Music has always been a very important part of my life. I grew up in a household where music is basically a religion. I don’t have a favorite genre, I’ll basically listen to anything with a good beat or message or whatever puts me in a good mood. A lot of these songs I connect with because of significant memories that accompany them or simply because of the way they make me feel. After all, I consider music as a form of therapy. I hope to someday work with music whether it’s interviewing musicians and writing for a music related publication, or doing songwriting and having artists sing my songs someday. I love analyzing lyrics and connecting them with my own life so that plays a big role in why I picked most of these songs. Also they’re fun to sing along to. It was so difficult to narrow it down but here are my top 5 favorite songs, both old time and new.
“Robbers” by The 1975
This song is very special to me because the first time I heard it was in a live performance. My friends and I heard about this new band and spontaneously bought concert tickets to see them in NYC. It was 2013 and they were new to the music scene in America. It was the first time I ever attended a general admission concert where I was front row, which was super exciting. This song came on and the guitar intro automatically had me hooked. There was something about the song itself that I loved, mainly its romantic theme. And having the opportunity to see it live, was a bonus. The band was just so passionate performing this particular song that it made me forget about everything else in my life for three and a half minutes. Soon after, The 1975 became my favorite band and this has become my favorite song ever, by anyone. Also, the music video’s story telling makes me fall in love with this song even more.
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses
I guess you can say I’m a huge fan of the guitar, especially guitar solos with cool riffs. Slash is my all time favorite guitarist; it makes me love this song even more. The intro makes my soul jizz a little with Slash’s signature guitar riff. It’s just a beautiful sound and it comes to him so naturally and effortlessly. Also, I have an adoration for the 80’s, so it only makes sense to choose a song by Guns N’ Roses. It’s one of those sweet songs that everyone has heard before and just puts you in a good mood.
Coffee” by Miguel
This recently has become on of my favorite songs. I love Miguel as an artist and think he’s such a creative being. I love how he uses coffee as a metaphor for making love. Besides that, the lyrics are cool and eccentric, “old souls we found a new religion/ Now I’m swimming in that sin, baptism/ Peach colored skies, we feel the sunrise/Two lost angels discover salvation…” I like how he compares love to something as grand as religion especially since I think love or the idea of having a soul mate is a fading belief in today’s generation. So it’s refreshing to see someone sing about love and lovemaking in its purest form.
“Shadow of The Day” by Linkin Park
I like to play this song when I’m driving home from school, especially if I’m not having such a great day. It’s one of those songs that can be interpreted differently, depending on your situation or however you’re feeling. Something about singing the lyrics while I’m driving alone just always makes me feel a lot better. I like the overall message, that no matter what you’re going through, it’s going to get better, even if you’re in a dark place, “The shadow of the day will embrace the world in grey and the sun will set for you.” It’s songs like this that help restore hope, I think.
“Pillowtalk Remix” (Feat. Lil Wayne) – Zayn
This one has recently become one of my favorite songs as well. I love how it’s rap mixed with pop and hints of R&B. Also, since I was a crazy One Direction fan, I really appreciate this song because I love Zayn’s new sound so much more. It comes from a place of honesty and I always appreciate artists who are able to express themselves freely with their music because it’s inspiring.