And the Grammy goes to ...

With no medical appointments until 12:30, I spent this morning creating a "Healing" playlist from my iTunes library for background music while in the hospital.

I combed my entire library (minus jazz, classical, and other niche themes) for songs that weren't too fast, too loud, or too electric guitar- or drums-heavy, and that preferably had an interesting progression and a soothing vocal presence. I ended up with 169 selections. Here are some of the highlights, as selected by my personal Grammy commitee:

Most Apropos Title (tie): Stitched Up, John Mayer and Herbie Hancock; Fix You, Coldplay
Most Apropos Title (runner-up, also a tie): Better Days, Shawn Colvin (cover of The Kinks version that surpasses the original IMO); Every Breath You Take, The Police
Least Apropos Title (tie): Here's Where the Story Ends, The Sundays; Heading for the Light, Traveling Wilburys
Most Likely to Make Me Crave Something Other Than Hospital Food: Barbeque, ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra)
Best Provision of Emergency First Aid: Walking on Broken Glass, Annie Lennox
Best Psychedelic Side Effect of Morphine: Life in Technicolor ii, Coldplay
Best Psychedelic Side Effect of Morphine (runner-up): Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Part I, The Flaming Lips
Best Reminder of the Outside World: Snow, Grey Eye Glances
Best Reminder to the Nurse to "Read the %&*#%$ Chart": What's the Matter Here?, 10,000 Maniacs
Best Use of the All-Too-Revealing Hospital Gown: People Gonna Talk, James Hunter
Most Unlikely Inclusion on Pure Musical Merit: When You're Next to Me, Mitch and Mickey (from the soundtrack to A Mighty Wind)
Most Likely to Make My Brother Alex Roll His Eyes in Hopeless Despair (tie): Party in the U.S.A., Miley Cyrus; virtually all of my Jimmy Buffett collection