Sometimes the simplest gestures mean the most. Calling a close friend can be the high point of your day. Just hearing her voice can make you forget the fight you had with your boyfriend or husband and settle in for comforting girl-time. When you feel the need to let her know she means the world to you, make a playlist of mp3 downloads and give it as an anytime gift.

Letting someone know they’re special enough to take time out of your day to make a compilation just for them can make their week. How do you pick a song for an old friend, family, or a new friend who needs you? There are different songs that go with every kind of friendship. Your sister will get a very different mix than a new neighbor who just divorced her husband.

The Tortured Neighbor

She just divorced her husband of ten years and is starting over next door. She’s lonely and scared. You feel bad so you decide to make her a compilation of free mp3 downloads. What you are trying to tell her is that life goes on. That it could be worse, and, essentially, she’ll live.

But you don’t want to be too direct. For the first attempt, show her how strong she can be and find free mp3 music downloads that will speak to her feminine side’s strengths and weaknesses.

• “I’m Every Woman” by Chaka Khan. A bold and empowering song that will have her screaming the lyrics all over her house.

• “Break Away” by Kelly Clarkson. In this song about starting again, she’ll see herself not as a broken person, but a new one.

• “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers. Duh.

• “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkle. This might be the best song for anyone trying to let a person know someone is there for them.

Relative Friends

My sister is my best friend. She is the hand that guides me. So when I make a compilation of mp3 downloads for her, I have to choose carefully. When you make a CD for family, you have to be sure not to include songs with a lot of “babies” or “darlings”, “Sugars” or “Loves”.  There’s a very fine line between affectionate and creepy.

There are some songs about sisters that you may already know. But for my money, it’s the songs about another person giving you strength that hit home. I gave her an mp3 compilation in the spring. I included:

• “You Lift Me Up” by Josh Groban

• “True Colors” by Phil Collins

• “Would You Like to Buy an O” from a Sesame Street album from our childhoods

• “In My Life” by the Beatles

Remember, you aren’t vying for her love. You just want her to know you love her and she means a lot to you.

Best Friends are Good Listeners

Finding mp3 downloads for mixes given to best friends is easy. There are certain songs that have specific meaning to the two of you. It could be “30,000 lbs. of Bananas” by Harry Chapin. Maybe it’s Def Leppard or Young MC’s “Bust a Move.”

The only thing that will matter to her is the thought you put into the mix. And free mp3 downloads can be as unique as your friendship.