Peace Corps Playlist

I have a playlist for everything.  Every road trip I've been on has included a playlist.  There is a playlist specifically for Bachelorette parties (I've planned a few back in my days as a professional bridesmaid).  I have a playlist for painting my house, tiling my kitchen countertops, holidays from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year's Eve to Easter to various birthdays.  There's one titled "Awesome", that I'm kind of scared to look at for fear that it's not actually awesome, and moreso, that it's probably really embarassing.  One was made with a drag show in mind, aptly titled "good things to listen to" (??) which I think was used when we ordered a male stripper (named TRACY!) for a bachelorette party which almost got us forcibly removed from a very nice hotel in Manhattan (sorry, Parker Meridian).  There are some for various weddings, people in my life for whom I've made cds, and various cities in which I've lived or visited that are associated with certain songs.  I have a playlist for deployment that thankfully hasn't gotten any use in recent years (and will hopefully never get use again).   So obviously, I would have a Peace Corps playlist.  It's cheesily entitled "Inspire" and was made with the idea that I'm going to need pick-me-ups in the form of music during my service.  It's also made with the idea that I love depressing music.  A little bit of juxtaposition for ya.  Anyway, I thought I would share some of it, mostly because it makes me laugh when I think of what a huge dork I am, and thought you might like to laugh at me yourself.  Feel free to share your own Peace Corps inspired music selections- I'd love to add to my collection, and maybe laugh at you, too.

Inspire Playlist
ABBA: I Have a Dream (needs no explanation)
Alanis Morissette: You Learn (because I am a product of 90s angry lady rock)
All-American Rejects: Move Along
Beatles: Carry that Weight, Blackbird, Let it Be, Getting Better, With a Little Help from my Friends (gotta have some Beatles)
Black Eyed Peas: Where is the Love (come on, this is cheesy)
Bon Jovi: It's My Life, Living on a Prayer, Who Says You Can't Go Home (because what's more inspiring than Bon Jovi?)
Britney Spears: Stronger (Britney's always good for a dance party)
Bruce Hornsby: The Way it Is (Please tell me you remember this song written by a rich American white dude about tough lives, like he really knows much about "the way it is")
Songs from the Lion King, because I'm going to be in Africa, duh.
Cat Stevens: Wild World, Peace Train
Cher: Believe (one of the top gay anthems of all time, and thus will inspire me to be awesome and timeless like Cher)
Dixie Chicks: Ready to Run, Heartbreak Town, Landslide, More Love, Top of the World, Long Way Around, Wide Open Spaces (because you may learn that I have a semi-secret past as a country music fan, also the Dixie Chicks are amazing)
A Fine Frenzy: Come On, Come Out, The Minnow & the Trout
Fiona Apple: The Child is Gone
Fleetwood Mac: Go Your Own Way
Garth Brooks: Standing Outside the Fire (yes, embarassing)
Glee Cast: Don't Stop Believin' (one of my all time favorites), 4 minutes (because sometimes you only have 4 minutes to save the world), Somebody to Love, Keep Holding on, Defying Gravity, Over the Rainbow, Taking Chances, Dream On, I Dreamed a Dream (GLEE IS AWESOME, don't hate.)
Guster: Manifest Destiny, The Captain, Amsterdam, Homecoming King, Keep It Together, Rise & Shine, I'm Through, G Major
Imogen Heap: Wait it Out
Ingrid Michaelson: Keep Breathing
Irene Cara: Flashdance... What a Feeling (sometimes I'm a steel town girl on a Saturday night)
Jewel: Till We Run Out of Road
Jo Dee Messina: Bring on the Rain (there's that country past creepin')
Joan Baez: Blowin' in the Wind
Kate Nash: Mouthwash
Katy Perry: Firework
Kelly Clarkson: Breakaway
The Killers: Smile Like You Mean It
Lee Ann Womack: Something Worth Leaving Behind, I Hope You Dance
Little Shop of Horrors Cast: Downtown (I always wanted to play Crystal, Chiffon, or Ronnette).

Lynyrd Skynryd: Free Bird (no playlist is complete without it)
Owl City: Hello Seattle
Sara Bareilles: City, Uncharted, King of Anything
Sara Evans: Born to Fly
Sarah McLachlan: Fallen, World On Fire, Do What You Have To Do
Shania Twain: Up!, She's Just a Pretty Face, C'est La Vie
SHeDAISY: Out of My Mind (seriously obsessed with this song when I was deciding to apply for Peace Corps 3 years ago), Whatever It Takes
Sheryl Crow: Sweet Child O' Mine, Light in Your Eyes, If it Makes You Happy, Good Is Good, Wildflower, Lifetimes, Where Has All the Love Gone
Sia: Little Black Sandals, Clap Your Hands, Bring Night, Cloud
Simon & Garfunkel: Sound of Silence
Stevie Wonder: Superstition
Sugarland: Something More, Settlin'
Taylor Swift: Long Live
TI: Live Your Life
Tom Petty: American Girl, Runnin' Down a Dream, Learning to Fly, Into the Great Wide Open, Walls
Vanessa Carlton: Ordinary Day, A Thousand Miles

 This one is a particular gem.  Thanks, Genesis!