My Playlist — Now Changeable

Been getting bored at work so when the sun goes down, I turn on the tunes. Having passengers on board turns my growling, rumbling, and creaking conveyance into a sort of musical laboratory then. I don't want to bother them but man, I need to raise the energy!
Most people like music, some don't. It's hard to gauge people's musical proclivities at first sight but there are few dislikers compared to the number of appreciators. As captain of my ship, I HAVE to stay sharp and focused and music is one of my tools. Coffee has lost its effectiveness by this point. Here are a few things I have learned about people and music:

You can get away with playing just about any kind of blues music, people seem to like that, but you have to be careful not to have any kiddies on board because the lyrics in some blues songs can be, well, blue. Poppa and Momma might take offense to their chile being exposed to that sort of stuff, especially if their chile is a highly suggestive preteen. I turn the volume down so the young 'uns can't make out any problematic lines about drinkin', carousin', and fightin', or lines containing commonly used bluesy innuendos that adults understand (and their kids might).
Classical music tends to get really quiet followed by really loud so as a mood enhancer it's unpredictable, jarring, and thus only partially effective. But even so, most people like classical. There are never any lyrics for me to contend with but it can get kind of monotonous as a driver to be listening to it for long periods of time and ANY subtle quiet parts will be totally missed should the vehicle you're in leave the parking lot and actually start to roll.

Jazz. Ugh. I have some of that on my playlist but again, it increases and decreases in volume, can get annoyingly repetitive, and not all people like it. It's like elevator music, a lot of it. I'm working on a funky jazz playlist here and there but finding the correct songs to make up that playlist could take a while because I have to be very careful with the songs I pick. At the end of the ride I don't want my passengers all relaxed and unwilling to exit my conveyance. Too much jazz has that effect, I've found.
Rock. Oh, you have to be careful here. Business people can get offended quite easily should the delicate lines of customer respect be breached. Parents can raise an eyebrow at it, and people that are religiously opposed, but other than that rock 'n roll crosses all barriers and tends to make people happy. However, I search out the weird stuff and put that on my playlist too which tends to dampen this consistent and near universal enthusiasm. Also, like blues, the lyrics of some rock songs can be pretty darn offensive, to the point, and act like a kind of jab of the finger directly upon certain issues, particularly relationships, which might have any couples on board feeling a bit uncomfortable as if the song was about THEM but it's not, it's just what's playing. Get over it!
(It's weird how some songs on my playlist come on just when certain people or groups of people get on my conveyance. Almost as if it's meant to be)
Country music is another crowd pleaser. Who hasn't heard classic country music? Real people wrote those songs, sang those songs, and folks just can't help but to like 'em but again, those lyrics from down home might just be offensive to some.

Also, to add to the choice of music and the lyrics contained within, critically important is the volume the music is played at. While a party atmosphere can raise spirits, too much volume can make people feel under siege and unable to hold a conversation. I try to make people feel that they have a choice, so I keep the music just-loud-enough. You can tell.

Let me see if I can illustrate some songs here instead of just writing about generalities. First thing I'm going to do is list a few problem songs on my playlist, the kind where I have to turn the volume down but I like the melody:
Good Mornin' Little Schoolgirl (Muddy Waters)
Wang Dang Doodle (Howlin' Wolf)
Drunk Again (Champion Jack Dupree)
Second Hand Man (Carrey Bell & Junior Wells)
Lucy Mae Blues (Buddy Guy)
Dr. Feelgood (Aretha Franklin)
Slip Of The Tongue (The Blasters)
My Hometown (Girl Trouble)
Sadness (Greg Brown)
and that list could go on and on and on. Damn good music, problematic lyrics (but not for me!).
And now here is a playlist that is inoffensive to everybody (so far as I can tell):
Just about anything from Roy Orbison, Donovan, Johnny Cash, U2, The Guess Who, Dwight Yoakum, Bob Seger, The Derailers, Waylon Jennings, Three Dog Night, Bread, Stevie Wonder, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Moody Blues, Marshall Tucker, Lyle Lovett, and many, many others.
Note: I don't have many current songs on that playlist, it's pretty old in fact, but I'll get to those millions of new ones in the next lifetime.
(Maybe!)