The Best Worlds I Encountered in 2020
In my humble opinion.
2020 is finally (almost) over. It was marked by a lot of pain, but I wanted to look back on the pockets of joy and wonder I found in the things I watched, read, heard, and experienced this year.
Best Book I Read in 2020: Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
I’ve never felt so seen before while reading a book. Ms. Hong described certain things that I thought only I had ever felt or seen or experienced in my life. Maybe that sounds conceited, but this book was a revelation of sorts for me, especially about growing up as an Asian American and a daughter of immigrants. This book made me feel less invisible. And I hope more people read it.
Best TV Show I Saw in 2020: Lovecraft Country (HBO)
This show travels through time and different worlds and multiple dimensions, but it still tells you the monstrous truth about the ugly past. And if 2020 is any indicator, we all need to become more familiar with our history.
Best New Experience I Had in 2020: Pollworking in the U.S. Election
This surprised me too. A lot. There are two things I wasn’t expecting to feel after pollworking: gratitude and hope. Feel free to read more about my thoughts here.
Best Movie I Saw in 2020: Sound of Metal (Amazon Prime)
My main reason for watching this movie? British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed played the lead role. The main reason why I loved it? It made me humbly acknowledge how little I know about the deaf community. Oh and it didn’t hurt that Riz gave such an outstanding performance that I will truly be shocked if he doesn’t at least get an Oscar nomination for this. Watch the trailer here.
Best Podcast I Heard in 2020: Dolly Parton’s America (WNYC Studios & OSM Audio)
Yes, I know this podcast actually came out in October 2019, but this article is about me and I didn’t start listening to it until last month. I had already heard countless times how amazing this podcast was, how it’s so well produced, and Dolly Parton is a national treasure, blah blah blah. It was on my list, I just hadn’t got around to it because frankly, I haven’t spent more than 30 seconds of my life even thinking about Dolly Parton. Sure, I’ve listened to Jolene and was surprised just like anyone else to find out I Will Always Love You was not in fact written by Whitney Houston, but I just never gave any thought to Dolly. Just like I never gave any thought to country music. Because I always thought these things were inaccessible to me, that they weren’t meant for me. I thought country music hated people like me. Wow, was I wrong. Oh and Dolly Parton is most definitely a national treasure.
And now as a final treat, here’s my 2020 playlist. It makes no logical sense whatsoever, but here are…
THE SONGS THAT STUCK WITH ME THE MOST IN 2020:
- Tennessee Mountain Home - Dolly Parton
Obviously I heard this for the first time while listening to the Dolly Parton podcast. Listening to this song and hearing other people’s versions of it taught me that music doesn’t belong to any single group of people. It never has. I just refused to hear it for a long time.
- Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
While cooking Thanksgiving dinner, my husband, his parents, and I all sang along to this song.
- The Story of Tonight - from Hamilton (which I finally saw this year)
These lyrics make me happy and sad at the same time.
Raise a glass to freedom
Something they can never take away
No matter what they tell you.
Raise a glass to the four of us
Tomorrow there’ll be more of us
Telling the story of tonight
- Ojos Asi - Shakira
The Super Bowl reminded me how amazing Shakira is and I can’t believe I’ve never tried to see her perform live. So I went back to one of my favorite songs of hers this year and listened to it on repeat in the spring. Side note: I love that most Americans finally realized after this Super Bowl that she’s half Colombian and half Lebanese.
- Nobody Know - CHAII
From the Netflix original movie The Old Guard, which I would say is the second best movie I saw this year. Something about it felt so refreshingly different.
- Aoede - Mashrou’ Leila
My husband and I were blasting this song in our car while stopped at a red light. And that is the one and only time in our lives that someone sitting in the car next to us has asked “Hey what song is that? It sounds groovy!” Be sure to listen to their NPR Tiny Desk Concert.
- Bitch - Ruby Amanfu
From the TV show Little Fires Everywhere. This song felt…liberating.
- Hay Que Luchar - Ruben Nez
Heard this while watching the latest season of Queer Eye, which was MUCH needed in 2020. Listening to this song reminds me that there are always happy moments to find amidst what seems like never ending despair.
- Shake It - Metro Station
I hadn’t heard this song in YEARS, and then I saw the above TikTok (yes, it’s a YouTube link because I still don’t have TikTok or understand it, forgive me) and could not stop listening to it on repeat.
- In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins
The way these kids reacted to In the Air Tonight made 2020 so much better.
- Roses (Imanbek Remix) [Latin Gang] - SAINt JHN, J Balvin, Imanbek
Imanbek, a Kazakh producer, made this song a million times better. I am here for this remix all day, every day.
- Rocket Fuel (feat. De La Soul) - DJ Shadow
Heard this for the first time on the TV show, Umbrella Academy. Now I love blasting it in my car while driving.
- Sister of Pearl - Baio
Also from the Umbrella Academy soundtrack, I played this on my phone while hiking through what looked like a fairy-tale forest.
- In Too Deep - Sum 41
Heard this on the radio after a very long time and all my Midwestern angst/nostalgia came out.
- On brûlera - Pomme
From the show Away. I can’t remember now what the scene was exactly, but I remember that when this song came on, it felt like everything stood still.
- River Flows In You - Yiruma
As someone who took piano lessons for 10 years (and who doesn’t have much to show for it), this song makes me want to try playing the piano again.
The beginning of this song makes you feel like you’re about to hear someone like Ella Fitzgerald sing, but then another silky smooth voice starts singing in Arabic. I heard this song while eating dinner with my parents at their home. Before sitting down at the table, I had shown my dad how to see his Spotify Wrapped 2020 and he started playing some songs he had been listening to lately on his bluetooth speaker. This one quietly popped up on shuffle and all our ears perked up. The above video is Ruba Shamshoum performing the song live in 2018.
I wish you all a healthy, happy new year. And here’s to more worlds we can all hopefully escape to in 2021.
