So What Music Are You Listening to During the Lockdown?

family, humor, music, rankings, technology 2 Minutes

I’ve heard of researchers studying Twitter feeds to get their fingers on the pulse of current events.

Well now maybe we can use music to do the same thing.

OnBuy.com, a UK-based online marketplace, recently completed some interesting analysis to determine the most popular lockdown songs on Spotify.

The words ‘Coronavirus’, ‘COVID-19’, ‘lockdown’, and ‘quarantine’ were inserted into Spotify, and the top 500 playlists (defined as the 500 playlists with the most followers) with these in their titles were collected. Totaling over 35,000 songs, each Spotify playlist was cross-compared to identify any duplicate songs, any of which with the highest number of occurrences across playlists were included in the final list of most popular songs.

Featured in 95 of the 500 playlists considered, Toxic by Britney Spears is the world’s favorite lockdown song.

Coming in second, and my personal favorite on this list, appearing on 87 of the playlists is Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees(with one of the all-time best opening scenes to a movie):

 

Rounding out the top five are:

U Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer

Don’t Stand So Close To Me by The Police

I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor

Here are the 20 songs that made the list:

Song Artist(s) No. of playlists
Toxic Britney Spears 95
Stayin’ Alive Bee Gees 87
U Can’t Touch This MC Hammer 85
Don’t Stand So Close To Me The Police 83
I Will Survive Gloria Gaynor 75
SICKO MODE Travis Scott 70
Mask Off Future 69
Work From Home Fifth Harmony, Ty Dolla $ign 67
Survivor Destiny’s Child 66
Fever Peggy Lee 65
It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) R.E.M. 62
Harder To Breathe Maroon 5 60
Closer The Chainsmokers, Halsey 59
Can’t Feel My Face The Weeknd 57
Down With The Sickness Disturbed 55
Take My Breath Away Berlin 55
Every Breath You Take The Police 54
I Feel It Coming The Weeknd, Daft Punk 53
Bohemian Rhapsody Queen 52
Toxicity System Of A Down 51

You can see what the common thread is to all these songs: toxicity, breathing, survival.

My favorite songs on the list, besides Stayin’ Alive, are Bohemian Rhapsody and Fever.

I was going to close with a clever sentence that incorporated many of the songs listed above, but once I read it back, it seemed kind of insensitive.

So let me just say that I think the one thing we can agree on, none of us can wait until we can take our Mask Off.

But until then, Don’t Stand So Close to Me because I would rather be Stayin’ Alive than coming Down with the Sickness…

*image from Biggleswade Today

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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76 thoughts on “So What Music Are You Listening to During the Lockdown?”

      3. OK. I just watched the music video, and yes, I do know that song, from Top Gun. It’s just been so long since I’ve heard it. I guess the coronavirus has brought it back!

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      14. Totally!! And I wouldn’t hear fhe end of it, just like Anna/Annie which is now Anna/Tanya. More names would confuse the poor writer and I am sure you would hate that! Jason already is trying to get me to write Tonya not Tanya, so its his fault if you see that spelling!

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      16. Oh thanks, another pair of eyes is just so “helpful!”
        Sorry to disappoint but I do believe I will be extra careful to not have Tonya show up in the next story! 🙂

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      19. We won’t say how many times I watched that movie! I just may have all the lines memorized. ☺ And now a line will probably come out in the story, thanks to you! Ha Ha!

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    1. It is a bit of an older set of songs. And what a string of hits for travolta back then. Saturday Night Fever, Urban Cowboy, and Grease. And I noticed that Urban Cowboy is on Netflix this month.

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  5. Well I’ve been listening to all sorts of songs. Today I must have been in a hippie mood because I was rocking Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane. On the list though, Bohemian Rhapsody and Staying Alive are a couple of my favorites!

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  7. Great list! Don’t Stand So Close To Me—I feel like I want to break that one out when somebody gets right behind me in line instead of standing the recommended six feet away.🤣

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  8. Great post for a Monday morning, Jim! Watching those video clips certainly gets the toes tapping and the heart pumping for what the week has in store. It would be hard to pick a favorite, until you include Bohemian Rhapsody. That songs was ground-breaking and only a hand full of people can compare to the vocal stylings of Freddie Mercury. Thanks for sharing the great music!

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  11. Another fantastic post for a music Monday. Oddly or not, I’m listening to less music today then I was before the Pandemic, as my commute drive to and from work is now less than half the time. I make up for it a bit in the morning getting ready and at home preparing dinner. I’m listening to the same mixes and curated playlists on Spotify, and really nothing I’m aware is of a “distancing” theme. So, it’s pretty much eclectic as ever from classic 70s rock to Latino to World Music … old hurtin’ Country before it became Pop. Also, my car karaoke still needs to be silenced. 😊

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    1. thanks, Michael. your choices are eclectic for sure. And I think I scared my wife and son last night when I announced it was time for the Borden Family Karaoke night. Needless to say, it never got off the ground… 🙂

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  12. What a miserable bunch we must be! Not a single one of those is on my playlist, nor will be. Maybe they should try listening to the lyrics: the subject of Don’t Stand So Close To Me might come as a surprise to some 😉

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  13. No surprises there methinks…although I am a Freddie Mercury fan…I am listening to Bett Midler at the moment and some of the real old ones like Snow Patrol and Run are also calling to me as well…Freddie has had to take a back seat…

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    1. hmmm. it looks like some new artists I need to listen to ; I’ve never heard of Snow Patrol or Run. I was able to find several songs by Snow Patrol on YouTube – do you have a favorite? And is Run the name of a band? Is there a song of theirs you recommend?

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  14. I like all the songs on the list except Brittany Spears. Not a fan. I’ve been listening to a lot of 50’s – 70’s. Fever sung by Elvis was on my SiriusXM on my way to the bank ATM today. I just love music and whatever makes my hula hoop goes faster is what I listen to. Great post on our BS way of life right now.

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    1. thanks, Lisa! I do like the Elvis version of Fever better than Peggy Lee’s. And yes, I think a lot of us are using music to hep get us through the pandemic! (hula hoop, huh 🙂 )

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      1. Yep. I hula hoop 30-60 minutes a day along with long walks with my dog and stretching. I’ve lost 2” in my waste in a month. I’m okay with social distancing. I can entertain myself. 😳😝

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      3. Yes it is. I’m short and was pushing into the next size up just before I lost my job. It’s done wonders for me physically and mentally. I’m little but my love handles were taking over. At 54 years young, I wasn’t going to buy new clothes. I might be one of a few people on the planet that this quarantine has had a positive effect on. 😳😂😊

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