• List of songs sorted according to this system

I have a huge, very diverse music collection, which makes for some very jarring transitions in mood from one song to another if I just lump everything into one gigantic playlist. This is, at times, annoying.

In addition to my interest in music, I also have a little bit of a side interest (though not belief) in astrology. So, one day, I thought to myself, since the process of understanding astrology is so subjective, and so is the process of judging the overall mood of a piece of music - why not combine the two, and use the names of the planets as labels in a system of music organization?

The planets in astrology each correspond to their own distinct array of qualities/emotions/characteristics. There is basically little overlap between one planet's array of basic meanings and another's, and the breadth of these arrays is not nearly so limiting as a single adjective like "happy" or "sad", or even genre names like "rock" or "classical".

This, in my opinion, makes the planets' names very suitable as labels in a system of music organization - since I think one wouldn't want a system that's too rigid or narrow, or one might end up with playlists of music that all sounds much too alike to the point where it gets really boring. Yet the labels aren't so broad that there isn't still a fair amount of clarity in the labels - so even if they aren't quite so limited as a single adjective, one can still have a pretty good basic idea of the overall range of possible sounds or moods.

In my system, each song gets anywhere from one to three labels, usually three, to describe its overall type or mood. There are very few songs that are so purely described by one label that I'll merely give it one and leave it at that - so, most songs receive at least a second label and most often a third.

The first label is the most important one, the second is a strong modifier of the first label, and the third adds still more detail.

Here are some ideas of what I tend to use the labels to mean (though only part of each label description tends to apply to any one song):

Mercury: intricate, clever, lots of string-plucking or key-pressing, very busy; not very emotional or deeply moving; lots of fast little notes. Well-organized, with a more or less regular and recognizable pattern, though which is fluid and flexible, rather than rigid and repetitive. Very clever, but may be lacking in true unpredictability, or a Uranian edge of "where in the h*ll did that come from?" (For example, a lot of Domenico Scarlatti's songs - they're all brilliant and dazzling, but once you hear one, it's like you've heard them all, since there's rarely anything truly unexpected in them or blow-you-away surprising that breaks free of the standard pattern of Scarlatti songs). Playful, childish, not necessarily particularly dignified, lots of blips and boops...

Venus: pretty, pleasant, very nice and sweet, but not profound. Lots of string ensembles, choir, harp, etc.; soft, gentle.

Mars: energetic, warlike; a tendency toward being rhythmic; heavy drums; marching themes; hard, loud, gritty, low; electric guitar, etc.

Jupiter: cheerful, happy, buoyant, robust; loud, grand, unrestrained; glorious, airy and free. A Jupiter sub-label can indicate dark Saturn-labeled and Pluto-labeled music is lightened up a bit, or is more energetic, grand and loud than otherwise; it can also indicate that a piece of Neptune-labeled music is more light and positive rather than just spacy and mystical, etc.

Saturn: melancholic and dark; formal, possessing a dignified grandeur, restrained, controlled, mature; slow, steady, serious, somber, dignified; rhythmic, stable, predictable, everything kept firmly in line, like clockwork. Sometimes really sadly melancholy, but usually too controlled, unless mixed with something like Neptune; sometimes, plodding or doddering. Enduring; repetitive.

Uranus: startling, spastic, hyper, often unpredictable, shocking, always changing, hard to tell what's going to happen next, not terribly emotional. Weird, techno, unbelievably brilliant and complicated as well as sometimes ultra-fast; sometimes an incredible, invigorating sense of vitality and liveliness; not very emotionally moving, too weird and alien-seeming to be emotionally moving.

Neptune: sublime, mysterious, ambient, unfocused, atmospheric; mystical, lots of sounds just kind of melting together, indistinct; really affecting, emotionally; might put a damper on the the tight control and distinctness of the notes you might expect of Saturn- and Mercury-labeled music; on the speed of Uranus-labeled music, on the lack of emotion of Mercury- or Uranus-labeled music, on the determination and energeticness of Mars-labeled music, on the intensity of Pluto-labeled music, etc.

