MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We end today's program with the feature we call In Your Ear. That's where we ask some of our guests what they're listening to these days. Today, we have the personal playlist of writer and LGBT rights advocate Andy Marra. We spoke with her last December about her essay titled "The Beautiful Daughter: How My Korean Mother Gave Me the Courage to Transition." It first appeared in the Huffington Post, and in it, she describes how against great odds she found her birth family in South Korea, and then how she made the difficult decision to come out to her family as transgender. Here's what's playing in her ear.
ANDY MARRA: My name is Andy Marra, and I am listening to "Lullabies," by Yuna.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LULLABIES")
YUNA: (Singing) I wanted to go away with you.
MARRA: She's a Malaysian artist, and she was discovered and brought to the States.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LULLABIES")
YUNA: (Singing) And I will leave all my troubles here.
MARRA: The vocals are so dreamy and beautiful, and her voice is very clear. And I love falling asleep to the sound of her music and to the sound of her voice. It puts me into a nice, relaxing state that lets me fall asleep.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LULLABIES")
YUNA: (Singing) Like lullabies, you are forever in my mind. I see you in all the pieces in my life, though you weren't mine. Like lullabies, you are forever in my mind. I see you in all the pieces in my life.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOLOCENE")
MARRA: Another song I'm listening to is "Holocene," by Bon Iver.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOLOCENE")
BON IVER: (Singing) Someway, baby, it's part of me, apart from me. You're laying waste to Halloween. You - it friend. It's on its head. It struck the street.
MARRA: A perfect song to write to. I particularly like to write to that song when I'm in front of a fireplace and it's quiet outside and it's night out. So it's a wonderful song to write to.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOLOCENE")
IVER: And at once I knew I was not magnificent, strayed above the highway aisle, jagged vacance, thick with ice.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GO DO")
MARRA: Another song I really love is "Go Do" by Jonsi.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GO DO")
JONSI: (Singing) Go sing too loud. Make your voice break. Sing it out. Go scream, do shout. Make an earthquake. You wish fire would die and turn colder.
MARRA: It's a wonderfully happy and exuberant song. It has a lot of pep. And it reminds me of the fall of 2010, when I found my family in Korea and I was able to begin building a relationship with them. So it has a lot of great memories, and it's very motivational for me when I'm feeling down.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GO DO")
JONSI: (Singing) Go drum, do get out. Make your hands ache. Play it out.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE LARK ASCENDING")
MARRA: Another song that I really, really love is "The Lark Ascending," by Vaughn Williams. It's more of a classical piece, but again, it's a wonderful song to write to, especially when you're feeling reflective and introspective, if you will.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE LARK ASCENDING")
MARRA: I love playing the piece when I am sitting down when it's raining outside and writing more thoughtful, meaningful pieces.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE LARK ASCENDING")
MARTIN: That was writer Andy Marra telling us what's playing in her ear. And that's our program for today. I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Let's talk more tomorrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.