If you’re like me, then you’re always on the lookout for new sad music to help you through dark, stressful times. In the midst of midterms at Villanova, this search becomes increasingly important. While I usually reach for classics like Taylor Swift or Lana Del Rey to fuel my sad girl hours, many rising singer-songwriters are releasing new music to cry or stress-study to, one of these being Gracie Abrams. On February 24th, Abrams released her debut album Good Riddance, full of messages about saying goodbye to stressful parts of life. While tracks such as “Best,” “I know it won’t work,” and “Will you cry?” focus on healing from toxic romantic relationships, many of the album’s songs are applicable to burnout and mental health, both very relevant topics when it comes to midterms.
Songs for when you feel stressed and burnt out:
When I’m on the verge of a breakdown from the stress of schoolwork, I can always count on Gracie to put extreme burnout into words.
- “Amelie”
- “Why’d it feel louder / When all of it went unspoken? / All I can do is hope that / This will go away”
- “Fault line”
- “I will break too / I’d break too”
- “Where do we go now?”
- “We’re supposed to work somehow / Can’t you tell our light burned out?”
- “Right now”
- “I’m so tired, but can’t sit down”
Songs for when you pull an all-nighter:
Every college student knows the pain of staying up all night finishing a paper or cramming for an exam. Here are some lyrics that match the manic state I find myself in while writing at 3am.
- “This is what the drugs are for”
- “In the middle of the night / I got caught inside a fever”
- “Difficult”
- “Oh I know, spiraling is miserable”
- “I feel less attached and bored to death”
- “I should hate you”
- “Last night, I spiraled alone in the kitchen / Making pretend that the furniture listened / Wasn’t the best of my mental conditions”
Songs for when you feel homesick:
When midterm stress gets too overwhelming, all I want to do is be in the comfort of my own home, feeling the warm embrace of my loved ones and relaxing on the couch with my cats. Gracie captures the overwhelming feelings of nostalgia that accompany stressful periods all too well in the following lyrics.
- “Right now”
- “Look at me, I feel homesick / Want my dog in the door / And the light in the kitchen”
- “People 24/7 / It’s the best and a curse / All they do is remind me / That I’m still introverted”
- “Am I losin’ my family / Every minute I’m gone?”
- “What if my little brother / Thinks my leaving was wrong?”
- “Difficult”
- “I’ll feel my parents slipping / Away and also I’m just scared of that commitment”
- “I should probably go back home / Why does that feel difficult, difficult?”
Overall, Abrams’ first studio album offers the perfect manic-spiraling-sad girl songs for the torture of midterms. With the number of papers and exams I have coming up, I’ll definitely be listening to Good Riddance on repeat. If you give Abrams a try and enjoy her manically sad music as much as I do, be on the lookout for her opening for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour this summer.