Happy December! It’s almost time for winter break, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and all kinds of fun. Unfortunately, there are a few things standing between you and all that stuff: Final exams. You can make it through them and music can help. Here are a few songs to listen to this exam season that can help motivate you, and help lift your spirits.
When you need motivation:
Sometimes it’s tough to stay motivated during exams. Nobody likes studying, and sometimes it’s hard to bring yourself to open a text book instead of just taking a nap or refreshing facebook one more time. These songs are great to keep you motivated. They’ll remind you to just keep going, and keep working until you’ve made it through.
1. The Greatest-Sia ft. Kendrick Lamar
If Sia’s got stamina, you can have stamina too. The song repeatedly says “Don’t give up, I won’t give up”, which is exactly what you need to hear while you’re trying not to give up on studying.
2. Hall of Fame-The Script ft. will.i.am
This song is pretty much pure encouragement. The whole song is basically spent telling you that you can do great things-like study hard and destroy those finals!
This song reminds you that you need to fight for greatness. As in, fight those exams.
4. The Fighter-Gym Class Heroes feat. Ryan Tedder
When Ryan Tedder says “Give ‘em hell”, it’s easy to imagine he’s talking about your exams. Give those exams hell. You got this.
5. Run the World (Girls)-Beyoncé
This is the kind of song that makes you feel like you can do anything. Surely if you can run the world, you can crush a couple of silly finals, right?
6. Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) -Kelly Clarkson
Keep studying; it won’t kill you, but it will make you stronger.
Similarly, this song is also a reminder that struggles make you stronger. Keep pushing and you’ll end up better for it.
Believer reminds you that “things will get better”. After you finish your exams, that is. So just keep pushing on and you’ll eventually get there.
The message to take away from this song is pretty simple: work. When you hear it repeated as many times as it is in this song, it’s bound to sink in, and the song is bound to motivate you to get to work.
When you need happy music to put you in a better mood:
Studying can get you down. Sometimes, you just need a little boost. These songs are the kind of happy songs that can instantly lift your spirits, whether it’s by happy lyrics, a happy tune, or a mix of both.
This song has the kind of chill vibe that makes it almost impossible to not feel at least slightly more relaxed when you listen to it.
11. On Top of the World-Imagine Dragons
Nothing can bring you up quite like being on top of the world.
Maybe it’s the upbeat tune, maybe it’s the whistling in the background, but there’s something about this song that can bring a smile to your face.
13. Good to be Alive (Hallelujah)-Andy Grammer
This song reminds you that, despite all the stress in your life, it’s good to be alive.
14. Gang of Rhythm-Walk off the Earth
Walk off the Earth is probably one of the most mellow bands I’ve ever heard in my life. Gang of Rhythm in particular is a good song to listen to when you’re feeling stressed.
15. Hula Hoop-OMI
Hula Hoop is a happy enough song that it can make you feel almost as relaxed and care-free as a child playing with a hula hoop.
16. Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)-OMI
You probably remember this song being played on the radio non-stop in the summer of 2015. There’s a reason it was played non-stop. Just saying.
17. Keep Your Head Up-Andy Grammer
“Keep your head up” is a pretty simple thing we may forget to do when we’re feeling overwhelmed by exam stress. Luckily, Andy Grammer is here to remind us.
18. I Got You-Karmin
This is the kind of upbeat song you’ll want to listen to on repeat even after finals are over.
Good luck on exams, and happy listening!