Pluto: intense; scary, terrifying, ominous, truly disturbing, or maybe just with a vague undercurrent of disturbing-ness if drowned out by qualities associated with other labels; profound, rich. Intensifies whatever it's with; thus, a song with Jupiter and Pluto labels might just be intensely, almost scarily, optimistic and happy (and probably really loud).

And for some briefer summaries:

Mercury:	clever, fast, intricate, orderly, lots of jibs, jabs, bleeps and boops, but not too irregular and unpredictable, playful, lots of string-plucking and key-pressing, not very emotional, informal
Venus:	soft, smooth, sweet, pretty, relaxed, pleasant, bowed strings, harp
Mars:	energetic, determined, forceful, rhythmic, loud, harsh, grating, electric guitar, loud drums
Jupiter:	happy, cheerful, exuberant, loud, grand, bright, free
Saturn:	rhythmic, steady, like clockwork, slow, deep, dark, stately, sober, dignified, sometimes restrained and/or plodding
Uranus:	spastic, startling, unexpected, weird, alien, irregular, fast, energetic, unbelievably complex and brilliant, not very emotional
Neptune:	arhythmic, drifting, soft, slow, subtle, mysterious, emotional, deeply moving, incredibly atmospheric, otherworldly, amorphous and indistinct
Pluto:	intense, scary, unsettling, disturbing, extremely dark

Anyhow, I think this is a pretty nice system, especially if you have such a large music collection you can't even remember what everything you have sounds like, let alone find it when you feel like listening to it. I had a good portion of my collection of around (as of 8/17/2005) 7,500 MIDIs sorted this way, and it was quite helpful. That way, if I wanted to hear happy, cheerful music, I just dropped my folders with Jupiter labels into WinAmp and make a playlist out of it... or if I wanted some really intense, stress-releasing type music, I went to my Pluto/Mars folders, etc.

Mercury




Mercury/Venus

Mercury/Venus/Mars

Mercury/Venus/Jupiter

Mercury/Venus/Saturn

Mercury/Venus/Uranus

Mercury/Venus/Neptune

Mercury/Venus/Pluto

Mercury/Mars

Mercury/Mars/Venus

Mercury/Mars/Jupiter

Mercury/Mars/Saturn

Mercury/Mars/Uranus

Mercury/Mars/Neptune

Mercury/Mars/Pluto

Mercury/Jupiter

Mercury/Jupiter/Venus

Mercury/Jupiter/Mars

Mercury/Jupiter/Saturn

Mercury/Jupiter/Neptune

Mercury/Jupiter/Uranus

Mercury/Jupiter/Pluto

Mercury/Saturn

Mercury/Saturn/Venus

Mercury/Saturn/Mars

Mercury/Saturn/Jupiter

Mercury/Saturn/Uranus

Mercury/Saturn/Neptune

Mercury/Saturn/Pluto

Mercury/Uranus

Mercury/Uranus/Venus

Mercury/Uranus/Mars

Mercury/Uranus/Jupiter

Mercury/Uranus/Saturn

Mercury/Uranus/Neptune

Mercury/Uranus/Pluto

Mercury/Neptune

Mercury/Neptune/Venus

Mercury/Neptune/Mars

Mercury/Neptune/Jupiter

Mercury/Neptune/Saturn

Mercury/Neptune/Uranus

Mercury/Neptune/Pluto

Mercury/Pluto

Mercury/Pluto/Venus

Mercury/Pluto/Mars

Mercury/Pluto/Jupiter

Mercury/Pluto/Saturn

Mercury/Pluto/Uranus

Mercury/Pluto/Neptune




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Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | labels | table | top

