It’s the most wonderful time of the year – Thanksgiving!
In our family, this is THE holiday of the year. Our kids and grandkids come from Seattle, Denver, Houston, Bentonville, Oklahoma City and Las Vegas, and our table is always open for guests. When our tribe outgrew the dining room table a few years ago, we moved the celebration to Roger’s shop, and despite the faint whiff of motor oil wafting above the turkey, it’s just grand!
No sooner do we flip the calendar to November than I dive into List Mode, which everyone knows is my Happy Place! Menus and shopping lists – check. Carpets cleaned – check. Hotel reservations – check. Crafts for the kiddos – check. Cleaning – ugh!
But my favorite task is creating our Thanksgiving Playlist. No party is complete without tunes, right? Well this one is done, and I’ve been grooving while I work this week. In case you’re still working on your own tunes, I humbly offer my selections for your consideration.
This year I thought I might want to include some current music, so I googled “top songs of 2018” and guess what? I didn’t know ONE SINGLE ONE of them! What, I wondered, had I been missing? I listened to several of them, and again, guess what? I ain’t missing nothin’! They call that music? Pfft. I may be old, but I know good music when I hear it!
If Top 40 is out, where do I start? Well, my playlist has to please a wide range of tastes spanning four generations. Songs must be popular and upbeat. Nothing obscure, mellow or classical. To make my cut, a song has to meet one or more of these criteria:
- Speaks of “home”
- Celebrates love
- Offers encouragement for life’s hard times
- Makes your toes tap
In a word, my playlist is ECLECTIC. Where else will you find Ella Fitzgerald and Pink back to back? Or George Michael and Louis Armstrong? Or Lady Gaga and Wynona? Isn’t that just so FUN?
And now, without further ado, I present to you the 2018 Gronewold Thanksgiving Extravaganza Playlist. {Drum roll, please.}
Home songs
Home – Daughtry
Home – Michael Buble
Back Home Again – John Denver
Home – Phillip Phillips
Love songs
You are the Best Thing – Ray LaMontagne
When I Was Your Man – Bruno Mars
Sugar – Maroon 5
When I Said “I Do” – Clint Black & Lisa Hartman Black
Dream a Little Dream of Me – Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
City of Stars – Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone (LaLa Land)
How Sweet it is to be Loved by You – James Taylor
A Better Man – Clint Black
Something’s Got a Hold on Me – Christina Aguilera
Tennessee Whiskey – Chris Stapleton
She Will Be Loved – Maroon 5
Never Enough – Loren Allred (The Greatest Showman)
It’s Your Love – Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
Through the Years – Kenny Rogers
Always Remember Us This Way – Lady Gaga (A Star is Born)
No One Else on Earth – Wynona
Say (All I Need) – One Republic
This Love – Maroon 5
Life Songs
Stand by Me – Ben E. King
Humble and Kind – Tim McGraw
Try – Pink
Lean on Me – Bill Withers
What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
Toe-tapping Songs
Faith – George Michael
Waterloo – ABBA
Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars
Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
Baby Shark
What’s on YOUR playlist? Have a fabulous Thanksgiving, my friends. May your homes be filled with laughter, your hearts overflow with gratitude, and your toes find reason to tap!
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