My Latest Phase: 80s British Angsty Rock

After first semester finals emotionally punched me in the throat, I had time to refresh over winter break and went back to school, motivated to leave all of my teachers in shock. This meant establishing a study routine that included clearing off my bed to make room for books and my laptop, cracking open a can of sparkling water, and of course, playing music. As I was reading through my chemistry notes ,however, I noticed I was singing and straining my neck to catch a glimpse of music videos. The bands I had been jamming to while Christmas shopping or traveling over the break, like Saint Motel or Weezer would not work for studying. So I remembered a band I had wanted to check out after hearing them referenced in movies and documentaries, The Smiths, and after pressing play I was immediately lost in Morrissey's rich voice and charmed by his poetic (and sometimes disturbing) lyrics.

My dad, who has a knack for predicting the phases I'll go through, wasted no time in poking his head into my room to laugh at my predictabilty. "Oh so now you're in your 'Depressed' Mode phase, huh?", he joked as I glared and raised the volume. Despite my attempts to tune him out, I did catch a few names in between his jokes and soon I had a whole playlist for my study sessions.

I'm not claiming to be a super fan or anything, I just really enjoy music and finding a new band to listen to for the first time is one of life's simple pleasures. Lately I've been listening to The Smiths just when I'm walking to classes or when I'm getting ready in the morning and every time I hear them I notice something that I didn't notice before, which is the true measure of a great songwriter in my opinion. To be able to disguise the meaning of your words into a song that makes each fan feel an intimate connection is what all musicians strive for, and even if your personal interpretation isn't what the musician initially meant, their song will forever live on in your memory, and that means more than any amount of record sales.

The lyrics reached out and gave me a comforting pat on the back, saying "I know how you feel." With sophomore year coming to a close, I definitely feel "the 21st century breathing down my neck", like in "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" and teenagers suck sometimes so I nodded my head in agreement when he sang "It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind", in "I Know It's Over".

My personal favorite is the 5 minute long anthem for anyone who's ever had a crush on a celebrity, "Paint a Vulgar Picture", which tells the story of a young fan who finally gets to meet his hero, only to be given the brush-off because "to [them, he] was faceless, [he] was fawning, a child from those ugly new houses, who could never begin to know". Yet when the star dies and everyone at "the record company meeting" including the "sycophantic slags" all try to make money off of his death, the young fan goes back to "[his] bedroom in those ugly new houses, and danced [his] legs down to the knees." I think that of all his songs, the bittersweet beauty of this one and the heartache that you feel for the young fan makes this one the best example of his songwriting.

Even in the shorter more catchy songs that I'm actually allowed to play in the car, Morrissey continues to deliver attention-grabbing one liners like "Rejection is one thing but rejection from a fool is cruel" (I Don't Mind if You Forget Me), "I've seen you smile, but I've never really heard you laugh, so who is rich and who is poor I cannot say" (You've Got Everything Now), "Burn down the disco, hang the precious DJ, because the music he constantly plays, says nothing to me about my life" (Panic), or "I don't dream about anyone, except myself" (William it Was Really Nothing). I could go on, but at this point I'm just going through my playlist trying to pick my favorite quotes and it's getting too hard so I'll end saying that everyone should listen to The Smiths. Rant over. Peace *flashes peace sign and drops mic*