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Venus




Venus/Mercury

Venus/Mercury/Mars

Venus/Mercury/Jupiter

Venus/Mercury/Saturn

Venus/Mercury/Uranus

Venus/Mercury/Neptune

Venus/Mercury/Pluto

Venus/Mars

Venus/Mars/Mercury

Venus/Mars/Jupiter

Venus/Mars/Saturn

Venus/Mars/Uranus

Venus/Mars/Neptune

Venus/Mars/Pluto

Venus/Jupiter

Venus/Jupiter/Mercury

Venus/Jupiter/Mars

Venus/Jupiter/Saturn

Venus/Jupiter/Uranus

Venus/Jupiter/Neptune

Venus/Jupiter/Pluto

Venus/Saturn

Venus/Saturn/Mercury

Venus/Saturn/Mars

Venus/Saturn/Jupiter

Venus/Saturn/Uranus

Venus/Saturn/Neptune

Venus/Saturn/Pluto

Venus/Uranus

Venus/Uranus/Mercury

Venus/Uranus/Mars

Venus/Uranus/Jupiter

Venus/Uranus/Saturn

Venus/Uranus/Neptune

Venus/Uranus/Pluto

Venus/Neptune

Venus/Neptune/Mercury

Venus/Neptune/Mars

Venus/Neptune/Jupiter

Venus/Neptune/Saturn

Venus/Neptune/Uranus

Venus/Neptune/Pluto

Venus/Pluto

Venus/Pluto/Mercury

Venus/Pluto/Mars

Venus/Pluto/Jupiter

Venus/Pluto/Saturn

Venus/Pluto/Uranus

Venus/Pluto/Neptune




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Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | labels | table | top

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Mars




Mars/Mercury

Mars/Mercury/Venus

Mars/Mercury/Jupiter

Mars/Mercury/Saturn

Mars/Mercury/Uranus

Mars/Mercury/Neptune

Mars/Mercury/Pluto

Mars/Venus

Mars/Venus/Mercury

Mars/Venus/Jupiter

Mars/Venus/Saturn

Mars/Venus/Uranus

Mars/Venus/Neptune

Mars/Venus/Pluto

Mars/Jupiter

Mars/Jupiter/Mercury

Mars/Jupiter/Venus

Mars/Jupiter/Saturn

Mars/Jupiter/Uranus

Mars/Jupiter/Neptune

Mars/Jupiter/Pluto

Mars/Saturn

Mars/Saturn/Mercury

Mars/Saturn/Venus

Mars/Saturn/Jupiter

Mars/Saturn/Uranus

Mars/Saturn/Neptune

Mars/Saturn/Pluto

Mars/Uranus

Mars/Uranus/Mercury

Mars/Uranus/Venus

Mars/Uranus/Jupiter

Mars/Uranus/Saturn

Mars/Uranus/Neptune

Mars/Uranus/Pluto

Mars/Neptune

Mars/Neptune/Mercury

Mars/Neptune/Venus

Mars/Neptune/Jupiter

Mars/Neptune/Saturn

Mars/Neptune/Uranus

Mars/Neptune/Pluto

Mars/Pluto

Mars/Pluto/Mercury

Mars/Pluto/Venus

Mars/Pluto/Jupiter

Mars/Pluto/Saturn

Mars/Pluto/Uranus

Mars/Pluto/Neptune

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Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | labels | table | top

