I’m still getting back into the swing of the new semester and my schedule, so I wanted to keep today’s post light and fun! Going to see Bastille at Stage AE over the weekend made me think about how important music is to my life, and how excited I get when I hear one of my favorite songs.

My favorite songs are all over the place, genre-wise, but they’re all songs that I could listen to on repeat for hours on end. As I was writing them down for this post, I realized that I heard a lot of them for the first time on a movie or TV soundtrack – which is actually not surprising, because I’m not necessarily incredibly adventurous with new music. This list isn’t in any particular order, because that’s too hard for me to choose!

1. Do You Believe in Magic? by The Lovin’ Spoonful

This song was the theme song for State of Grace, a TV show on Fox Family (which became ABC Family, which became Freeform). I was hooked from the first time I heard it – I don’t know how you can listen to this song and not feel happy.

2. Accidentally in Love by the Counting Crows

This song is from the Shrek 2 soundtrack – the music video actually features characters from the movie!

3. Love Shack by the B52s

I’m sure that I heard this song for the first time at a wedding, or a middle school dance – it’s such a standard. But I know every word, and I can’t help but sing along.

4. Drops of Jupiter by Train

I was just at the right age when this song was at the height of its popularity, and it stuck with me! I’ve been to a few Train concerts since then, and love to hear this song live.

5. Vienna by Billy Joel

I’ve seen Billy Joel twice now in concert, and I’m still waiting to hear this song live. This is another soundtrack find – I heard it during 13 Going on 30  – and I think the lyrics and the music are incredible.

6. Boys of Summer by Don Henley

This song has one of my favorite “special effects” that are made by an instrument and not a fake sound effect – guitar playing that sounds exactly like seagulls.

7.  Someday We’ll Know by the New Radicals

In A Walk to Remember, Mandy Moore and Jonathan Foreman from Switchfoot duet to this song. The New Radicals weren’t around for long, but I think the songs that they did record are incredible.

That’s my list! Let me know what your all-time favorite songs are in the comments below – I am always looking for new music recommendations, since I clearly don’t explore much on my own!