It's summer vacation and that means summer music. And while people like Shawn Mendes are releasing duo covers with Camila Cabello, most of the summer airwaves are dead. That is why I don't rely on pop stars to determine my summer jam anymore. Over the years my taste in music has obviously changed. Today I'd say I am a mix of Alternative Rock/Pop Rock. So I thought it would be fun to check out my current top five songs. Thanks to the handy dandy YouTube Music App because Spotify isn't worth it. But that's an article for another time. I'm coming for you next, Spotify.
"Vacation" By: The Go-Go's
I recently heard this song while watching Spider-Man: Far From Home. It was featured during its end credits scene and it had been my bop for the last eight days. I am a very chill guy who doesn't like to get up and dance as much anymore. However, throw this song on at a pool party and trust me I will be dancing on the diving board in my shades.
"Finale (Can't Wait To See What You Do Next)" by: AJR
AJR's recent album "Neotheater" is the first album where I enjoyed every song. I've never been in tune with an album so much but these songs are really speaking to me on an emotional level. The last song of the album, "Finale" has one verse that really gets me. It's: "They wanted heaven from me, I gave them hell… Now they want something bigger, I'm overwhelmed, I think it's time to go now. I think my curtain's falling. Just don't forget about me when you get out of college. If it's my final album, and if I ever got it, I hope I made you smile that's all I ever wanted..." Without getting too much into it, that verse just makes me think of myself and my insecurities that I worry about every day.
3. "Sober Up" by: AJR
Sober Up is another song from AJR that I have recently stumbled upon in my playlist. As a college student who doesn't like the idea of drinking (for myself) the song really speaks to my inner voice about some of the thoughts that go through my mind when I see my peers drinking. It's funny how at school, when I tell people I don't drink they 100% understand and never bring it up again, where my family back at home asks me a million questions to why. Or egg me to take a sip of a shot. There are techniques to drinking Alcohol that aren't harmful but it feels like a lot of the time people just want to see what I look like drunk. And I don't want that. So this song is a good uplifting song to change my mood on the matter.
4. "Mad Dash" from: "Mad Dash Racing"
I was watching a top 10 video recently about old nostalgic video games from the early 2000s and this one XBOX racing game has this song called the Mad Dash. A song based on the game of the same name (Mad Dash: Racing), this song screams early 2000s which I love. It has a Blink 182, skater vibe which I enjoy throughly. It's a strange song to have playing on the car ride with other people so I usually save it for when I am riding in the car by myself.
5. "Death of Me" by: SAINT PHNX
This song came into my playlist last summer and has recently surfaced back up to my listening playlist. The lyrics are lowkey depressing; it's about someone stumbling and falling. But when it reaches the chorus it has enough "oof" to get you up and ready to take on anything. Definitely a good hype up song.
So that's my list. Like I said I have a really perplexing sense of music. The trendy songs are nice and I would definitely turn them on when I need to go on a car ride to downtown. However, radio stations overplay these songs like crazy. My hatred for certain songs comes from the overplaying of them on radios. Like I get it, someone who didn't have the radio on at 2:22 pm may want to hear the same song that just played. But don't do it every hour. Especially when it's multiple radio stations! But, anyway, rant DONE.
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