{"id":6951,"date":"2024-06-07T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/?p=6951"},"modified":"2024-06-10T17:30:28","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T22:30:28","slug":"gazette-wrapped-favorite-song-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/gazette-wrapped-favorite-song-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Gazette Wrapped: Favorite Song Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arts Analysis By Mason Zelenko<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The end of the school year is upon us. What a year it has been! As Grace\u2019s resident music critic, I compiled a list of the music some Gazette staffers have been listening to. Perhaps these songs influence their articles. Perhaps they listen to them for fun. I appreciated these songs, and their reviews and hope you do too. Happy summer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronica H. \u201825: \u201cGoing To California\u201d – Led Zeppelin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronica\u2019s Take:
\u201c\u200b\u200bGoing to California may be a wistful song about leaving a seeming \u2018past life”\u2019 behind, but it is also quite hopeful. There is sadness and trepidation, leaving a 1woman unkind,\u2019 but the singer’s eyes look to the horizon, finding joy in the possibilities of the future: “Someone told me there\u2019s a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.” There is a breath at the start, the preparation for a new beginning. This song has been important to me this year because I am moving to another country, a decision that I was very conflicted about because I knew I would miss a lot of my current life. However, I realized there was even more to look forward to, and that outweighed any negatives that held me back from choosing to move to Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong>
The guitar melodies give it that southern twang, while it remains folksy at the beginning, thanks to Robert Plant\u2019s vocals\u2014a nice sentiment, as Veronica pointed out, what with the whole \u201cleaving\u201d motif. I have Led Zeppelin IV on vinyl, and this song seems like one that I will spin from time to time. Those lonely nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milo P. \u201825: \u201cIt\u2019s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)\u201d – R.E.M.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milo\u2019s Take:
\u201cIt shows why getting emotional in times of societal dismay takes away from the beauty of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong>
If \u201cWe Didn\u2019t Start The Fire,\u201d was even more mayhem-inducing.– R.E.M., the Atlanta staple, makes me feel like the comet is coming right towards Fulton County, GA, and their non-commital to said fact is punk and stupidly glorious. Good cross-vocals on the chorus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fiona M. \u201826: \u201cTime To Pretend\u201d – MGMT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fiona\u2019s Take:
\u201cIt is cheerful and gets me excited for summer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong>
I\u2019ve got to give it to them, I think MGMT and their revival of rock in its distinguished, altered form is excellent for music. Synths here, synths there, synths everywhere! It is magnanimous and honestly a little like R.E.M. in its slight quirkiness. Not to skirt around the subject, but the guitar work feels like summer, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pippa L. \u201825: \u201cLet The Light In\u201d – Lana Del Rey<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pippa\u2019s Take:
\u201cIt is very calming and relaxing to listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong>
Dang, some of you guys are in your feels! Lana is a stunning and ethereal vocalist, and similarly to \u201cGoing to California,\u201d the song is leaving me and bringing me in simultaneously. It is just more subdued. Chilling harmony with Father John Misty on the chorus brings it together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie B. \u201826: \u201cStorms\u201d – Fleetwood Mac<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie\u2019s Take:
\u201cI like that the melody is simple. I think it contrasts the depth of the lyrics. The lyrics are deep and resonate with the listener. I love the way Stevie Nicks’s voice sounds, it’s simple and beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong>
A song that plays like Fleetwood Mac and reads like Frank Ocean. Heart-wrenching stuff from Stevie and the gang, including \u201cEvery hour of fear I spend \/ My body tries to cry \/ Living through each empty night.\u201d Artists can find ways to make something jump off the page and hug you, push you away, or hit you like a raindrop. BRB, listening to this on a cold summer night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallie R. \u201825: \u201cWish You Were Here\u201d – Pink Floyd<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallie\u2019s Take:
