The Morning: Pandemic playlists

March 12, 2022

First, a news update: Russian forces intensified their campaign of devastation aimed at cities and towns across Ukraine, including in the capital, Kyiv. Find more details below and on The Times's website.

By Melissa Kirsch

Good morning. Our pandemic playlists can serve as time capsules, providing a record of our emotions and states of mind over the past two years.

M Fatchurofi

Sad songs

To get through the pandemic, the writer Hanif Abdurraqib has relied on "sad bangers": "songs whose lyrics of grief, anxiety, yearning or some other mild or great darkness are washed over with an upbeat tune, or a chorus so infectious that it can weave its way into your brain without your brain taking stock of whatever emotional damage it carries with it." Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" is a sad banger, he writes in The Times Magazine's annual music issue. So are Robyn's "Dancing on My Own" and Lil Nas X's "Lost in the Citadel."

Music that conveys multiple, contradictory feelings has been precious these past few years. Uncertainty has been constant, optimism tempered by caution, anticipation mixed with fear. Thank goodness, then, for songs that permit us to dwell and even delight in the liminal state between OK and not OK. Such a song, Abdurraqib writes, "gets beyond binary emotions and unlocks a multilayered fullness that might, depending on the song, involve dancing, and crying, and longing, and stumbling out of some dive bar midtune to text or call the person you probably shouldn't."

I label my playlists by month and use them like a diary, to keep a record of a particular moment. A month or a year or a decade down the line, I can cue up a playlist and be returned, briefly, to that moment in time, to its unique matrix of feelings and impulses. My playlists from the past couple years are teeming with sad bangers, songs that I could dance and sing to, drive and weep to. Old songs like "True Faith" by New Order (March 2020). Newer ones like Olivia Rodrigo's "good 4 u" (July 2021).

I wonder what will become of our pandemic playlists years from now. Will we be inclined to revisit them? Will we want to re-experience what Abdurraqib calls "the minute-by-minute emotional contradictions of this era"? Or will we leave them to history, fossils from a time we'd prefer to forget?

For more

Check out the rest of The Times Magazine's music issue, featuring "The Songs That Get Us Through It."

Or listen to the At Home Soundtrack, a playlist of the songs that were getting Times readers through it last spring.

From Pitchfork, "The Morbid Comforts of Pandemic Playlists."

WEEKENDS ARE FOR …

🎤 Comedy: Our critic recommends Taylor Tomlinson's new special.

🛍 Shopping: Stylists like this Manhattan vintage shop.

🕰 Daylight savings: Clocks spring an hour forward overnight in most of the U.S.

THE WEEK IN CULTURE

The "Rust" set in New Mexico.Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Alec Baldwin is seeking to avoid liability in the fatal "Rust" shooting.
Disney's C.E.O. said it was "opposed" to Florida's bill banning classroom discussion about sexual orientation after criticism of the company's previous silence.
Chowhound, a digital gathering place for obsessive food lovers, will close after 25 years.
This year's Oscar race for best actress has no clear front-runner. Our columnist is reveling in the chaos.
The musician Grimes inadvertently revealed that she and Elon Musk have a second child.
An actor built a podcast around Tom Hanks rejecting him for a role. He finally got to ask Hanks why.
"The hottest trend in streaming right now is … adding commercials to previously ad-free platforms," Vulture reports.
Cultural institutions face a dilemma: Is it safe to drop mask and vaccine requirements?
Balenciaga's Paris show responded to the war in Ukraine.
Vanity Fair delves into the succession drama at Scholastic, the publisher of "Harry Potter," "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and other titles.
The first episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" aired 25 years ago. This podcaster rewatched every episode.

THE LATEST NEWS

Russia-Ukraine War

An explosion yesterday after a Russian tank fired on an apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine.Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated Press

Russia widened its bombardment of Ukrainian cities and hit civilian targets including a shoe factory, a psychiatric hospital and an apartment building.
Russian forces' size makes them less mobile and more open to attack.
The invasion has transformed Europe's trains into a network that carries supplies into Ukraine and residents out.
Western leaders said they would end normal trade relations with Russia and take other steps to isolate it from the world economy.
Money helped the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich secure elite status in the West. Now it has made him a target.

REAL ESTATE

Clockwise from left: Mick Anders for The Steele Group Sotheby's International Realty, Imoto, Sean Madden

What you get for $900,000: A Greek Revival in Hopewell, Va.; a four-bedroom near New Orleans; or a duplex in Jersey City, N.J.

The hunt: A woman wanted to invest in a one- or two-bedroom Brooklyn home. Which did she choose? Play our game.

Buying land: Vacant lots offer a different path to a dream house.

In the Caribbean: Foreign investors are buying homes again in the British Virgin Islands.

FOOD

Justin J Wee for The New York Times

Induction cooking: The perils of gas cooking make these ranges more appealing.

Salmon without the smell: The secret is to start with a glaze.

Crème de cassis: This liqueur works in more than just the kir.

Southern ritual: A South Carolina resident is carrying on the disappearing tradition of hog slaughters.

LIVING

Sunrise in Cambodia.Thomas Cristofoletti for The New York Times

Traveling to Southeast Asia?: Expect more paperwork, higher airfare and cheaper hotels.

Alternative treatments: A Manhattan wellness center offers ketamine for mental health.

Trail markers: Skiers' paper maps are disappearing as resorts push apps.

Sequel ceremonies: The trend of having multiple weddings might last beyond the pandemic.

Declining sex drive: How to get it back.

GAMES OF THE WEEKEND

Baylor won the men's national basketball championship last year.Robert Deutsch/USA Today Sports

College basketball's big weekend: Over the next two days, dozens of men's and women's college basketball teams will play in their conference championship games. The stakes are high: Winning means automatic entry into the N.C.A.A. tournament. For smaller schools, it's often the only route to March Madness, so expect intense games — and, with luck, a few buzzer beaters. Tournament games begin at 11 a.m. Eastern today and air on ESPN, CBS, Fox and Fox Sports. They conclude with the announcements of the N.C.A.A. brackets tomorrow evening.

NOW TIME TO PLAY

The pangram from yesterday's Spelling Bee was jawbone. Here is today's puzzle — or you can play online.

Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines.

Here's today's Wordle. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here.

Before You Go …

Read Amanda Petrusich on the Lemonheads' 1992 album "It's a Shame About Ray," which is being reissued for its 30th anniversary.

Would you like to redraft the N.B.A.? You can.

Here's Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Bill Callahan covering John Prine's "She Is My Everything."

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa

Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti, Ashley Wu and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com.