Fur, feathers and fins: A playlist celebrating the animal inside each of us

Aditi Bhandari, Blogger

I’ve been thinking quite a lot about animals lately. And not just Wildcats, mind you.

I’ve been thinking quite a lot about animals lately because we just had elections in my residential college for the next executive board. And while most of the candidates were running around gathering signatures, planning their campaigns and garnering the support of fellow residents, I was decorating cereal boxes with cartoon sea creatures. Yes, my campaign was just puns on the ocean, featuring gems such as, “You voted for Ditty? WHALE done!” and, “Ditty wouldn’t make a good exec member? BEACH PLS.” I’ve yet to find out if it was successful, but I had fun doing it all the same.

But that got me thinking about animals and the sheer number of squirrels I’ve seen hopping across branches and making the snow fall down so it seems like it’s snowing when it’s not. What about the paw prints that we’ve seen alongside human footprints in the snow, or the rabbits that just look like balls of floof sitting under the bushes? I do care a lot about animals — possibly because I’ve never had a pet before — and I often feel that I don’t do enough to show that I care.

Luckily for me, many musicians seem to feel that way too. A surprising number of musicians recognize the awesomeness that is the four-legged/feathered/freaky/found-underwater beast in all its shapes and forms. And if the standard “cat-dog-sheep” is too mainstream for you, well, we also have the more eclectic “alligator” and “barracuda.” Now THAT’S what I call a representative playlist.

So the next time you’re out and about and happen to come across any of these creatures, just know that someone out there, other than you or me, respects it and loves it for who/what it is. (Though if you come face-to-face with a tiger, a lion, a wolf or a shark, God speed, my friend.)

  1. “Everybody Wants To Be A Cat” — Aristocats Soundtrack
  2. “Love Cats” — The Cure 
  3. “She Wolf (Falling To Pieces)” — David Guetta feat. Sia 
  4. “Hound Dog” — Elvis Presley
  5. “Black Dog” — Led Zeppelin 
  6. “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” — Florence + The Machine 
  7. “The Lion’s Roar” — First Aid Kit
  8. “Year Of The Tiger” — St. Vincent 
  9. “Wolf & I” — Oh Land 
  10. “Happiness and The Fish” — Our Lady Peace 
  11. “Alligator Teeth” — Mother Falcon
  12. “I’m Like A Bird” — Nelly Furtado 
  13. “Shark In The Water” — V.V. Brown 
  14. “Dolphin” — Virgins 
  15. “Barracuda” — Heart 
  16. “The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)” — Ylvis 
  17. “Pigeons” — The Hundred In The Hands 
  18. “Butterflies and Hurricanes” — Muse 

Fur, feathers and fins: A playlist celebrating the animal inside each of us from The Current NU on 8tracks Radio.

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