Let’s talk about birth playlists that don’t revolve around Enya

Jill sent us a question about labor playlists — you know, music to birth by! She specifically wondered what kind of lists you guys have made that DIDN’T include Enya (Enya fans: she means no harm!). I never got to make one, so here’s some of the songs that I would pick if I were giving birth like, right now.

Personally, I feel like birth is WAY too unpredictable to have a perfectly organized playlist (what if you want to listen to something in a different order? Or nothing at all?), so I just tried to stick with my faves. You’ll notice this is heavy on the sixties and seventies flower-child lullabies (Dylan, George Harrison, Led Zeppelin) and singer-songwriters (I can’t help it!), but I tried to keep it diverse. Who wouldn’t want to try to dance through labor?

These are a few of my favorites songs divided up into hopefully labor-and-birthing-appropriate categories:

Happy, Fun, “This isn’t as bad as I thought it would be!” Tunes

• John Lennon – Oh Yoko
• George Harrison – Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let it Roll)
• Sergio Mendes ft. Erykah Badu & Will I Am – That Heat
• Bob Marley and the Wailers – Is This Love
• Devendra Banhart – Long Haired Child
• Erykah Badu – …& On

When you need something to make you comfortable/zen you out.

• Simon and Garfunkel – Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall
• Beck – Chemtrails
• Erykah Badu – The Healer (Hip-Hop)
• Gustavo Cerati – Rio Babel
• Andrew Bird – Lull
• Radiohead – Bloom
• Bon Iver – Blood Bank
• Grizzly Bear – On a Neck, On a Spit
• George Harrison – Pisces Fish
• Fleet Foxes – Ragged Wood

“Oh, shit. Labor might be hard.”

• Big Boi featuring Janelle Monae – Be Still
• Oasis – Slide Away
• George Harrison – All Things Must Pass
• The Beatles – While My Guitar Gently Weeps
• Led Zeppelin – Kashmir

When labor gets really hard.

• M.I.A. – Paper Planes
• Curtis Mayfield – Think
• The Impressions – People Get Ready
• Simon and Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence

“YAY MY BABY IS SO AMAZING! I AM SO IN LOVE!”

• The Beatles – Here Comes The Sun
• The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize??
• Chris Robinson – …If You See California
• M. Ward – Here Comes the Sun Again
• Desolation Wilderness – 4/4 Love Song
• Bon Iver – Babys
• Oasis – Wonderwall

So, what (if anything) did you guys listen to? If you have a playlist saved or blogged online, link to it!

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