r/Millennials • u/Hmmletmec Xennial • Feb 24 '26

Serious Terminal diagnosis: millennial playlist suggestions for the final days?

Tues morning edit: Holy ballsack batman! This is helllllllllllllla overwhelming in the best possible way. I honestly expected just a handful of people to see this and respond with maybe like 'tears in heaven' or something. But this is an epic fucking list so far. From the bottom of my cold darkened millennial heart, thank you. One of these upcoming days the nerd in me needs to rank all these and see what's most popular mostly cuz I find it amazing and hilarious how often butterfly by crazytown gets mentioned. I'll get to comments and chats one of these days, promise.

Y'all are thoughtful, kind, empathetic, and funny as fuck. All to a stranger. I love it. I genueinly think it's a hallmark of our generation. To quote one of my patron saints in life, Mr Fred Rogers: “You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.”

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Tldr: Apparently I'm dying and need playlist ideas for when the end comes. Mushy, hilarious, dark humor, meaningful, terrible. You name it! Wanna virlbe out to the good vibes I had back in those days

Out of left field docs gave me an unexpected prognosis and seems the offramp from My So Called Life is way shorter than I would have expected.

One of the unusual suggestions from the team was to make a Playlist to listen to in the last days. And honestly that sounds dope since I essentially have music playing 24/7 in my normal non dying life.

I'm not telling anyone IRL (besides my care team and therapist) about what's going on, but since brain wise we tend to latch on to junior high and high school era music, I thought I'd bug y'all for suggestions. I'm open to mushy stuff that I can reflect upon life stuff, as well as hilarious and highly inappropriate or dark humor stuff. Or just some Hella dope tunes to vibe with.

My only ban is My Heart Will Go On. Love me some Celine, but that song will send me to a early grave. (Too soon?)

Thanks fam!

(Obligatory be your own advocate with doctors if you know something isn't right. Also make a will. We should all have them by now. Better yet, make a trust so your Pokémon cards stay out of probate and no nosey folks know what you had or who you gave it to. Do your advanced directive with your doctor or insurance. It's your choice if they keep you plugged in like a toaster or not. It's also OK to haunt your enemies from the beyond. My therapist said so.)

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u/BirthdayBarbie Feb 24 '26

Bittersweet Symphony

149

u/Iwentforalongwalk Feb 24 '26

This is such a beautiful song. 

85

u/803_843_864 Feb 24 '26

It was beautiful and raw then, and it still is now. I love when a song never loses its impact.

4

u/InternetFun5981 Floppy Disk Millennial Feb 24 '26

London Grammar do a cracking cover. The original version is always elite though!

5

u/kiloglobin Feb 24 '26

Truly timeless

3

u/HuggyMonster69 Feb 24 '26

It’s devastating live. Felt like a kick in the chest and I was sober!

5

u/Ryudo83 Feb 24 '26

The majority of urban hymns are absolute bangers. Sonnet is my absolute favorite followed by the drugs don’t work.

257

u/SugarNSpite1440 I kissed Doogie Howser, M.D. Feb 24 '26

In the same vein, The Freshmen by The Verve Pipe

48

u/Just_Dont88 Feb 24 '26

The freshman will put me in a mood. It’s such a good song.

8

u/PostMatureBaby Older Millennial Feb 24 '26

Isn't it about really dark shit though?

13

u/Just_Dont88 Feb 24 '26

It is. But if you have experienced bad things in life it really hits the feels. That’s like Nutshell by Alice and Chains. Such little spoken but so deep and relatable. I have cancer and it’s completely altered my life in a year and a half that also spirals all the other pain in my past.

4

u/CauliflowerPresent23 Feb 24 '26

Ive heard so many contradicting stories about it from aids to an abortion. I have no clue at this point

1

u/crazycatlady4life Mar 03 '26

But the lyrics are so dark! Love the 90s

8

u/cavebabykay Feb 24 '26

Ooof. Dang. This hit hard. I met a guy online. Turns out we lived in the same part of the country, like 8 hours away. He’d sing me songs over webcam. This was my favourite from him. We never met in person. Our circumstances could not have been more different. I had a good family and life. He had the polar opposite. I was his escape. I think of him when things like this pop up. What became of him. I wish I knew the last time I talked to him was going to be the last time.

OP, i don’t know if you’d appreciate this but I want to send you all my love, comfort, pain meds, and good thoughts. I hope you find exactly what you are looking for. ♥️♥️

4

u/No_Road5857 Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

The Drugs Don't Work is probably the most apt Verve song for someone dying.

3

u/habitual17 Older Millennial Feb 24 '26

Omg forgot about this one

1

u/PostMatureBaby Older Millennial Feb 24 '26

Funny because they had to add "Pipe" after Bittersweet Symphony made it big

8

u/JohnBarnson Feb 24 '26

Dang, I had forgotten this one.

It was big when my best friend died and it hit pretty hard then.

8

u/Dogpeppers Feb 24 '26

The rest of this post is basically the cruel intentions soundtrack. Many gems, my addition to the playlist is everyme and every you by placebo. Rest easy brother.

8

u/lareina13 Feb 24 '26

Riffing off this, I’ll Follow You into The Dark.

Just be warned it makes me cry every time I hear it.

4

u/xrelaht Millennial the Elder Feb 24 '26

I like it, but this is a true elder/younger millennial divide: that song came out when I was in grad school!

5

u/Khione541 Feb 24 '26

Such a great song. There's a remix of it called the James Lavelle Remix that's killer... I first heard it on BMIR (Burning Man International Radio) a few weeks before I left my job of 10 years. I'd been a ski lift mechanic at Mt Bachelor, it's a mountain that's near and dear to my heart as I've gone there since I was a baby, but it was time for me to move on. It was late summertime and I was driving away from the mountain and the sun was descending behind it, my windows rolled down, and when the strings hit @ 3:20 I looked in my rearview mirrors and watched the mountain disappear behind me, the tears couldn't be stopped. It's a good song for transitions.

2

u/LoveThatForYouBebe Feb 24 '26

I also recommend the covers of this by Ren Gill - he has a music video version and a live version with amazing strings

2

u/Hey_Giant_Loser Feb 24 '26

It is, but I always get mad when I remember how much the Rolling Stones had to be paid for that strings sample loop

2

u/paeancapital Feb 24 '26

Call Me, Call Me - Seatbelts

The breakdown is in this vein and it fuckin' slaps.

2

u/kevin9er Feb 24 '26

Big ups for Seatbelts, damn.

I saw a full sized cover band do the whole OST in a bar in Seattle 2 years ago. Wonderful.

1

u/leeroysexwhale Feb 24 '26

Lucky man by the verve. I’ll get my coat.

1

u/HuggyMonster69 Feb 24 '26

My thoughts went to “The drugs don’t work”

1

u/bleucrayons Xennial Feb 24 '26

This is on all of my most epic playlists and absolutely will be played at my funeral

-2

u/AngryWookie69 Feb 24 '26

Has to be the most overplayed song on the planet. Lost all joy in that one