Whether you drive your own car or use public transportation, we can all agree that traffic is a bitch. If you’re one of those people who like to remember every single bad experience they’ve ever had while listening to sad songs in traffic (welcome to the club), then this playlist will help you dry those tears and fake a smile. If you have a playlist full of happy tunes you sing along to while the woman in the car next to you stops having a virtual fight with her boyfriend over the phone to stare at you in awe, then good for you pal; you’re living life to the fullest. Either way, here’s something to get your mind off of traffic lights and idiot drivers:

 

1. M – Onde Sensuelle

I found this gem by mistake a few months ago and, for some reason, I can’t stop listening to it. Interesting Fact: M is the stage name of the French singer/songwriter Matthieu Chedid who is of Lebanese descent.

 

2. Beach House – The Hours

I somehow always find myself listening to Beach House while stuck in traffic. I think something about their sound is the right amount of soothing and dreamy you need when you’re trapped in your tuna can of a car.

 

3. Safar – 23 Kilograms

Well, this song never fails to draw a smile on my face. I think there’s something about it that reminds me of my childhood, packing to go to my grandma’s for the weekend. Enjoy counting to 23 while the douchebag in front of you is stuck at 20 km/h because he’s Whatsapping his mom, asking her what’s for lunch.

 

4. The Rolling Stones – She’s a Rainbow

I had completely forgotten about this song until I heard it again at Radio Beirut last week. What’s more fun than listening to a song with “rainbow” in it when you’re trying so hard not to act upon the “I WANNA KILL EVERYONE” thoughts that traffic wheeled through your brain?

 

5. Cage the Elephant – Cigarette Daydreams

Cigarette Daydreams is not the ideal Cage the Elephant song I would usually recommend (don’t smoke; stay in school, kids) but it really is great to jam to during traffic, daydreaming about the minute you get home to smoke a cigarette with that long-awaited cup of coffee/tea.

 

6. Kings of Leon – Rock City

Rock City is one of my favorite tracks from the good old Kings of Leon days. “I’ve seen several miles and plenty more”, dear Jal el Dib bridge, so let’s move it!

 

7. Filter Happier – Home

It’s not a playlist made by Yara if a song by Filter Happier doesn’t make an appearance. Being one of their upbeat songs, you’ll find yourself singing along to this one while hoping for a miracle that would rush everything and get you home faster. Here’s to a song happier!

 

8. Tame Impala – Feels Like We Only Go Backwards

Yup, you know it. Pretty self-explanatory. Remember not to get your hopes up again when you open Google Maps to see how much time it’s going to take you to get to your destination.

 

9. Muse – Pressure

This one’s an exception and it fits the theme we have going on here so yeah. “I feel the pressure… pressure building”; do you, truck driver who keeps honking at me as if it’s my fault that we’re not moving?!

 

10. Phoenix – Lisztomania

For those of you who don’t know what Lisztomania means, I’m glad you got this far into this playlist cause this is where I shine in teaching you something new. ‘Lisztomania’ was first used to describe the state of women who would go crazy when the fingers of musician Franz Liszt touched the piano keys – crazy enough for doctors to coin a term for this “mental illness epidemic” (check out these 10 Crazy Facts about Lisztomania here).

 

Drive safe and, as someone once said to me in an email that informed I didn’t get the job of my dreams: “May you always have music in your life”.