The YOUTH Playlist

Little Trouble Girl by Sonic Youth

Hi, mommy issues! The wicked little lullaby that is Sonic Youth’s “Little Trouble Girl” captures what it is to be a girl becoming a woman. The performing, the expectations, the shame, the love, the lust, all of it. Sonic Youth, with The Pixies’ vocalist Kim Deal, tell the ever-familiar story of a girl struggling to reconcile the innocent femininity that is expected of her with “what she feels inside.” We’ve all been that titular “Little Trouble Girl”, caught between the pull to be good, to have that pleading, girlish innocence, and (Elsa Servantes)

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Sandy by Alex G

Showcasing the inner turmoil of being 14, Alex G manages to encapsulate the experience of adolescence that is relevant to all genders. A very simple tune, the finger plucked guitar creates an atmosphere of nostalgia and longing, as Alex G, taking on the persona of Sandy, sings about the struggles of being a young teenager. The discussion of being taunted by peers and siblings is definitely relatable, and the repetition of many lines throughout the song represents feelings of perpetual longing that everyone has felt at the tail end of puberty. Being 14 isn’t easy, it is an age where you aren’t yet big but you aren’t young anymore either. The last verse of the song simply states “My name is Sandy; I’m 14 years old / My insides are changing / And right now, I just wanna grow up / I just wanna grow up / I just wanna grow up…” which so accurately represents complicated urge of just wanting to grow up; to feel at peace.

(Emily Haddad)

Fluorescent Adolescent by Arctic Monkeys

“Is anything as pretty as the past, though?” Fluorescent Adolescent asks this question as it teases the concept of aging out of sexual excitement. The song reminisces of a time when “all the boys were all electric,” uncaring and inconsequential youth, and empowerment through sexual frivolity, in contrast to an older age where “the best you ever had is just a memory.” The playfulness and glorification of spontaneous, youthful sex speaks to the way that aging is vilified and characterized as an unfortunate experience within popular contexts. Arctic Monkeys touch on how our adolescence appears fluorescent in our memory.

(Amber Stevens)

Super Bass by Nicki Minaj

Anyone born before 2005 has a video of themselves rapping “Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj somewhere in the photo booth archives. “Super Bass” has empowered people all over the world to step into one’s sassiness, illuminating the most playful versions of their personalities. No matter what was happening, singing “Super Bass” had the power to make everything feel alright, even if your parents were getting a divorce in the room over. (Izzi Fraser)

Seven by Taylor Swift

“Seven” tells the story of young friendship in the midst of strife, and escape from corruption through naive imagination. It depicts innocence hauntingly, as a commodity which protects against reality. The line, “before I learned civility / I used to scream ferociously” demonstrates that we lose the rawest part of our humanity when we trade our youth in for worldliness. Growing up demands a shift from perceiving the world as a shiny playground to perceiving it as a place where one must succumb, begetting the question, when we sacrifice the purity of novelty to time, “are there still beautiful things”?

(Selena Perez)

Run Cried the Crawling by

Agnes Obel

This song depicts the torment of an ambiguous relationship’s death. While it is not blatantly about youth, the song utilizes elements of youth as a vehicle for the idea of loss, making it inherently analogical to the theme of farewelling childhood. The artist mentioned in an interview that the song was intended to sonically mimic a lullaby or nursery rhyme. It provokes images of a rippage from the cradle of what once felt secure. The song holistically illustrates clawing desperately for scraps of the past’s bliss, just as adults long hopelessly for versions of themselves that knew no worldly damage. (Selena Perez)

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Butterfly Fly Away by Miley Cyrus

This song is nostalgic both tonally and culturally. It was a coming-of-age backtrack for an entire generation, originating from Hannah Montana and maintaining significance in modern media. In it, a teenage girl fondles memories of a parent lovingly ushering her through a bedtime routine. Ironically this routine is being interrupted in the name of new beginnings, and the past is being laid tenderly to rest. The melancholic tune is timeless, and puts a tear in my eye at every stage of life. I chose this song ultimately for the way it showcases the metamorphic nature of girlhood, childhood, and caterpillarhood.

(Selena Perez)

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YOUTH by Troye Sivan

This song encapsulates what it means to give away your “golden years” to someone who makes you feel all the emotions on the spectrum. This song can also be seen as giving your all in your youthful years to any sort of cause. We regard youth as a precious thing in society because it is time sensitive so giving it to someone signifies a big commitment. While youth is the happiest time of our lives it is the shortest. “My youth is yours,” while in the present tense, gives a nostalgic vibe as we look on our life experiences and encounter the highs and the lows of commitment and sacrifice in our “golden years.” (Alexus Torres)

Teenagers by My Chemical Romance

This song describes the radical nature of teenagers and their ability to create change within the world. If you have ever been at a protest or if you have ever seen a hashtag trending on twitter you will know that youth are the main mobilizing efforts of social movements. This is not a new phenomena however because as long as social movements have existed there has been some teenager on the front line of the cause. As the song describes, adults’ categorization of teens leads them to undermine their abilities but youth has the ability to make things happen. Teenagers are scary because they are relentless in the fight. Keep scaring them kids! (Alexus Torres)

Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Lauryn

Hill

The warmth of a mother’s hug can heal all. Lauryn Hill’s cover of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” reminds me of twirling in the kitchen with my mom after a hard day at elementary school. “Dance it off,” she’d say as we’d sing, “you’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you.” This song has been a staple throughout my youth, getting me through the trials and tribulations of girlhood one twirl at a time.

(Izzi Fraser)