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Music Files

Music Files

My Nephew Was Going Off To College. Naturally, I Made Him A Playlist

By Jason Kettinger | Posted at 1:36 PM

It reflects me as much as him. But isn’t family truly the shared experience of knowing and enjoying one another? He likes Gracie Abrams, so I put “That’s So True” on the list, because I like it, too. She’s like a Jewish Taylor Swift; even to say it like that feels like a massive compliment. And I truly hope no one has lingering bitterness toward director J.J. Abrams; Gracie is his daughter.

Speaking of Taylor Swift, she’s on our list a lot. She’s her generation’s Paul McCartney, or Brian Wilson. There are a lot of women on the list, and the kind of songs that men and boys sometimes—it’s perceived, anyway—don’t feel free to appreciate. But that’s me, and it got me thinking.

I don’t think I was trying to subvert sex and gender stereotypes, per se. If there’s a point, it’s simpler: I’m not threatened by women being around, and expressing themselves. I have been concerned as much about how women and their femininity are derided, dismissed, or even erased as I am by male self-doubt.

I may not really know what “toxic masculinity” is, but I know any true humanity doesn’t consist in the negation of someone else.

Anyway, I think it’s a good list, a mix of Broadway, pop bangers and ballads, humor, and just a dash of Jesus.

(Heads up: not all the songs are clean, so to speak. I don’t get a clean version except when there’s outright blasphemy, as in misusing the Lord’s Name.) It’s almost 14 hours long. Maybe I overdid it!

Here you go!

Jason Kettinger is Associate Editor of Open for Business. He writes on politics, sports, faith and more.

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