A Weekly Playlist To: Crush Out

 Crushing out is like rocking out except it hurts way more. 

As I missed posting a Weekly Playlist To last Monday, this week’s mix, at a full hour long, is double the eclectic. I picked each song to represent both the breathless excitement and the agonizing pain of having a dumb stupid crush on somebody or on somebodies.   

Though having a crush is usually a bit of a tragedy, all we can do (besides actually initiate something with the crush-ee, which, well—no thanks) is enjoy the process. At the end of the day, it is kind of fun. Even the agonizing bits. I might just be a drama queen, though.
 
Take a listen to the full playlist here!
 
1.My Hands are Shaking – Sondre Lerche I shake when I haven't eaten enough. Also, when I am talking to someone I like. Also, when I'm nervous about anything. Sometimes I shake for no reason. I just have shaky hands. 
 
My hands are shaking
From carrying this torch
From carrying this torch for you
 
2.Girl Crush – Little Big Town There's often more than two people involved in the tragedy of a crush: you, the person you're crushing on, and the person that the person you're crushing on is actually crushing on. It is a tense dynamic often resulting in irrational hatred and rational jealousy towards the third party, captured perfectly by Little Big Town.
 
I don’t get no sleep, I don’t get no peace
Thinkin’ about her under your bed sheets
The way that she’s whisperin’, the way that she’s pullin’ you in
Lord knows I’ve tried, I can’t get her off my mind
 
3.Untouchable Face – Ani DiFranco It doesn't matter how old I get. I will always feel like my crush has no idea who I am. 
 
So fuck you
And your untouchable face
Fuck you
For existing in the first place
And who am I, that I should be vying for your touch
Who am I, bet you can’t even tell me that much
 
4.All Shook Up – Avila This version of the classic song "All Shook Up" is hauntingly beautiful, like all of my fantasies-- which involve my crush and I featured in a rom-com montage of us exploring a retro Haunted House ride at a funky pop-up carnival. Just me? 'Kay.  
 
My tongue gets tied when I try to speak
My insides shake and there’s no relief
There’s only one cure for this body of mine
That’s love like yours, that’s love so fine
 
5.Dandelion – Kacey Musgraves I make wishes at 11:11, I make wishes on shooting stars, I make wishes on birthday candles. None of this shit has ever worked. 
 
Dandelion
A million little wishes float across the sky
But it’s just a waste of breath and a waste of time, I know
‘Cause just like him, you always leave me crying
Dandelion
 
6.Why Can’t I? – Liz Phair This one is a little bit of a loose interpretation because the narrator in the song has clearly already snagged her crush. However, the feeling are quite the same. I would relate the symptoms to those of a heart attack. Like a cardiovascular thing,  not a cute metaphor.
 
Why can’t I breathe whenever I think about you
Why can’t I speak whenever I talk about you
It’s inevitable, it’s a fact that we’re gonna get down to it
So tell me
Why can’t I breathe whenever I think about you
 
7.Wedding Bell Blues – The 5th Dimension Another loose interpretation, as the narrator is with Bill, the man of her dreams. And yet! He won't marry her. Come on. That must be agony. 
 
I love you so, I always will
And though devotion rules my heart I take no bows
But Bill, you’re never gonna take those wedding vows
 
8.Stone Cold – Demi Lovato I've been on a real Demi kick lately. Something about this song, especially the part where she pretends to play on her phone so that she seems cool and busy in the same room as her ex and his new fling, is very relatable.
 
I’ll take the pain
Give me the truth
Me and my heart
We’ll make it through
 
9.Our Hearts Are Wrong – Jessica Lea Mayfield I have liked people that are no good for me. Sometimes, I have done worse than like them, like care about them. Sometimes, my heart is just not my friend.
 
I know how you work
I am just like you
No matter what you say
Our hearts are wrong
Our hearts are wrong
​
10.You Don’t Know Me – Jann Arden This one once again brings to mind the "my crush will never know who I am" phenomenon.
 
No you don’t know the one, who dreams of you at night
And longs to kiss your lips, longs to hold you tight
Oh, I am just a friend, that’s all I’ve ever been
‘Cause you don’t know me
 
11.You, Sailor – Erin McKeown Now that I have put this into the playlist I'm not really sure why I did. Oh well, it's here now.
 
You, sailor, on the lonely sea
Will you turn and promise me
You’ll always be alive
Oh, I might stutter, I might falter
Sail uncharted waters
Drowning, lost, then found
 
12.Poison & Wine – The Civil Wars This song should be the theme song for the next inevitable opposites-attract Hollywood rom-com. It's so hateful and hot all the same time. Again, probably not good for me.
 
I wish you’d hold me when I turn my back
The less I give, the more I get back
Oh, your hands can heal, your hands can bruise
I don’t have a choice but I still choose you
Oh, I don’t love you, but I always will
 
13.Habits (Stay High) – Tove Lo I've heard this song on the radio so many times. I can't believe I don't hate it already.
 
Spend my days locked in a haze
Trying to forget you babe
I fall back down
I gotta stay high all my life to forget I’m missing you
 
14.Sister Wife – Alex Winston This is another weird playlist choice. Oh, whatever, I think this song is hilarious.
 
Hey there sister wife
Get the hell out, it’s my night
You don’t know the way to his heart
Like I do
 
15.Baby It’s You – The Shirelles Crying over someone, being convinced that they're your soulmate but they haven't realized it yet, blah blah join the club. 
 
Oh, oh, many, many nights roll by
I sit alone at home and cry over you
What can I do?
I can’t help myself
‘Cause baby, it’s you
 
16.Lay Me Down – Sam Smith I mostly chose this song because Sam Smith makes me move like a classically trained violinist-- very jerky and awkward but I'm just feeling it so much I don't even care.
 
One day I will be, where I was
Right there, right next to you
And it’s hard, the days just seem so dark
The moon, the stars, they’re nothing without you
Your touch, your skin, where do I begin?
No words can explain the way I’m missing you
 
17.Sway – Bic Runga Bic Runga is one of my all-time favorite artists. I may need to do a playlist of just her songs because that is how obsessed I currently am. Take a listen to her soft, smooth voice, and get lost in how gorgeous she makes crushing on someone sound.  
 
Don’t stray
Don’t ever go away
I should be much too smart for this
You know it gets the better of me
Sometimes
When you and I collide
I fall into an ocean of you
Pull me out in time
Don’t let me drown
 
Again, all of the songs can be found here for your crushing out pleasure.
 
Happy crushing.
GU