Despite all their differences, NC students all bond over one thing, music. Throughout this turbulent year, students have found comfort in their own Spotify playlists. Whether the familiar sounds of a favorite artist or a treasured, reminiscent song, music provides comfort and brings joy to all. 

“Like I want you” – Giveon

Giveon draws in listeners with his crooning voice as he details the heartache of losing someone you love and needing to pretend you feel indifferent. He recalls the past and all the good memories while questioning why the relationship ended. 

“I like the song because it relates to me in the sense of having to move on while you see the other person living their life but you’re still stuck on them, not in a sad way, it’s a calming song to listen to,” Magnet senior Nick Ta said. 

“Foreigner’s God” – Hozier

Hozier reflects the messages within the song by using a dark and almost looming instrumental track and allowing his powerful voice to emerge. He describes a love so marvelous he calls it sinful, he details the broken love he showed to a girl who could see the deepest parts of him. The song, reminiscent of a thunderstorm or a raging ocean, contains a rumbling undertone leading up to the chorus where the audience can hear Hozier fully expressing his emotions through his voice. 

“[Foreigner’s God] definitely makes me feel a lot of emotions at once, but one of the most prominent things I feel is relief and comfort. It kind of allows me to feel myself because to me, a lot of the song is about feeling distant from yourself and your values. It’s like I know who I am, but not fully and the song kind of lets me just feel that out,” magnet senior Leigh Smith said. 

“Happy and sad” – Kacey Musgraves

In this song Kacey Musgraves achieves the impossible. She details a feeling everyone can relate to, the dread that comes with blissful happiness, knowing that it cannot last forever, takes away from the initial joy. Musgraves’ melodic voice dances above the instrumental background, making this song almost addictively catchy. 

“My favorite song is ‘Happy and sad’ by Kacey Musgraves. I really like this song because it reminds me of hanging out with my friends pre-covid. My friends and I would always listen to this song while we went to Chick-fil-a and it just makes me feel very happy,” Magnet junior Emma Pearson said. 

“Rhapsody in blue” – Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra

This song, while incorporating classical and jazz elements, brings the listener on a journey of their own imagination. The song possesses obvious climaxes and storylines, but without any lyrics the audience can fill in the blanks with personal experiences from their own lives. The beautiful song made history and continues to influence people today.  

“This nine minute masterpiece by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra can be described as the epitome of jazz and its brilliance. The song immerses the observer, such as myself, to another world which allows the imagination to create its own narrative guided by the mood of the music; similar to reading a book,” junior Lorenzo Alarcon said. 

“Pursuit of happiness” – Kid Cudi

“Pursuit of Happiness,” released in 2009, has remained popular for over 10 years and shows no sign of slowing down. Kid Cudi describes trying to find happiness everywhere he goes and with the rhythmic instrumental track and catchy lyrics, this song always reappears for summer night drives.

“[Pursuit of Happiness] reminds me of driving around with the windows down in the summer. It just emulates good vibes surrounding being a teenager,” sophomore Jordyn Zignego said.

“Pretty Hurts” – Beyonce

The confidence anthem shook the world upon its release in 2013 and continues to influence girls today. The song encourages listeners to feel comfortable in their own skin as opposed to doing anything and everything to improve themselves. Beyonce highlights issues that have only grown by talking about how “Vogue says ‘thinner is better,’” the iconic song will never go out of style. 

“I love ‘Pretty Hurts’ by Beyonce because it shows that not everyone is perfect and if you’re trying to be perfect you are only hurting yourself and making yourself miserable. One of my favorite lines from the song is ‘Perfection is the disease of a nation you can’t see, it’s the soul that needs the surgery,” sophomore Hassatou Diallo said. 

“Itsy Bitsy” – Lyn Lapid

The familiar “Itsy Bitsy Spider” melody takes on a different meaning in this 2021 release by Lyn Lapid. Lapid expertly incorporates more verses into the original song to convey the struggles of watching someone you love endure alcoholism. The song’s dreary tone mixed with the childhood tune makes the song effortlessly catchy.

“My favorite song currently is ‘Itsy Bitsy’ by Lyn Lapid. The song is a spin off of the nursery rhyme with a darker tone because it talks about the problems of alcoholism and how you need to persevere and keep working at your problems. The melody behind the song is very calming as well, it’s just a really good song to vibe to,” freshman Lucas Folino said. 

“Lost in you” – Khai Dreams

The viral indie-pop hit popularized among many since the original release of the song in 2017. The upbeat music contrasts the lyrics which discuss the themes such as unrequited love and lusting after a crush. Khai Dreams implements elements commonly found in indie music, which, layered under his meditative voice, create a mesmerizing song.

“I really like ‘Lost in you’ by Khai Dreams. I like it because it is really chill and something I can relax while listening to. Another reason I enjoy it is because it’s really easy to just enjoy the rhythms in the music, it is a short song and I generally like songs that are shorter because they don’t drag on too long,” freshman Andrew Devlin said. 

While every NC student showcases their different music preference, the common denominator lies in the emotions these songs bring up. The comfort, familiarity, or joy associated with these songs surrounds NC students. In order to make the NC student body’s favorite songs more accessible, The Chant has created a collaborative playlist. Within this playlist students can insert their own favorite songs and it can continuously grow.