American Teenager by Ethel Cain

I highly recommend Ethel’s album Preacher’s Daughter, but only cool people are allowed to listen to it. It is an intense story following Ethel coming of age and then meeting her demise to a psychotic cannibal, but that is beside the point for the purposes of this post. In just 4 minutes and 18 seconds, Ethel manages to capture every single feeling of longing a teenager could ever experience. She tells a story which feels familiar to growing up in the midwest. The song feels like warm air, freshly mowed grass, mosquito bites, and a more crunchy lifestyle as you come to terms with existence. If that all makes sense. My favorite lyrics in this master piece are “Say what you want, but say it like you mean it. With your fists for once.” and I just think they perfectly encapsulate the feeling of identity. Ten out of ten I whole-heartedly recommend the entire album (only if you are a cool person though).

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Butterflies by Kacey Musgraves

Many people have intense hatred for country music, and maybe it is because of my farmer relatives, but I do not think it is that bad. Once you get past the outward conservative layer, you can find an incredibly rich genre. Butterflies by Kacey Musgraves is a sweet, upbeat song which can lift your mood within seconds. The song encapsulates the feeling of finding a new person in your life. When I visualize the song I see sunshine and rainbows. My favorite lyrics are “Now you're liftin' me up, 'stead of holdin' me down.You're takin' my hand, 'stead of takin' my crown” and I truly think Kacey gives great advice here. Any relationship in your life should be equal in what you bring to the table. Find yourself someone who lifts you up and supports you, and also do the same for them. It’s an amazing song I would recommend to anyone, not just country fans.

Oblivion by Grimes

Listen. I know that Grimes willingly had a child with Elon Musk, but this song is just so incredibly catchy. The opening lines “I never walk about after dark. It’s my point of view ‘cause someone could break your neck, coming up behind you, always coming and you'd never have a clue” will never leave your head. Grimes, in a few words, creates a feeling of loneliness which is not scary at all, but rather comforting. The structure and genre of the song are so vastly different from my normal music preference. It falls into many categories, but I think the main ones are synth-pop, electro/dream pop, futuristic dance. I am not completely sure. What I am completely sure of is that I like the way it sounds. Listening to the sounds is what I imagine floating through a cartoon version of space would be like. I like to imagine it would be on Super Planet Janet’s playlist.

Balling Out in Nonfiction

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