DJ Jim Q's Playlist: Pride

Greetings playlist listeners, this month the theme is Pride. Brought to us by our coastal friends from the Palm Beach chapter. This playlist explores themes of pride, both the positive forms and also some of the more problematic expressions.

Healthy pride manifests as a right-sized appreciation and celebration of the triumphs and achievements of oneself or of others. It is also a reflection of self-confidence, acceptance and dignity. Pride is the most productive as an antidote to shame and in that application it has the potential to transform lives. I think about the range of pride movements that have elevated the voices and identities of those who have been marginalized. In this mode pride is a powerful catalyst for good.

However, pride can also be toxic. Unchecked it can metastasize into hubris, arrogance, egotism and self-centeredness. Some of the worst behaviors are the result of prideful people defending their fragile egos. Artists and creatives in particular need to be extra vigilant as their work is often intertwined with self and can become an embodiment of their identity. This dependency often propels people to the extremes, deep insecurity and feelings of inadequacy or alternatively unbridled arrogance, bravado, and delusion. We have seen the tragic consequences of both. So, as it is with so many things, it’s all about balance and self awareness. Have pride without being prideful.

As I was wrapping the playlist this month, I learned of the untimely passing of Sinéad O'Connor at the age of 56. Listeners of these playlists know how fond I am of Sinéad. Her songs have been on many of these playlists including this month’s. There are few artists that can consistently evoke involuntary emotion from me the way she can. When she is singing you believe every word. There seems to be little distance between her heart and her voice. On more than a few occasions I have found myself with a lump in my throat while listening to her angelic voice ignite into a ferocious scream, or as she softly whispers out the most devastatingly vulnerable passage as if it were her very last words. As a performer she was remarkable, and off stage she was a force. Sinead O'Connor claimed she was “proud to be a troublemaker”. Always a controversial figure, she was an outspoken anti-racist, anti-facist, feminist, abuse survivor, and activist. At 26 years old, when she had the eyes of the nation watching her perform on Saturday Night Live, she nervously and courageously seized that platform to say something of consequence and it shocked the world. As she ended her haunting acapella rendition of Bob Marley’s “War”, she gazed bright-eyed and intensely into the camera, held up a picture of then Pope John Paul II, and proceeded to rip it up and while declaring, “fight the real enemy”. This protest was a dramatic rebuke of the systemic child abuse we now know was rampant in the Catholic church. Her gesture of bravery provoked an outsized scorn from almost everyone. She became a target of ridicule and endured threats of violence. And it lingered. She was booed off stages, shows were cancelled, and she was written off by other artists. Sinéad was cancelled before “cancel culture” was in the vernacular. She was nonetheless defiant and proud. She refused to conform or keep silent, and the culture made sure she was punished for her insubordination. I had so much respect for her principles as chaotic as they often were. Sinéad continued to make some great music after those first two near perfect records, but never quite made it back into the mainstream’s good graces. Since that time she has had a pretty rough go of it to say the least. Erratic tours and musical endeavors, struggles with mental illness, and just last year she publicly mourned the tragic death of her 17 year old son by suicide. A documentary profile of her life and work was produced recently illuminating the tumultuous and traumatic childhood experiences that shaped Sinéad’s life and fueled her creative expression. https://youtu.be/-VLy1A4En4U She was one of the greats. I know I’ll be listening to her these coming days in remembrance with a lump in my throat and her voice in my ear.

I’m proud to share this month’s playlist with you. These 50+ tunes are assembled with care to pump you up and encourage you to stand tall. From SZA’s “Normal Girl” to Diana Ross’s rally “I’m Coming Out” to Drake and Nicki’s duet “Make Me Proud,” I hope these tunes have you beaming with pride by the end of the song list.

Thanks for listening, if you enjoy these playlists, I would love to hear from you—Give a holler on Twitter or Threads and be sure to follow me on Spotify. See you next month.