my musical earmuffs
what are my musical earmuffs? It’s a phrase I coined just this morning to try and explain to you how I use music to get through life. In my family, I’m known to be that weirdo that still goes on random drives just to listen to music and waste gas. But let me say this- it is my happy place. It’s where I do all my thinking, dreaming, and planning for my life and the day at hand. So, I won’t be apologizing for it anytime soon. I want to explain to you what my musical earmuffs involves and maybe put you on to some of the best music I’ve let guide my life.
Recently, everyone is listening to Chappelle Roan or Sabrina Carpenter (my girl crush) but I’m loving the artist Lola Young and hope to see big things for her. Recently, I also started listening to Halsey, and apart from both of us being bipolar, I find her music really relatable. Her new album, The Great Impersonator, is like magic and my favorite songs are dog years, life of a spider, and Alice from the upper class if you want to give it a listen. I’ve become a swiftie these last few years and I do have to say I’m still stuck on the Tortured Poets Department. It’s a lyrical masterpiece that you need to read while you listen to get the entire effect. But let’s take you back a bit.
When I was a kid, I just remember listening to the Grease soundtrack constantly only to be switched out by a Britney Spears CD and then switched back again. When my parents divorced, I really leaned on music and I was a sulky teen with bangs in front of my face, listening to Avril Lavigne, Blink 182, or the Plain White T’s. In high school, and I guess college, music was just listening to what was popular and drinking or smoking along with it. It wasn’t until my 20’s that music became everything that I needed to survive.
When things started to get bad, I did turn to music. And the album that changed my life forever was Swimming by Mac Miller. I remember being in such a bad place, crying on the couch, and hearing those songs break through my misery. Even still, I can’t listen to it without getting emotional. It was like he was in the room with me. And then came Juice WRLD. