Does Your Playlist Reveal Your Age? (Does Mine?)

[alcibiades_mystery]

OK. So, I don't have an iPod radio in my car, but a regular old CD player. I had to make a 4 hour car trip recently, so I created a few mix CDs from my iTunes and general collection. Here's one CD. Can you tell how old I am simply from my playlist?

DJ Spooky and Killah Priest – Catechism
Flaming Lips – Waiting for Superman
Eminem – Lose Yourself
Disturbed – Stricken
Ice Cube – Check Yoself
Morrissey – You Have Killed Me
Coldplay – Fix You
Natalie Merchant (Live at the Neil Simon Theater) – Carnival
TV on the Radio – Wolf Like Me
Rusted Root – Send Me on My Way
Arcade Fire – Antichrist Television Blues
Echo and the Bunnymen – The Game
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Details of the War
Belle and Sebastian – Stars of Track and Field
TV on the Radio – Hours
Flaming Lips – Suddenly Everything Has Changed
DJ Spooky and Killah Priest – Catechism (Black Grass Remix)

[taterguy]

1. 33?

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. Why do you say that?

:shrug:

[taterguy]

62. Because I'm a fucking smart guy

There's nothing out there worth knowing that I don't know

[thefool_wa]

40. Wow - that was my guess

or at least I was going to say early 30's.

Why? Because that sounds like my playlist :)

[MedleyMisty]

3. I'm not sure

I don't recognize enough of your stuff, and the ones I do recognize are pretty recent.

I think that if you look at mine you can tell I was a teenager in the 90s.

[realisticphish]

4. not really

first of all, I've never even heard of most of those, so you're either an alternative fan, or you're significantly older than me (21).

My playlist would tell you nothing. I have Led Zep, Boston, the Dead Kennedys, Sepultura, Slayer, Ministry, and Duran Duran. That's just a small sampling :D

[grannylib]

5. My name would probably give my age more than my playlist *lol*

I do love a lot of the old classic rock, but then, so does my 19-year-old daughter: she's hugely into Dylan, The Who, The Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc. and I love all that too...

But I also have Audioslave and Incubus and Metallica and Foo Fighters and Norah Jones and Tori Amos and Eric Clapton and Cream and Stone Temple Pilots and No Doubt and The Pretenders and The Black Crows and Bonnie Raitt and Bob Marley and Modest Mouse and Crowded House and Neil Finn and Neil Young and White Stripes and Lenny Kravitz and Pink Floyd and Bach and Beethoven and Andreas Vollenwieder and Sting and The Police and Jethro Tull and Lou Reed and David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac and Rod Stewart and I could go on...but you get the picture! Just about everything but rap/hip-hop, jazz (well, I have some, but not a whole lot...Vince Guaraldi and some Tom Scott) and opera.

[ghostsofgiants]

6. I'd guess early-to-mid 20s.

[otherlander]

7. I'm going to guess 32

Can you guess my age from this playlist? BTW the Pillows are a Japanese rock band.

Bob Dylan- Tangled Up in Blue
Bob Dylan- You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
Grateful Dead- Mountains of the Moon
CSNY- Ohio
Buffalo Springfield- FWIW
Dire Straits- Industrial Disease
Dire Straits- Brothers in Arms
The Clash- The Call-Up
The Clash- Rock the Casbah
The Clash- London Calling
The Pillows- Ride on Shooting Star
The Pillows- Little Busters
Decemberists- 16 Military Wives
Decemberists- Sons + Daughters
Smashing Pumpkins- 1979

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. 38

And you grew up in a suburban setting, probably within 45 minutes drive of a major city. You heard about the Decembrists through the YouTube video of 16 military wives when it appeared on Lefty blogs last year, and that's the newest stuff in your collection. You mostly stick with classics, and if you have a 4 hour car trip, you really only pack London Calling and be done with it (one could do worse than LC on a perpetual loop).

:-)

[otherlander]

44. Wow

You got my age completley wrong, but I do listen mostly to classic rock, and some newer stuff like the Decemberists. Also like jazz, but you can't listen to jazz and drive at the same time. I mean, you can play it, you can't really listen to it any more than you can meditate while operating heavy machinery.

OMG! As I was writing this, FWIW JUST CAME ON THE RADIO!!!! Playing right now! Stop, children, what's that sound...

[ElboRuum]

8. What's a "playlist?"

[stuntcat]

18. Maybe

maybe it means your 'top songs' or maybe the playlist you put songs into on the mp3-player-of-your-choice..?

BUT I found how to make a playlist online, at Project Playlist!! I'll try to post it, I don't know how it works really.
It don't know what it means about my age-
http://www.myplaylist.org/standalone/3450705

[ElboRuum]

31. D'oh!

I was being sarcastic as to convey myself as irretrievably out of touch.

[stuntcat]

43. lol d'oh

leave it to Me to try to help anyway ;)
Don't be irretrievable!

[Left Is Write]

9. Mine probably would. I don't have much stuff recorded after the mid-late 90s.

Some, but not much.

[Reverend_Smitty]

10. If I were to guess, I'd say you were late 20's to early 30's

my playlist would probably say I was in my 50's with all the music from the 60's and 70's in it but in fact I'm only 23...so go figure

[BlueJazz]

11. Dave Brubeck

Stan Getz
Bach
Aimenko, Feodor Stepanovich
Stravinsky

..and lots of other Jazz and Classical Folks.

[hellbound-liberal]

14. Early 50s?

[BlueJazz]

16. Close...I'm 29 :)

Being blessed/cursed with perfect pitch has it's advantages/disadvantages.

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. I have all those too

That would be a different sort of car trip, though :-)

I'd throw on some Jane Monheit to give the updated touch. Saw her open for Brubeck at some jazz festival in Long Island a few years back.

[Unvanguard]

12. I doubt it. But I'm so totally clueless about music that I wouldn't be able to tell

if it did.

[InternalDialogue]

13. I'm going to guess 26-29

You've got a taste for a few early-to-mid-90s non-mainstream pieces that are probably the basis of your first adult-era music choices. But you're progressive with your tastes, and you've been open to adding newer artists along the way. The meat of your playlist is newer but couched in established music styles drawing on the heart of rock and classic themes.

[Forkboy]

15. 37

[AshevilleGuy]

17. Mine doesn't even! I am 56 but

I like current Indie music off the college radio stations online: Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Decembrists, Ween, The Mattoid, 30 Seconds to Mars, etc etc.

I have heard the songs from MY age group until I am SICK of ALL of them!!! "Classic Rock"??? YECH!!!

[fortyfeetunder]

19. Having not seen any others posts

I am guessing you are 27-32

this is what is on my iPod
Original John Philip Sousa conducting the Marine Band
Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced
Black Eyed Peas Monkey Business
The Dixie Chicks
Earth Wind and Fire
Chicago
Parliament/Funkadelic
Nelly
Chris Daughtry
Dave Brubeck
Alice Coltrane
Deems Tsutakawa (The Planet Deems)
Leonard Bernstein and NY Phil
Yo-Yo Ma
Stevie Wonder

[Dude_CalmDown]

20. You tell me - I'm 26 and not from Long Beach CA

[hfojvt]

21. "it is but a small step from the sublime

to the ridiculous."

No offense, but that was the quote of the day, supposedly from Napoleon.

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. First guess was right: 33

Most others got the range about right, too though, so I guess it does say something. My wife and I had this discussion, and she said it was a dead give away (esp. the Morrissey - a new album, but old Smiths guy - and the Echo, obviously).

[Lautremont]

23. Without looking at the rest of the thread, I'll guess: 34.

I would make a CD very much like this, though I'm a bit older than that.

on edit: Turns out I was pretty close!

[Penndems]

26. I'm listening to Channel 7, "The Best of the 70s", on XM Radio

What does THAT tell you? ;)

[Mr. Blonde]

27. Let's see if anyone can guess my age

shouldn't be all that hard.

Maybe I'm Wrong - Blues Traveler
Soldier Jane - Beck
Wonderwall - Ryan Adams
Shotgun Blues - Kenny Wayne Sheperd
Better Man - Pearl Jam
Bron y Aur Stomp - Led Zeppelin
Good Friday - The Black Crowes
Girls & Boys - Blur
Love, Reign O'er Me - The Who
Cold Irons Bound - Bob Dylan
If I Ever Get Back to Oklahoma - Jason Boland
South Town Girls - The Hold Steady
Goodbye Babylon - The Black Keys
The River - Bruce Springsteen
Four Leaf Clover - Old 97's
Plan A - The Dandy Warhols
Three Faint Calls - The Greenhornes
Quixoticelixer - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Shooting Star - Bad Company
Nothing Left to Say But Goodbye - Audioslave
Camaro - Kings of Leon

[Coventina]

30. Tough call, you've got an eclectic taste, but I'm going to guess

35

[alcibiades_mystery]

34. 30

:-)

[Coventina]

