“I think that song took on a different meaning at that time—our whole outlook on what life was changed,” Tim McGraw tells Apple Music about recording “I Called Mama” right before the pandemic hit. “Then it was not only about mom and about losing a friend. It was about a bigger picture. It was about everybody in your life who you can lean on and count on.” The country superstar’s touching ode to his mother is featured on this exclusive Apple Music playlist curated by McGraw himself. Listening to music from the likes of Chicago and George Michael is also doing its part to keep him going, as is Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, which takes him back to his college days. “I was a Pi Kappa Alpha, and I remember a party that we had a band playing that song,” he says of the synth-pop duo’s 1985 hit. “I look back on that as one of those aha music moments that really made me think, ‘Boy, music can really elevate the situation, and I want to be a part of that.’”