Senior Songs say it all for this graduate

The entirety of my Grace Prep journalism career has been spent avoiding the vast majority of the stories assigned to me, and writing some kind of music-related story instead, much to Mrs. Hall’s dismay. So one last time, here are 16 songs that describe what it feels like to be a senior in the class of 2016.

16) Pink Floyd – “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2”
From the first day of senior year the lines “we don’t need no education” and “hey teacher, leave us kids alone” become instantly relatable. Senioritis is like a switch that’s flipped on the second you walk into your first class, and from then on, it’s just one long marathon of accomplishing the bare minimum.

15) Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Lyrically, this song doesn’t have anything to do with being a senior, but if you stepped outside your house anytime during the fall semester, you have heard “Hotline Bling” before. Being arguably the most popular song of the 2015-16 school year, it will always be synonymous with senior year for those who are graduating.

14) David Bowie – “Fame”
This song doesn’t really apply to most seniors either; I just wanted to flex on me and Nathan Labenz’s viral parking spot again.

13) Justin Bieber – “What Do You Mean?”
Most applicable when Mrs. Hogan asks if you’re ready for the test and you nod your head yes but you want to say no.

12) Depeche Mode – “People Are People”
When you take a large group of kids who have already been dealing with other kids their age for the past eleven years, throw them in small classrooms together, and make them endure each other’s presence for another year, naturally there will be conflict. I don’t know exactly why it’s so difficult for everyone to get along, and neither does Depeche Mode.

11) Gnarls Barkly – “Crazy”
For the nights when it’s 1:00 AM and you still have another page left to type.

10) Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – “I Need Money”
This one is self-explanatory.

9) Rihanna – “Work”
Work is the solution to the dilemma Marky Mark is faced with, but as a result, often takes up any remaining free time a senior has. If it’s not “I’m too busy with school today,” it’s “sorry, I have work today.”

8) Kanye West – “Paranoid”
When every waking minute of your life is spent answering people’s questions about where you’re going to college and what your major is, it can get wrapped up in worries about the future (especially when you don’t have an adequate answer for most people). But Kanye is there to reassure you that worrying simply isn’t worth the time and energy.

7) Courtney Barnett – “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party”
The internal struggle between going out and staying home is one Courtney Barnett knows well. This particular dilemma only gets more difficult when naps begin to claim their stake on your free time.

6) Tame Impala – “Yes I’m Changing”
To me, this song almost perfectly resembles the feeling when it first hits you that high school is almost over. It’s equally uncertain as it is accepting.

5) The Postal Service – “Sleeping In”
One of the many luxuries that make the senior skip day quiz zeroes worth it.

4) Smashing Pumpkins – “1979”
This song essentially captures the simultaneous feeling of not caring and still getting “caught in your feelings” as kids say these days.

3) Mac DeMarco – “Salad Days”
I still don’t know what the term “salad days” even means, but it sounds like some kind of nostalgic reference to better times so I’m going to assume it’s either that or a vegetarian/vegan joke. Either one works.

2) Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs (Continued)”
While short and sweet, this song contains possibly the single-most relatable lines in this entire list: “If I could have it back / All the time that we wasted, I’d only waste it again.”

1) LCD Soundsystem – “All My Friends”
For some reason, while this song is more likely to be relevant after graduation, it feels the most real, and consequentially, the saddest. Frontman James Murphy’s story of nostalgia and an attempt at recreating “old times” carries an underlying message to hold your friends close while you still can, and never take a moment for granted.