When the Financial Times reported that the number of workers claiming unemployment benefits in the United States reached a 26-year high last week, we knew that there was only one way to respond to the grim news — with a Flavorwire Playlist.
In case you’ve forgotten (we’ll admit, it has been a while), the idea is simple: we take a current event that has us feeling depressed, whip up a list of 10 tracks to help dull the pain, and ask you to best our creative genius in comments area. Bonus points if you quote lyrics.
Check out our playlist — which not surprisingly, is heavy on the oldies but goodies — after the jump.
1. Stevie Wonder, “Living For the City” 2. The Smiths, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” 3. Bessie Smith, “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” 4. Bruce Springsteen, “The River” 5. Dolly Parton, “Hard Candy Christmas” 6. Bon Jovi, “Living on a Prayer” 7. Sheryl Crow, “No Depression in Heaven” 8. Run DMC, “Hard Times” 9. The Kinks, “Low Budget” 10. Johnny Cash, “Busted”