandora, put in a few song that match the mood, and then go buy what comes on.