An Introvert’s Playlist: 15 Songs That Will Help You Switch Gears and Stop Overthinking

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As an introvert and a self-identified worrier, I often have a lot of thoughts running through my head. Whether I’m studying, trying to nap, or just pondering on a rainy day, the thoughts are there. Sometimes the thoughts become overwhelming, and I need my overthinking brain to switch gears before I freak myself out. When that’s the case, music becomes my remedy.

Here are 15 of my favorite songs that might help you, too, quiet your mind:

1. Hazy by Rosi Golan

This song is best for a lazy day in a blanket with a cup of tea. Sweet and light and perfectly airy, it’s like the meringue of music. I like to imagine first date scenarios as the lyrics play out, a perfect guy in a bookstore with dorky glasses and a cockeyed beanie.

2. Atlas Hands by Benjamin Francis Leftwich

This song boasts one of my favorite lines of all time: “When the stars are all we share will you be there?” It resonates with me because as an introvert, I can be guarded and accidentally drive people away. I’ve realized that the people who stick around are those who will make things work no matter what. This is a wonderfully deep song that will ground you in the present moment.

3. Over It by Relient K

A lulling cadence, light lyrics, and a story about searching. I think I’ve said enough.

4. Sick of Losing Soulmates by Dodie Clark

This song hits the same notes as Atlas Hands: the recurring themes of loss, nostalgia, and remembering what was good in a relationship before it crumbled. It’s a bittersweet treat that’s nice for an in-between day.

5. Can’t Help Falling in Love covered by Twenty One Pilots

Elvis sung by Twenty One Pilots. What could go wrong? (Answer: absolutely nothing.)

6. Freckles and Constellations by Dodie Clark

The entirety of this song was written by Dodie’s viewers in the comments of her videos. I love its upbeat tone and how it symbolizes community.

7. Hold Back the River by James Bay

I think this hits on the one thing all introverts want: understanding. James Bay sings about “seeing where she hides,” and I relate to that because that’s all I want. This is another song to make you focus on just one thought instead of a jumble.

8. Georgia by Vance Joy

Young love. This one reminds me of cute Hallmark movies and just-for-fun books read in between breaks in school. Coincidentally, this song also provides fantastic background noise for reading said books.

9. Waving Through a Window from the upcoming Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen

“Do I even make a sound?” Another lyric that lingers in my soul. I’ve always wondered how my soft voice could be heard in the midst of extroverted noise. But when I discovered writing, the world came alive. It was an outlet for me to be heard. This song discusses waving through a window and nobody seeing or hearing you. It reminds me that words, in black, crisp ink are just as valid a voice as a verbal one. Even though I still wonder if I’m being heard, at least I’m giving myself a chance.

10. Mess Is Mine by Vance Joy

Another Hallmark-feeling song, Mess is Mine is soft in every sense of the word. From the voice to the lyrics to the meaning. A cushion against any harsh thoughts or feelings that stab at your mind.

11. Stubborn Love by The Lumineers

It’s summer nights when the air is muggy and fireflies blink up from the grass. It’s the sunset falling down the sky, the hills backlight by tropical pinks and yellows. It’s remembering that somewhere, in the future, you have responsibilities. That this will come to an end and you will return to work, to school, to reality. But right now, listening to Stubborn Love, you forget all that. Instead, you imagine a sunglasses and pool day. You smell firewood and bug spray and freedom. It’s rebellion in the slightest made into a song. And that, I think, is the definition of beauty.

12. Melancholy Astronautic Man by Allie Moss

Do you remember the days when you were young and crying? Tears streaming down your face, your eyes burning, and your heart crushed? And your parent, sibling, or friend tried anything they could to make you laugh and make your tears pause for a split second? This is that song. The embodiment of a rainbow after a heavy rain, of sun after thunderclouds, and blue skies after tornado warnings. It feels like a smile on the worst day possible. One that made you feel a hundred times better.

13. Beginning by Jordan Michael Taylor

A completely instrumental song played on an acoustic guitar, the notes carry your worries away, leaving your mind in as blank a state as it can be.

14. I’ll Be by Edwin McCain

Ballgowns, fairy lights, and candles. Romance, hope, and all things good in this world. A song to prescribe starry eyes, cotton minds, and melting hearts. It’s the pivotal song in A Cinderella Story, and every time I listen to it, Hillary Duff and Chad Michael Murray do a slow dance through my mind. A tease between what I grew up on and what I still watch today. Hillary and Chad are not on Disney anymore, but they shared a past. A past that “younger me” was happy to indulge in. And a memory “current me” misses if I’m not listening to this.

15. Middle of a Memory by Cole Swindell

Last but not least is a country song. I’m not usually one for country but some kind of magic lives in this one. Give it a try, even if you don’t believe me.

In fact, give all of these songs a try, especially when your mind is full of unruly thoughts. And if you have the chance, leave me a comment on the best songs for you when your thoughts are running rampant. I’d love to add them to my playlist.

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