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Jupiter




Jupiter/Mercury

Jupiter/Mercury/Venus

Jupiter/Mercury/Mars

Jupiter/Mercury/Saturn

Jupiter/Mercury/Uranus

Jupiter/Mercury/Neptune

Jupiter/Mercury/Pluto

Jupiter/Venus

Jupiter/Venus/Mercury

Jupiter/Venus/Mars

Jupiter/Venus/Saturn

Jupiter/Venus/Uranus

Jupiter/Venus/Neptune

Jupiter/Venus/Pluto

Jupiter/Mars

Jupiter/Mars/Mercury

Jupiter/Mars/Venus

Jupiter/Mars/Saturn

Jupiter/Mars/Uranus

Jupiter/Mars/Neptune

Jupiter/Mars/Pluto

Jupiter/Saturn

Jupiter/Saturn/Mercury

Jupiter/Saturn/Venus

Jupiter/Saturn/Mars

Jupiter/Saturn/Uranus

Jupiter/Saturn/Neptune

Jupiter/Saturn/Pluto

Jupiter/Uranus

Jupiter/Uranus/Mercury

Jupiter/Uranus/Venus

Jupiter/Uranus/Mars

Jupiter/Uranus/Saturn

Jupiter/Uranus/Neptune

Jupiter/Uranus/Pluto

Jupiter/Neptune

Jupiter/Neptune/Mercury

Jupiter/Neptune/Venus

Jupiter/Neptune/Mars

Jupiter/Neptune/Saturn

Jupiter/Neptune/Uranus

Jupiter/Neptune/Pluto

Jupiter/Pluto

Jupiter/Pluto/Mercury

Jupiter/Pluto/Venus

Jupiter/Pluto/Mars

Jupiter/Pluto/Saturn

Jupiter/Pluto/Uranus

Jupiter/Pluto/Neptune




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Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | labels | table | top

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Saturn




Saturn/Mercury

Saturn/Mercury/Venus

Saturn/Mercury/Mars

Saturn/Mercury/Jupiter

Saturn/Mercury/Uranus

Saturn/Mercury/Neptune

Saturn/Mercury/Pluto

Saturn/Venus

Saturn/Venus/Mercury

Saturn/Venus/Mars

Saturn/Venus/Jupiter

Saturn/Venus/Uranus

Saturn/Venus/Neptune

Saturn/Venus/Pluto

Saturn/Mars

Saturn/Mars/Mercury

Saturn/Mars/Venus

Saturn/Mars/Jupiter

Saturn/Mars/Uranus

Saturn/Mars/Neptune

Saturn/Mars/Pluto

Saturn/Jupiter

Saturn/Jupiter/Mercury

Saturn/Jupiter/Venus

Saturn/Jupiter/Mars

Saturn/Jupiter/Uranus

Saturn/Jupiter/Neptune

Saturn/Jupiter/Pluto

Saturn/Uranus

Saturn/Uranus/Mercury

Saturn/Uranus/Venus

Saturn/Uranus/Mars

Saturn/Uranus/Jupiter

Saturn/Uranus/Neptune

Saturn/Uranus/Pluto

Saturn/Neptune

Saturn/Neptune/Mercury

Saturn/Neptune/Venus

Saturn/Neptune/Mars

Saturn/Neptune/Jupiter

Saturn/Neptune/Uranus

Saturn/Neptune/Pluto

Saturn/Pluto

Saturn/Pluto/Mercury

Saturn/Pluto/Venus

Saturn/Pluto/Mars

Saturn/Pluto/Jupiter

Saturn/Pluto/Uranus

Saturn/Pluto/Neptune




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Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | labels | table | top

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Uranus




Uranus/Mercury

Uranus/Mercury/Venus

Uranus/Mercury/Mars

Uranus/Mercury/Jupiter

Uranus/Mercury/Saturn

Uranus/Mercury/Neptune

Uranus/Mercury/Pluto

Uranus/Venus

Uranus/Venus/Mercury

Uranus/Venus/Mars

Uranus/Venus/Saturn

Uranus/Venus/Neptune

Uranus/Venus/Pluto

Uranus/Mars

Uranus/Mars/Mercury

Uranus/Mars/Venus

Uranus/Mars/Jupiter

Uranus/Mars/Saturn

Uranus/Mars/Neptune

Uranus/Mars/Pluto

Uranus/Jupiter

Uranus/Jupiter/Mercury

Uranus/Jupiter/Venus

Uranus/Jupiter/Mars

Uranus/Jupiter/Saturn

Uranus/Jupiter/Neptune

Uranus/Jupiter/Pluto

Uranus/Saturn/Mercury

Uranus/Saturn/Venus

Uranus/Saturn/Mars

Uranus/Saturn/Jupiter

Uranus/Saturn/Neptune

Uranus/Saturn/Pluto

Uranus/Neptune

Uranus/Neptune/Mercury

Uranus/Neptune/Venus

Uranus/Neptune/Mars

Uranus/Neptune/Jupiter

Uranus/Neptune/Saturn

Uranus/Neptune/Pluto

Uranus/Pluto

Uranus/Pluto/Mercury

Uranus/Pluto/Venus

Uranus/Pluto/Mars

Uranus/Pluto/Jupiter

Uranus/Pluto/Neptune




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Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | labels | table | top

