I’ve always thought of the different grades in high school like levels in a video game. I guess in this analogy, graduation would be the end of the game. Like every good video game, it has to have a soundtrack, so by writing this column, I hope you can see your experience in the songs.
At this point in the year, we are forgetting the freedom of the summer and adjusting in to the routines of school, so to ease this transition, I have found songs that reflect the experience of these grades during this time of the year.
Freshman: “Ribs” – Lorde
Freshman year, at least for me, was a huge culture shock. I remember thinking how this was not like High School Musical at all. Not just because people weren’t singing and dancing down the hallway–not including the theater kids–but because there was no crazy lessons or life altering moments. It was just school. Not to say nothing happens freshman year, I just think compared to movies and even other grades it’s a let down.
That’s why I picked Lorde’s “Ribs”. This song has a nostalgic high school type of mood to it that is reminiscent in the lyrics and general charm of the song. You hear that in the lyrics: “This dream isn’t feeling sweet/ We’re reeling through the midnight streets/ And I’ve never felt more alone/ It feels so scary, getting old.” This line sums up freshman year pretty well. It captures the uncertainty that comes naturally with reaching a new milestone in your life and the surprise when it does not live up to your expectations.
Lorde wrote this song in high school after hosting her first house party. In an interview with Genius about the song, Lorde said “It scares me to think of having one foot in that adult world, because who says that we can go back? Like, can you be a kid and still do adult things? Do you have to leave that world behind?” This fear is heavily prevalent in freshman year–especially for the first quarter. You are three months out of middle school and thrown into a completely new chapter of your life. Like she says, you have one foot through the door. It can be stressful growing up, and I’d say going into high school is the peak of “growing up.”
Sophomore: “Birdhouse in your soul” – They Might be Giants
Nothing truly happens sophomore year: freshman year is your first year of high school; junior year you have the SAT’s; and senior year you graduate. Sophomore year is a whole lotta nothin’. The only memorable part of sophomore year was the reality shift that teachers won’t go easy on you anymore and that it’s somewhat easier to make friends.
So They Might be Giants makes sense because their songs, just like each grade level, tend to have various meanings that lead people to obsess over finding the correct one. I am also at fault for looking too much into things, but trying to find a meaning in everything can blind you to the calmness that is simplicity.
“Birdhouse in Your Soul” is not safe from the magnifying glass of desperate fans. The difference here is that there is no deeper meaning. The band has clarified that the song is literally about a bird nightlight. That’s it.
This can be reminiscent of sophomore year looking for a deeper meaning when there isn’t one. Sophomore year settles you more into the flow of high school, and everyone I’ve spoken to about this has agreed that socially sophomore year was easier. This song is especially good because the lyrics are sweet, expressing friendship and belonging. Sophomore year for me and others was a lot more sociable because you fall more into a routine and become more comfortable at school. If you want to get poetic about it, these connections can be reminiscent of the night light. These friends you make are like light in the dark, and I find that making friends that I can rely on has helped me significantly throughout high school.
Junior- “Anthem for a 17 year old girl” – Broken Social Scene
Everything about this song perpetuates the teenage experience, especially for, like the song says, 17-year-olds. The song is a series of repeating lyrics. The tone of the song is melancholy and tired. It exudes the repetitive nature of going to the same classes everyday as you still deal with the juvenile problems of high school. Anyone can relate to this song being that it can be sort of a warning for what is going to happen.
The lyrics are simple and there are technically only three lyrics. The first lyric stands out to me the most, “used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that/ Now you’re all gone, got your makeup on, and you’re not coming back/ Can’t you come back?” This is a good line to represent growth. I know at least in my experience junior year came with the most change in my life. For most people junior year is when they become more comfortable with themselves and the flow of high school.
The chorus asking to “come back” can reference how often adults in our lives aren’t ready for their children or grandchildren to grow up. Throughout high school, it is inevitable that you change, and in mine and others’ experience, this is most prevalent in junior and senior year because you’re in between the freedom of childhood and the constrictions of adult life.
Why I would say this line and song is better suited for junior year is because you are at a weird point where you are often assumed to be more mature because of your age but still dismissed because you are still a child. At least in senior year you are the oldest out of the grade levels and in most cases 18. At 17 you are one year away from being an adult, but you are still a child and unable to have the respect that comes with being 18.
Senior: “Wading In Waist-High Water”- Fleet Foxes
Senior year is awkward. There’s two sides of the coin: those who can’t wait to get high school over with and those who are already mourning their last year as a student. It’s foolish to already be in mourning before the first quarter isn’t even over, but to ignore the feeling of uncertainty is unproductive and just as foolish.
“Wading In Waist-High Water” by Fleet Foxes has a nostalgic but sorrowful tone to it. Though it sounds sad, it is strangely comforting. The song is short and sweet. Wading in waist-deep water is a symbolic reference to both physical and emotional vulnerability. This vulnerability can be reminiscent of the uncertainty around the future and having eyes on you because you are a role model for underclassmen. The song in all is an ode to the fleeting summer, a time that often goes by too quickly.
The song opens with the lyrics, “Summer all over/ Blame it on timing/ Weakening August water.” Though August is capitalized like the month, it has a double entendre, “august” can also be used as an adjective to mean: “marked by majestic dignity or grandeur.” The timing being weakened by August water can be to the transition in senior year where there is vulnerability in reference to college tours, getting a job to afford college, or in general the “un-high schooled” years of one’s life. These can take up the summer or free time the pressure is already slipping in. This transition is scary, and I personally can feel the pressure building up specifically around college applications and saving up money. The worst part of this is constantly being told you should be scared. Adults in my life continuously remind me of how hard it is to be an adult and be in college as if I wasn’t being told this my whole life.
This column will continue each quarter because like seasons people’s mindsets and feelings are changing throughout the quarters of high school. These should not be taken too seriously and instead are meant to be comforting and relatable. I hope that maybe you can see yourself or past self reflected in the sections of this story. Keep pushing forward, and before you know it, you’ll be at the final boss—graduation—armed with all the experiences that shaped you along the way.
Listen to this playlist and other playlists created by Oracle members on our Spotify account McDaniel Oracle.
