Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
IUP | Culture > Entertainment

Music Spotlight: “In a Lake” by Mitski

Liv Heid Student Contributor, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at IUP chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

For those who may not be aware, I consider myself a pretty big Mitski fan, and when I found out that she was releasing an album in February I cried tears of joy and also distress from the emotional rollercoaster that I was expecting her to take me on. I was absolutely right, and she completely wrecked me emotionally with this album. I was originally planning on doing a review of the entire album, which is called “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me”, but seeing as I need to take this album a little bit at the time for the sake of my own sanity, I think I will be doing some song spotlights of hers every once in a while. 

For this first one, I am going to be predictable and choose the first song of the album, “In A Lake”.  When the song starts, you think it is an upbeat start to the album, however if you have lived in a small town, or have felt like your every move is being scrutinized and watched, then this song dives into that feeling exactly. 

“And everywhere you go makеs your heart ache

When you’vе done enough walks of shame

Some days, you just go the long way

To stay off of memory lane

So I’d never live in a small town”

This is my favorite verse from the song, and also the most heartbreaking. She describes remembering her life in the past, and the nostalgia of memories that you may never be able to relive, or maybe never want to relive.

The song does however have a positive, and hopeful message:

“But in a lake, you can backstroke forever

 The sky before you and the dark behind you 

And in a big city, you can start over

 The lights all around you, the dark safe inside

 In a big city, you can start over”

Whereas many Mitski songs still end in sadness, she reminds you that you can always start over, and that you have the ability to change your own life.

Liv is an editor for IUP's Her Campus. She is a Junior at Indiana University of Pennsylvania as a part of the Cook Honors College. She is majoring in Sociology with a minor in Viola Performance. She graduated from Lewisburg Area High School in 2024, and was involved in several orchestras throughout her high school career.
She has always had an interest in writing, and is very passionate about her opinions on current issues in the media, mainly dealing with LGBTQ rights, women's rights, and the presidential administration.
She plans on getting her masters in Social Work and becoming a social worker after graduation.