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Neptune




Neptune/Mercury

Neptune/Mercury/Venus

Neptune/Mercury/Mars

Neptune/Mercury/Saturn

Neptune/Mercury/Uranus

Neptune/Mercury/Pluto

Neptune/Venus

Neptune/Venus/Mercury

Neptune/Venus/Mars

Neptune/Venus/Jupiter

Neptune/Venus/Saturn

Neptune/Venus/Uranus

Neptune/Venus/Pluto

Neptune/Mars

Neptune/Mars/Mercury

Neptune/Mars/Venus

Neptune/Mars/Jupiter

Neptune/Mars/Saturn

Neptune/Mars/Uranus

Neptune/Mars/Pluto

Neptune/Jupiter

Neptune/Jupiter/Mercury

Neptune/Jupiter/Venus

Neptune/Jupiter/Mars

Neptune/Jupiter/Saturn

Neptune/Jupiter/Uranus

Neptune/Jupiter/Pluto

Neptune/Saturn

Neptune/Saturn/Mercury

Neptune/Saturn/Venus

Neptune/Saturn/Mars

Neptune/Saturn/Jupiter

Neptune/Saturn/Uranus

Neptune/Saturn/Pluto

Neptune/Uranus

Neptune/Uranus/Mercury

Neptune/Uranus/Venus

Neptune/Uranus/Mars

Neptune/Uranus/Jupiter

Neptune/Uranus/Saturn

Neptune/Uranus/Pluto

Neptune/Pluto

Neptune/Pluto/Mercury

Neptune/Pluto/Venus

Neptune/Pluto/Mars

Neptune/Pluto/Jupiter

Neptune/Pluto/Saturn

Neptune/Pluto/Uranus




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Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | labels | table | top

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Pluto




Pluto/Mercury

Pluto/Mercury/Venus

Pluto/Mercury/Mars

Pluto/Mercury/Jupiter

Pluto/Mercury/Saturn

Pluto/Mercury/Uranus

Pluto/Mercury/Neptune

Pluto/Venus

Pluto/Venus/Mercury

Pluto/Venus/Mars

Pluto/Venus/Jupiter

Pluto/Venus/Saturn

Pluto/Venus/Uranus

Pluto/Venus/Neptune

Pluto/Mars

Pluto/Mars/Mercury

Pluto/Mars/Venus

Pluto/Mars/Jupiter

Pluto/Mars/Saturn

Pluto/Mars/Uranus

Pluto/Mars/Neptune

Pluto/Jupiter

Pluto/Jupiter/Mercury

Pluto/Jupiter/Venus

Pluto/Jupiter/Mars

Pluto/Jupiter/Saturn

Pluto/Jupiter/Uranus

Pluto/Jupiter/Neptune

Pluto/Saturn

Pluto/Saturn/Mercury

Pluto/Saturn/Venus

Pluto/Saturn/Mars

Pluto/Saturn/Jupiter

Pluto/Saturn/Uranus

Pluto/Saturn/Neptune

Pluto/Uranus

Pluto/Uranus/Mercury

Pluto/Uranus/Venus

Pluto/Uranus/Mars

Pluto/Uranus/Jupiter

Pluto/Uranus/Saturn

Pluto/Uranus/Neptune

Pluto/Neptune

Pluto/Neptune/Mercury

Pluto/Neptune/Venus

Pluto/Neptune/Mars

Pluto/Neptune/Jupiter

Pluto/Neptune/Saturn

Pluto/Neptune/Uranus




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Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | labels | table | top

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