New beginnings are always harder than we think. At first, they seem exciting and full of possibilities but often we hit a few bumps.
Stephanie faced a number of life changes when she moved to New York from San Francisco in 2014. As someone who works with audio, she found solace in music. This is the story of her first year in New York as told through her most played songs.
The dots surrounding this text represent all the songs Stephanie listened to 10 times or more during her first year in New York. There are also a handful of songs she found important and weren't played as much.
Blue dots ● represent songs that she associated with sadness, yellow dots ● are songs that she listened to with mixed feelings and magenta-colored dots ● are songs that made her happy.
In some ways, music was a way to deal with the inevitable loneliness that she sometimes felt in the city. The x-axis represents the number of days passed since she arrived in New York, the y-axis shows time of day. Do you see how she slowly learns to love her new home?
What made this transition harder than anything was a breakup. Her boyfriend, who moved with her to New York from the West Coast, broke up with her halfway through her first year. These are the songs she listened to during her breakup to deal with her emotions.
What followed was a musical exercise in self-healing. These are all the songs she associated with her breakup. Let's see what music helped Stephanie through her breakup.
Put on your headphones!
Starting from scratch is always hard. If you feel inspired please find the full list of Stephanie's first year in New York below. The majority of these songs are also on this Spotify list (sorry, no Taylor and Jay-Z).
| Song | Artist | Album | Plays | Emotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blank Space | Taylor Swift | 1989 (Deluxe) | 41 | ● happy |
| NEW DORP. NEW YORK | SBTRKT | NEW DORP. NEW YORK | 40 | ● happy |
| Elastic Heart | Sia | 1000 Forms of Fear | 37 | ● happy |
| Problem | Ariana Grande | My Everything (Deluxe) | 32 | ● happy |
| Feisty | Jhameel | Lion's Den | 31 | ● happy |
| Break Your Heart Right Back | Ariana Grande | My Everything (Deluxe) | 28 | ● sad |
| Started from the Bottom | Drake | Nothing Was the Same | 25 | ● happy |
| Backseat Freestyle | Kendrick Lamar | good kid m.A.A.d city | 24 | ● happy |
| Bang Bang | Jessie J | Bang Bang | 24 | ● happy |
| California | Joni Mitchell | Blue | 23 | ● sad |
| Bad Blood | Taylor Swift | 1989 (Deluxe) | 21 | ● sad |
| Out of the Woods | Taylor Swift | 1989 (Deluxe) | 19 | ● mixed feelings |
| Shake It Out | Florence + the Machine | Ceremonials (Deluxe Edition) (Cd1) | 19 | ● mixed feelings |
| All You Had to Do Was Stay | Taylor Swift | 1989 (Deluxe) | 18 | ● sad |
| Blue Gowns | Blue Hawaii | Blooming Summer | 18 | ● happy |
| Far Away | All India Radio | Fall | 18 | ● happy |
| Play It Right | Sylvan Esso | Sylvan Esso | 18 | ● happy |
| This Is What It Feels Like | Banks | Goddess | 17 | ● sad |
| You Be Killin Em | Fabolous | There Is No Competition 2: The Grieving Music Mixtape | 17 | ● happy |
| Awake | Tycho | Awake | 16 | ● happy |
| Gold | Bondax | Gold | 16 | ● happy |
| Gooey | Glass Animals | ZABA | 16 | ● happy |
| Shake It Off | Taylor Swift | 1989 (Deluxe) | 15 | ● happy |
| Blockbuster Night Part 1 | Run the Jewels | Run the Jewels 2 | 14 | ● happy |
| Good Things | Sleater-Kinney | Call the Doctor | 13 | ● sad |
| Gun | CHVRCHES | The Bones of What You Believe | 13 | ● sad |
| Black Tongue 11-5 (3) | The Never Say Nevers | N/A | 13 | ● happy |
| Coffee | Sylvan Esso | Sylvan Esso | 13 | ● happy |
| Zero | Yeah Yeah Yeahs | It's Blitz! | 13 | ● mixed feelings |
| Since U Been Gone | Kelly Clarkson | Breakaway | 12 | ● sad |
| You're Not The One - Blood Diamonds Remix | Sky Ferreira | You're Not The One (Remixes) | 12 | ● sad |
| Bulletproof | La Roux | La Roux | 12 | ● mixed feelings |
| K+D+B | The Chemical Brothers | Further | 12 | ● happy |
| On to the Next One | Jay-Z | The Blueprint 3 | 12 | ● happy |
| We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together | Taylor Swift | Red | 12 | ● mixed feelings |
| Beggin for Thread | Banks | Goddess (Deluxe) | 11 | ● sad |
| Best Thing I Never Had | Beyoncé | 4 | 11 | ● sad |
| Crystalline (Current Value Remix) | Björk | Biophilia Remix Series I | 11 | ● sad |
| Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) | Arcade Fire | The Suburbs Deluxe | 11 | ● sad |
| The Heart Wants What It Wants | Selena Gomez | The Heart Wants What It Wants | 11 | ● sad |
| Empire State Of Mind [Jay-Z + Alicia Keys] | Jay-Z | The Blueprint 3 | 11 | ● happy |
| From the Future | The Blow | The Blow | 11 | ● happy |
| White Lie | Jhameel | Waves: White Lie | 11 | ● mixed feelings |
| Bedroom Wall | Banks | London | 10 | ● sad |
| Skinny Love | Bon Iver | For Emma Forever Ago (Bonus Track Version) | 10 | ● sad |
| The Mess | The Naked and Famous | In Rolling Waves | 10 | ● sad |
| Waiting Game | Banks | London | 10 | ● sad |
| With Arms Outstretched | Rilo Kiley | The Execution of All Things | 10 | ● sad |
| American Boy | Estelle | Total Club Hits Vol. 2 | 10 | ● happy |
| Barely Standing (Major Lazer Kubiyashi Beat) [feat. Datsik & Sabi] | Diplo | N/A | 10 | ● mixed feelings |
| Lightning (Kent Rockafeller remix) | David Byrne & St. Vincent | Brass Tactics EP | 10 | ● happy |
| Starlight | Taylor Swift | Red | 10 | ● happy |
| Style | Taylor Swift | 1989 (Deluxe) | 10 | ● happy |
| Walk This Way | MØ | No Mythologies to Follow (Deluxe) | 10 | ● happy |
| Welcome to New York | Taylor Swift | 1989 (Deluxe) | 10 | ● happy |
| What I Like | Charli XCX | True Romance | 10 | ● happy |
| Come Back From San Francisco | The Magnetic Fields | 69 Love Songs (disc 1) | 6 | ● sad |
| New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down | LCD Soundsystem | Sound Of Silver | 6 | ● sad |
| Theme from New York New York | Frank Sinatra | Sinatra: Best of the Best | 2 | ● happy |
Send me your details. Then I can send you an email when the next one publishes.
Thank you for getting in touch!