Your heart is broken. Everything you see around you reminds you of this one particular person. Almost everything that you hear reminds you of this person. What else can you do?

You put on a playlist.

Filled with the likes of Kelly Clarkson’s breakup songs, to cry-your-heart-out bops from Adele, a playlist can fill you with an insurmountable feeling of sadness or hope. A breakup playlist, that’s what it is. It’s there for you to fill the gap during your downs, and there for you to feel better if words from friends can’t coax you enough. It’s the power of music, but most especially, the power of playlists.

I’ve been obsessed with making playlists for as long as I remember. If it wasn’t Spotify, it was burning tracks from my decade-old laptop to a CD player to be turned up in the realms of my room or a car. The feeling of organizing lyrics that compliment how you feel in that very moment is powerful. It’s why you feel nostalgic when that song comes up on the radio, as it reminds you of the days of your summer adolescence.

How are they so powerful, you might ask?

To begin with, we must understand that music is the language of emotion. Music can trigger feelings and thoughts that you couldn’t quite comprehend at a certain point in time as the melodies are absorbed through your veins. To accompany that, however, is poignant lyricism that is witnessed in a good handful of songs. If executed well, a song with great lyricism can accurately empathize with a person and provide them the supporting hand that a person may need.

Now bring in the concept of playlists. Playlists provide you with a great opportunity to categorize songs into certain moods, seasons, etc. It allows you to store a certain memory into a certain kind of poem, and have you retrieve it if you wish. It also grants you the ability to share that memory or feeling with someone else.

All in all, music playlists are powerful yet underrated in the grand scheme of things. Time will pass on, but the notion of song and sound is here to stay.