March was a month of traveling and nice weather. Towards the end of February, my listening goal was to concentrate on the same songs on repeat. Whether I was sitting in a park in Paris or walking around Florence, my March was nothing if not having the same albums on repeat. A handful of surf, classic rock, and new pop songs later, March was over, and here are just a few of the songs that soundtracked my month.
I need to be on a beach. I don’t care where, I just need to be there. The Sandals were an early surf music band that formed in 1962. The band is known for creating the soundtrack for the surfing documentary The Endless Summer. Just one of the tracks on the album, “Trailing” makes me feel as though I’m watching crashing waves and seagulls flying overhead — even when I’m miles from the sea.
“Stateside + Zara Larson” • PinkPanteress
I feel like unless you’re chronically offline, you’ve seen videos from the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Figure Skating Exhibition Gala, where gold medalist Alysa Liu skated to “Stateside + Zara Larson” for her routine. Lui, in an interview, described PinkPantheress as her favorite artist, and with “Stateside” and some of the other tracks off her mixtape Fancy That. PinkPanteress’s original track is high energy and fun, with Larsson’s verse bringing it to another level.
“iloveitiloveitiloveit” • Bella Key
Whether it’s Julia Wolf’s “In My Room” or Bella Key’s “iloveitiloveitiloveit”, I’ve recently gotten back into a sad girl music kick. Key’s song explores a toxic relationship, Heads, we go to yours, tails, we go to mine/ You’re a bad idea, but a real good time/ Oh, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love it cause I do. There are always relationships, friendships, or romances that we shouldn’t engage with, but sometimes it can be too tempting. Bella Key’s song not only has catchy lyrics, but also creates an image of some people’s all too familiar situations.
“Tangerine (Remastered)” • Led Zeppelin
Still trying to get close to summer, I turned to Led Zeppelin’s “Tangerine (Remastered)”. This song feels and describes what it’s like to wonder what someone is thinking about, especially during the fleeting days of summer. Known for their incredible instrumentals, the guitar guides the progression of this song. Sonically, it feels similar to surf music while still falling into the genre of classic rock.
Forming in the 90s, Train is one of those bands that everyone knows a few of the hits from. I love “Meet Virginia” because it has the band’s typical sound and Pat Monahan’s vocals that I grew up listening to. One of my favorite things about the band is that even though they have had a revolving door of members, Monahan has been and still is one of the founding and remaining members.
In continued fashion with my sad girl music comes Olivia O’Brien’s “Icarus”. Her latest song is about how she needs something to waste her time, a new distraction, and someone to glorify, but only if it hurts her; in summary, a crush. I’ve loved O’Brien’s sound as an artist since I was in middle school, and I can only hope that this song is preceding an album — but that’s just something for me to glorify.
I would argue that something that TV Girl does incredibly well is hiding very sad lyrics under an upbeat song. The chorus of “Birds Dont Sing” is, I guess there’s nothing more to discuss/ Birds don’t sing, they just fall from the sky/ Girls don’t call, and they never tell you why. Comparing the behavior and potential communication of girls to birds that we can’t really understand, is a really clever choice here. Both may sound beautiful, but can we ever be sure of the message they’re sending?
“Principles of Lust: Sadeness / Find Love / Sadeness (Reprise)” • Enigma
My entire TikTok feed for the month of March was girls doing yoga, and “Principles of Lust: Sadeness/ Find Love/ Sadness (Reprise)” just happens to be the audio everyone is choosing. I completely understand why, though; I grew up with this song in my Apple Music library, and there’s something about the rhythm of the song that brings a sense of peace.
Although for March I was successful in centering my listening around specific songs, I want my April listening to be more expansive. Still wanting to be near the beach, I hope to listen to songs that make me feel warm in the sun and hopeful for the summer. However, only time will tell if that will happen. See you in a month to see how my mission goes.