28. I'm pretty sure my "most played" gives me away:

1. Madonna - Ray of Light
2. Reverend Horton Heat - Bales of Cocaine
3. Social Distortion - Ring Of Fire
4. U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name
5. 10,000 Maniacs - These Are Days
6. Moby - Run On
7. Sublime - What I Got
8. Tracy Chapman - Give Me One Reason
9. OMD - Messages
10. Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
11. B-52's - Mesopotamia
12. The Clash - Complete Control
13. Depeche Mode - Behind The Wheel
14. The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
15. Cracker - Eurotrash Girl
16. The Cure - Inbetween Days
17. The Eurythmics - Would I Lie To You?
18. Guadalcanal Diary - Trail Of Tears
19. The Jesus And Mary Chain - Happy When It Rains
20. Love And Rockets - Ball Of Confusion
21. Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
22. Siouxsie And The Banshees - This Wheel's On Fire
23. The Specials - Pressure Drop
24. The Stray Cats - Rev It Up And Go
25. Violent Femmes - Blister In The Sun

[rbnyc]

33. OK. YOU are within 2 years of my age.

I'll be 39 in October.

[Coventina]

56. You are three months younger than I

68 was a very good year!

:toast:

[rbnyc]

61. Indeed

:toast:

[alcibiades_mystery]

35. 36

:shrug:

[Lefty-Taylor]

55. Coventina -- I'm 41 and have a lot of the same stuff ...

:shrug:

[Control-Z]

29. It has to be music from the 90's - maybe some early 2000's

I had babies taking up my every waking moment during the 90's. I missed a entire decade of music. I don't recognize a single song or group/band/singer on your playlist.

Based on that you would be anywhere from 25 to 35 years old now.

Am I right?

[alcibiades_mystery]

36. Yes

I'm 33

[Control-Z]

45. So were all of those

90's songs?

[alcibiades_mystery]

49. No

DJ Spooky and Killah Priest – Catechism (2002)
Flaming Lips – Waiting for Superman (1999)
Eminem – Lose Yourself (2001)
Disturbed – Stricken (2006)
Ice Cube – Check Yoself (1992)
Morrissey – You Have Killed Me (2006)
Coldplay – Fix You (2005)
Natalie Merchant (Live at the Neil Simon Theater) – Carnival (1994/2004)
TV on the Radio – Wolf Like Me (2006)
Rusted Root – Send Me on My Way (1993)
Arcade Fire – Antichrist Television Blues (2006)
Echo and the Bunnymen – The Game (1988)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Details of the War (2005)
Belle and Sebastian – Stars of Track and Field (1998)
TV on the Radio – Hours (2006)
Flaming Lips – Suddenly Everything Has Changed (1999)
DJ Spooky and Killah Priest – Catechism (Black Grass Remix) (2002)

Dates are approximate...best as I remember.

[Control-Z]

51. Hey I was in the ball park! n/t

[rbnyc]

32. I would say that you are 6 months to 3 years...

...younger than me.

Cold Play and Eminem are trying to trick me into thinking you're younger. But the overall vibe is saying that you were a teenager when I was a teenager.

:)

I'll be 39 in October.

My playlist is mostly Throwing Muses, Kristen Hersh, Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore, Joy Division, and Nick Drake.

Went back to read thread: I see you're 33. I was off by a bit. Funny tho'. You're my husband's age.

[liontamer]

37. mid 30's

[trof]

38. I guess the fact that I don't HAVE a playlist says it all.

geezer

[femmocrat]

48. I didn't even know what it was! I'm still using those new-fangled CD's!

:rofl:

[trof]

57. Where you put your money in the bank and they keep it for 6 months?

;-)

[gbate]

39. I haven't read the answers and replies, but I am going to say 29.

[Initech]

41. My iTunes collection spans nearly 100 years...

There's no way you'd be able to tell my age from it!

I'm 26, BTW.

[alcibiades_mystery]

50. So does mine

I was talking about this specific CD.

[mvd]

42. No, not really

I have female pop artists like Avril and The Veronicas mixed in with Frank Sinatra and artists more tailored to my age group like The Shins.

