Spring on the horizon reintroduces feelings of expectation and excitement. Being a transitional season meant to warm the winter months and prepare for summer, this time of year can be a symbolic new beginning for people.
Spring music can set the mood for the new season, with a unique combination of reminiscent, demure tones of the ending winter, mixed with a more upbeat and sunny transition to the summer. Some of these tracks emulate the feeling of sitting in a field with friends, while the others are perfect to listen to while sitting solely on a campus bench and reflecting on the opportunities of a new season.
Jorja Smith’s freestyling delivers insight on human selfishness in a way that evokes meaningful introspection. Soothing instrumentals emphasize the poetic lyricism. The line “Stay afloat, someone might put their arm out to help you” tells listeners to see the good that is out there, and encourages them to be the good. “Lifeboat (Freestyle)” elicits the sense that Smith herself is whispering a daily affirmation to the listener in the mirror.
“I Wanna Get Better” puts a nostalgic filter over the narrator’s contemporary thoughts about personal development. This person’s mindset appears solitary, with the lyrics “While my friends were getting high and chasing girls down parkway lines / I was losing my mind.” Such lines emphasize how feelings of loneliness can be so isolating that sometimes you just need to scream “I wanna get better!” as the lyrics detail. This topic of yearning for self improvement complements a spring-cleaning mindset perfectly.
- “To Be Alive” by Rina Sawayama
Rina Sawayama's album “Hold the Girl” hits the nail on the head when it comes to coming-of-age topics. “To Be Alive” layers her already strong vocals with echoing lyrics and fast-paced percussion once the chorus begins, emulating spring anticipation. Her words “All of the beauty and love I could not see / I see you now” share Sawayama’s journey of growth — from feeling closed in as a child to now being rejuvenated, basking in this feeling she’d been waiting for her entire life.
- “Life Goes On” by E^ST
“Momentary / Temporary, transient” are the lyrics that start this song with a powerful relation to the transitional season of spring. Although the song focuses on a relationship, E^ST’s lyrics are applicable to self-reflection, too. “We have a change of mind / The moment ends and life goes on” tells listeners to move on with their lives and let go of the past.
Representing the colder beginnings of spring, The Paper Kites’ “Willow Tree March” explains that “We all still die” and asks “What will you leave behind?” The message of “Success is a song of the heart, not a song of your bed” advises listeners to motivate themselves to do what they’ve been dreaming of but been putting off, working in combination with a string-instrument-heavy composition to give the song an underlying sense of importance that you’d find in a historical drama.
Just as the title suggests, this song makes listeners want to sit outside and dream. Solange’s vocals set the tone of the track, full of airy notes and beautiful harmonies. “Dreams come a long way, not today” invigorates you to act on the dreams you’ve had since you were young. The gentle repetition of words allows for listeners to play repeatedly while meditating or reflecting.
“Amsterdam” is the epitome of the beginning of spring. While Isakov sings of the location of Amsterdam itself, the fond tone and description here is applicable to the season. “While we ache to come home somehow” is the last lyric of “Amsterdam,” but it perfectly encapsulates spring lovers’ yearning for the season. Not only are the lyrics dewy-eyed and wistful, but so is the orchestral music complementing it. Fluttering flutes and bouncing violin shape this song into something cinematic and larger than life.
The end of winter greets spring like an old friend, while summer eagerly awaits its turn to shine, but the season is an important transitional period of rebirth and rejuvenation.
The evocative nature of this playlist is a guide to assist in the conflicting feelings of melancholy and excitement that inevitably come up during spring. As students, take this season as an opportunity to enjoy what time you have left in college and remind yourself of the good that has come from this semester and last.
This article was edited by Sara Winick, Kylie Bill and Nina Heller. Copy editing done by Isabelle Kravis and Stella Guzik.
