Music has always been a part of who I am, it has shaped me into the person I am today, from specific moments in my life to years on end of relistening to my favorite bands. These bridges, melodies, and choruses have created the symphony of my experiences as I navigate through each chapter of my life, especially college. As a senior, I have started to reminisce on my past years in college, and a big part of my memories are the songs attached to them. So, as a trip down memory lane, these are the various songs, artists, and albums that have shaped my college experience as a freshman, gave me comfort, allowed me to grow, and were with me for all the little moments in between.Â
Fall quarter: new beginnings, new music
Moving to college is a monumental time in life: that first feeling of independence, excitement, and the homesickness that follows, all melting together. Some of my first memories at school were packing as many people as possible into the dorm at FT and listening to Losing It by Fisher and Delilah (Pull Me Out of This) by Fred Again before going out to the frats, and now whenever my roommates and I hear them we instantly get transported back to that time. It was the first time I had been exposed to house music, and by hearing it out at almost every party, I came to love it and associate it with that beginning excitement of being a freshman. I also realized how vast the genre is, and explored more artists that I still listen to today. House has exploded over the past couple of years, and I think it’s fun to see which artists I still listen to. Delilah did end up being my top song of 2024, so that song definitely holds a special place in my heart, and represents my introduction to college (and to house music).
October 2023
Then, of course, we all remember October 2023, when Drake released For All The Dogs, and listening to the Frank Ocean sample on Virginia Beach for the first time. I still see TikToks to this day describing the feeling of that era, with that song in the background, and there truly is no way to describe it. Something about that fall and Drake combination really did numbers for me, and also became a part of my rap rotation pretty quickly. As one of those people whose Spotify wrapped always has Drake at #1, I can safely say that this album was worth the wait and deserves a spot in this list (even though the Kendrick beef did put this era in a sticky situation).
comfort music & homesickness
Speaking of fall, I vividly remember experiencing that 2 week span from Thanksgiving to Winter break, cramming for finals, and the brutal homesickness I was suffering from at that time. The album that got me through this period (and pretty much every tough time in my life) is The 1975’s self-titled album. I have been listening to it since I was in elementary school when my cousin first played it, and have been obsessed with it ever since. It is such a comforting album for me, especially during fall/winter, with melodic songs like fallingforyou and You to pure energetic fun like Settle Down and Girls. I think if I could only choose one album to listen to forever, it would be this one.Â
my life feels like a movie?
Coming back in the new year for winter quarter, I was starting to get my footing. As the warm sunny days came early in January and February, my playlists became more pop-oriented. Life in Santa Barbara felt like a movie, biking to campus and finally knowing where my classes were, becoming established and having a sense of belonging. This feeling was no coincidence; it was everything coming together in harmony. I feel like movie soundtracks also shaped the sound and culture of this time, from the intense score and iconic needle drop in Challengers, to the Saltburn scene and unforgettable energy of Murder On the Dancefloor. Movie soundtracks coincided with the resurgence of bubbly fun energy coming from songs like Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter, and an overall influx of pop girls taking over. Billie Eilish’s release of Birds of a Feather felt like a nod to the friends I had made from the first week, sticking together literally through it all (I still live with them today!). Music always finds you at a time when you need it, and the release of this album came to me as a reminder that I had come so far just in the short time I had been here.Â
Music has the power to shape your experiences, accompany you along the way, and articulate your feelings in a way sometimes you can’t express on your own. These are the songs, albums and artists that have been my soundtrack in such a formative time, and that I hear and fondly remember my first year at UCSB, knowing how long ago that was and yet how it still feels like yesterday. Here’s to all the seniors revisiting their old playlists, and to the ones who are composing them still!