As Semester 1 of this univeristy year draws to close (it’s really nearly over already???), a few of our committee members sum up their feelings about the academic year so far with another round of Anthems of Our Lives!
‘Tardy For The Party’ – Kim Zolciak
The first month of university might have been destroyed by lockdown 2.0, but Kim Zolciak saved us with her banging 2009 party anthem ‘Tardy For The Party’. The songs catchy beat, talk-like singing and extensive autotune make this the perfect track to cheer you up during the university blues. It’s the soundtrack to celebrating your first assignment being completed, crying in the shower and a distraction from starting that next assignment you have coming up. When Kim said, “forget about work and the stress of the week, party all night and we won’t go to sleep”, I felt that. The song is inspirational, a blessing and inspires you to enjoy the week because you can just “take the Benz out for a swirl”.
Morgan McMillan
‘Tardy For The Party’ is available to listen to now via Ferosh Records.
‘Help!’ – The Beatles
The 1965 classic ‘Help!’ by superstar rockers The Beatles is the best way to describe the current state of university life. From lockdown to slight freedom, to lockdown again – the term began in a way that can only be defined as unexpected and a tiny bit stressful. The worst (or best) bit is that everyone is in the same position, thrown into the unknown of a new academic year that has to be all online. The Beatles capture the need for assistance and the difficulties everyone is facing. The brilliantly catchy tune couldn’t explain the stress we’re all facing more, although we’ve definitely settled down since this time last month. The lyric “help me get my feet back off the ground” summarises perfectly our struggle in coming back to a ‘new’ university life, but we’ll all be picked back up soon enough!
Katie Evans
‘Help!’ is available to listen to now via Apple Corps Ltd.
‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ – Monty Python
Has life got you down a bit? Are the pressures of uni, work and lockdown feel a bit overwhelming? I promise you that if you chuck on a bit of ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’, it’ll cheer you up in no time. It’s become a bit of a therapy sesh of mine, because frankly, as we all know, the song is ruddy hilarious (not just because of the iconic movie scene from The Life of Brian, but also the silly lyrics), and ridiculously self aware. That self-awareness is definitely what makes this song the anthem of my first semester; life is a bit of a ‘crock of shit’, and ‘quite absurd’ at the moment, but you’ve just gotta keep going, keep your head up and keep looking on the bright side. It’s really hard to stay positive when you feel stressed out, but all you’ve got to do is whistle the tune to a little bit of ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ whilst you’re baking your 400th loaf of banana bread or crocheting yet another plushie, and everything just feels a little bit okay. Like the Pythons say ”When you’re feeling in the dumps/ Don’t be silly chumps/ Just purse your lips and whistle, that’s the thing/ And always look on the bright side of life/ Da-Do-Da-Do-Da-Do-Da-Do…’.
Alice Fortt
‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ is available to listen to now via Virgin Records.