[SKKY]

46. Here's a sample from my "running" playlist...

...It's a good representation of my music tastes

"Radio Ga Ga" - Queen
"Twilight Zone" - Golden Earring
"Tipsy" - J-Kwon
"99 Problems" - Jay-Z
"Never Let Me Down" - Depeche Mode
"Click Click Boom" - Saliva
"Crazy" - Seal
"Crazy in Love" - Beyonce
"Plowed" - Sponge
"Thieves and Liars" - Ministry
"Getting Closer" - Nitzer Ebb
"Ruiner" - Nine Inch Nails
"Suck my kiss" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Town Called Malice" - The Jam
"Bullet with Butterfly wings" - Smashing Pumpkins
"I don't know why" - Norah Jones
"Against the wind" - Bob Seger
"What a fool believes" - The Doobie Brothers
"Rough Sex" - Lords of Acid

[mvd]

47. Here's a representative list from me

I got it from a shuffle on iTunes:

So Sad (to Watch Good Love Go Bad) - The Everly Brothers
I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am - Merle Haggard
No More, No Less - Collective Soul
Callin' Baton Rouge - Garth Brooks
Nosy Neighbor - The Ditty Bops
Testament To Youth In Verse - The New Pornographers
Give Us Your Blessings - The Shangri-Las
Annie - Vanessa Carlton
Man On The Moon - R.E.M.
In The Car - Barenaked Ladies
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First) - John Mellencamp
Belleau Wood - Garth Brooks
Listen To Her Heart - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
(What A) Wonderful World - Herman's Hermits
Golden Eyes - Sloan
My Baby Needs A Shepherd - Emmylou Harris
Good Things - Kathleen Edwards
Getting Over You - Deana Carter
(So I'll Sit Here) Waiting - The Like
Cool Love - Chris Isaak

But Vanessa Carlton could have easily been Avril, Michelle Branch, The Veronicas, Bonnie McKee or Stella Soleil. Herman's Hermits could have been The Beatles, Deana Carter could be Patty Loveless, etc.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

52. Mine makes me look like a 'Boomer, really.

On my computer I have the following:

Tons and tons of Grateful Dead, lots of Steely Dan, some Zeppelin, some Cat Stevens, some Sting/the Police, quite a bit of Earth, Wind, and Fire, oodles of the Allman Brothers and Marshall Tucker, a James Taylor block, a Steve Winwood set, almost 20 Phil Collins songs (and I didn't even put them there!), quite a number of Stones joints, a few random Beatles songs, a nice amount of Van Morrison, the Beach Boys, etc.

All sorts of Miles Davis songs, some Duke Ellington, some Duke Elington covers that are really quite good by Daniel Barenboim and his gang, two local jazz artists. A lot more that's not on my computer.

So much random stuff: Seal, Stealers Wheel, the Wallflowers, the Corrs, U2, the Gladiator soundtrack (my dad's songs of choice :eyes:), Gordon Lightfoot, the Eagles live ("Tequila Sunrise" and "Hotel California"), four different versions of "Smoke on the Water," a random version of "In the Mood" and a random version of "Rhapsody in Blue," that David Gray (??) song called "Babylon" that I really dig, 12 songs from an album called The Chicago Music Scene (3 blues, 3 jazz, 3 Celtic, 3 Latin/Flamenco), a bunch of Gregorian chant (!!) that my mom downloaded in the Napster days of about 2000, some Bob Marley, some Boston, some Bryan Adams (:eyes:), some really random Bob Dylan, some Beres Hammond (*scratches head on THAT one*), the B52s, a lot of BNL, etc.

A lot of it is from Napster, back when it was entirely legal and a boatload of fun besides.

[Rhythm]

53. My current "Top 10"

"Love Like Winter" - AFI
"Move Along" - All American Rejects
"Everybody's Fool" - Evanescence
"Lips of an Angel" - Hinder
"Southside" - Moby w/ Gwen Stefani
"Always" - Saliva
"Ribbons" - The Sisters of Mercy
"It's Been Awhile" - Staind
"I Fell In Love With A Girl"
"I'm Your Boogyman" - White Zombie

I like a lot of different stuff, but this is what's been playing the most often here in my dingy little corner of cyberspace.

[RandomKoolzip]

54. delete

delete

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

58. There's Gregorian chant on mine.

So am I 900 years old? :)

More recent stuff: Dufay, Palestrina, Bach, Mozart, Peggy Lee, Richie Valens, the Stones, Penderecki, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Greenday.

[alcibiades_mystery]

59. Your playlist can reveal your age

even if you have Gregorian chant, I think.

The question is not whether your age corresponds to the age of the music, but whether it corresponds to some demographic that is engaged with that music.

[mvd]

60. Interesting topic

:thumbsup:

[qnr]

63. I don't have, and will never buy an iPod, that might show my age (except

for the fact that I have playlists on my computer, my PDA, and my digital camera).