\u201cMy cousin showed me this song over winter break, and I listen to it almost daily. It’s a very good and timeless song. It is a little sad, but it is one of those songs that is perfect to listen to as you wind down from the day. It also has this long intro that builds up slowly, and I love it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWish You Were Here\u201d is one of Pink Floyd\u2019s finest moments. Trapped in the psychological effects of his trauma, former lead guitarist of the band Syd Barrett completely left the group, and the song beckons for him back in destitute honor. Glorious, triumphant, melancholy songwriting, if you could even describe it as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Media provided by Juliette Robertson ’25 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zarina M. \u201826: \u201cDreams\u201d – Fleetwood Mac<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zarina\u2019s Take:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe song is catchy and easy to listen to whenever. It’s a great subway song and study song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong>
All I remember about \u201cDreams\u201d is that one trend on TikTok a couple of years back. You know, the one where the guy is skateboarding and drinking that sugary drink? Classic rock is making a comeback, not in the way Greta Van Vleet intended, but in terms of more young people revering these older artists with a renewed sense of passion. Songs like \u201cDreams\u201d are timeless in this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophia S. \u201825: \u201cFor Once In My Life\u201d – Stevie Wonder<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophia\u2019s Take:
\u201cBecause it feels like summer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong>
This is a very happy song for anyone who just wants to feel good. Stevie on the harmonica is classic, and everything sounds ahead of its time whenever I listen to him. That solo is perfectly timed, and there is emotion, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zamira F. \u201824: \u201cSupercut\u201d – Lorde<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zamira\u2019s Take:<\/em>
\u201cTHIS SONG IS SOOOO FIREEEEEEEE. It is good when you’re feeling happy or sad or anything in between.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong>
Lorde: the Australian who took pop by storm. I like some songs from Melodrama, including \u201cGreen Light,\u201d and they all have this hyper-realistic, \u201ccould be in a movie\u201d type of vibe. This song has a certain build and insatiable rush to it, and it does work in both melancholy and joyous settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alejandro I. \u201825: \u201cTQMQA\u201d – Eladio Carrion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alejandro\u2018s Take:
\u201cIt’s a song that I listened to in the winter when the sun would go down at 4 p.m., and it seemed like the cold and dark were never-ending. In a way, it got me through the winter as it made me think of the warm weather and tranquility of the summer to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:<\/strong>
I think that reggaeton is one of the most danceable genres out there. And this song would bring anyone out of winter depression. Bright chords in the back let Carrion\u2019s voice sing through pleasantly. It is simple, it is catchy, it is modern, and a great song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kristina E. \u201824: \u201cLandslide\u201d – Fleetwood Mac<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kristina\u2019s Take:
\u201cSenior vibes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:
<\/strong>HEAVY SENIOR VIBES. I can just picture them in their huddled masses in the commons on that last Friday, balling their eyes out and finally conquering senioritis. Simple guitar melodies heal all wounds or open new ones to distract you from those most painful. I\u2019ll miss you guys next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason Zelenko: \u201cNovember\u201d – Tyler, The Creator<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason\u2019s Take:
<\/strong>\u201cNovember\u201d by Tyler the Creator is perfectly weird for me right now. I was on the phone with a friend last night, and I showed her the song, inadvertently asking her what her \u201cNovember\u201d was, \u201cNovember\u201d being any moment or idea stuck in a time that you are fond of. This morning, instead of clicking shuffle and letting the song be picked for me, I sought out \u201cNovember.\u201d Tyler asks everyone listening, \u201cTell me what\u2019s your November \/ is it a person?\u201d His leaving the question of what \u201cNovember\u201d is up to the crowd makes it ambiguous. Another aspect of someone\u2019s November is that it is not just a reflection on the moment in time itself in remembrance; it is also supposed to capture the zeitgeist, the spirit of the time of that moment, in all its good and bad. In terms of the song itself, it is a mixture of bright synths, slowed-down and reverb drums, and witty lyricism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, it has been a great year for The Gazette. Tons of in-depth article writing. Tons of research. Tons of high-class music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason Zelenko \u201825, the author, is a staff writer and one of next year\u2019s Deputy Editors for <\/em>The Grace Gazette.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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