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The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter.

With a chill in the air and the sun setting well before dinner, I suppose it is time to turn on one of my favorite “seasonal depression” songs: “7 O’Clock News/Silent Night” by Phoebe Bridgers, featuring Matt Berninger and Fiona Apple. 

Since discovering this song in late 2020, there hasn’t been a single winter (or autumn…or spring…or summer…) season that goes by without this piece of art blaring through my car radio at least twice a day.

What makes this playlist-repeater different from a lot of others is its contrast of music and speaking, which overlap to create a symphony of Phoebe Bridgers and Fiona Apple angelically singing a rendition of the popular Christmas carol, “Silent Night,” while a male voice cuts under the staffs of harmonies to read off the “nightly news” (hence the very literal song title). 

Listening to this song evokes the same emotions every time I press play: despair, numbness, lethargy, nostalgia. And even though all those words might have a negative connotation at first glance, they are strangely soothing feelings on a cold, winter day.

Listening to this song is like peaking your feet out from under the blankets on a December morning and letting the chill send you back into a dazed sleep – not the most comfortable, but somehow the most comforting. 

Listening to this song is a confusing sign of peace. 

But this week, as I queued up this single on my way to school, I felt a new, unfamiliar, sickening feeling rise from my chest: I felt haunted. 

The radio boomed with the same lull as each time before, but as the man’s voice started listing off the same “news reports” as always, I could feel a lump forming in my throat.

“The Supreme Court is reviewing a Louisiana law that would effectively end women’s access to abortion. 

The law, seen as a first step by evangelical conservatives toward the possible reversing of Roe vs. Wade, flies in the face of public opinion. 

The health and safety of women across the nation, particularly those from lower-income homes are especially vulnerable.“

Knowing that the “possible reversing of Roe vs. Wade” is now a reality that I live each day, I found myself choking back tears of fear and disappointment. 

Better yet, the lines that follow this chunk in the song perhaps leave even more of a sting:

“Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House Chief of Staff, threw the Trump administration’s defense against impeachment into disarray on Thursday when he said that the White House withheld nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to further President Trump’s political interests.“

In the past, I used to exhale a sigh of relief after this specific line knowing that Trump’s time of corruption in office was a story of the past. Now, after last week’s election, my stomach tightens into a knot knowing that this country is soon beginning another four years of discriminatory chaos.

While these words may not evoke the same sharp feelings of disgust and anger in everyone as they do in me, pairing them up with snippets such as:

“According to the terms of the agreement, the Sackler family, owners of Purdue, will not be required to admit any wrongdoing…“

and, 

“In Dallas, Texas, Amber Guyger has been found guilty of murder. Guyger, a white off-duty police officer, claims she mistakenly entered the apartment of her upstairs neighbor, Botham Jean, because she was distracted by her sexting with a fellow officer. Guyger claimed that upon entering the apartment, she felt fearful for her safety and felt justified in drawing her service revolver and shooting Jean dead…“

The writers seem to hint at an overall sense of impending doom that continues to grow with each report from the 7 O’Clock News. 

All while repeating the well-known Christmas song that is supposed to bring people together and celebrate family during this season of this year. 

But the only thoughts that swirl in my mind are about the news reports. 

How could you not cringe at each new piece of information? 

How could you not shake your head at each fact?

How could you not listen to this song – a song that once represented a hypothetical dystopia – and want to change the world for the better?

But no. Instead of listening to this song and thinking, “that sounds so scary,” I have to fight back tears as I think, “this is so scary.”

Listening to this song has now become a nightmare that I cannot wake up from – my blankets wrapped too tight around my body, my feet flailing without any control or success, my eyes locked shut, the key buried somewhere in the darkness of my room. 

But no one is there to lend me a hand. 

In fact, somewhere in the darkness of my room, while I listen to this song, I can hear faint laughter as I struggle to get out, wake up and calm down. 

Listening to this song is a horribly confusing sign of the end. 

And now, along with everything else going on in the world, one of my top Spotify listens is ruined. 

And that’s the 7 O’Clock News.

Riley Connors is a member of the St. Bonaventure chapter of Her Campus and plans to write about college, careers, movies and just about anything that comes to her mind that week. She is a senior Adolescent Education and English double major. Outside of Her Campus, Riley is a member of the SBU Dance Team and is a part of SBU College Democrats. She also has a radio show with her roommates on St. Bonaventure's radio station, WSBU-FM. In her free time, Riley enjoys hanging out with her friends and girlfriend, spending time outside in the sun and listening to any song by Boygenius, Hozier or Lizzy McAlpine. She cherishes her time spent at home with her family and dog but loves her St. Bonaventure family that she has created in her three years of college.