The Songs I Don’t Skip

There are songs I can put on repeat… all day long. Not just background noise—companions. I’ve tried to figure out what it is. Is it the melody? The lyrics? Some invisible algorithm that knows me better than I know myself?

But the more I listen… the more I think it’s something else. Because none of these songs are loud. None of them are trying to impress me. They just… tell the truth.

Take Your Time doesn’t rush—it lingers.
Just Once doesn’t shout—it sighs.
Landslide doesn’t push—it reflects.
Time in a Bottle doesn’t pretend—it aches. Somewhere in between, they all whisper the same thing: You feel this too, don’t you?

There’s love in these songs. But not the easy kind. It’s the kind that almost worked. The kind that still lingers. The kind you’d fix… if you just had one more chance. Maybe the kind where, just for a moment, everything slows down enough to feel right, like in Take Your Time, and you realize not everything needs to be rushed to be real.

There’s time in these songs, too. Not measured in minutes—but in moments you wish you could hold onto a little longer. Then there’s that thread running through all of them— a quiet, stubborn hope.

Even in Something’s Always Wrong… even in Barely Breathing… there’s still something that refuses to let go. Maybe that’s why they stay on repeat. Because they don’t just sound good. They understand something.

About getting older. About loving imperfectly. About realizing that life didn’t turn out exactly how you planned… and still finding yourself whispering along with What a Wonderful World anyway.

I used to think I was choosing these songs. Now I’m not so sure. I think they’ve been choosing me.

My whole playlist on repeat would include:

Just Once by James Ingram

Take Your Time by Sam Hunt

Get Closer by Seals & Crofts

Landslide by Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac)

Time In a Bottle and I Have to Say I Love You in a Song by Jim Croce

Crystal Ball by Tommy Shaw (Styx)

Higher by Damn Yankees

Beautiful Crazy by Luke Combs

What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

Lady by Lionel Richie/Kenny Rogers

Somethings Always Wrong by Toad the Wet Sprocket

Waiting for a Star to Fall by Boy Meets Girl

Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik

Time by Hootie & the Blowfish

Come Over by Kenny Chesney

Feeling Good by Michael Buble

There's a Place In the World for a Gambler by Dan Fogelberg

Here & Now by Luther Vandross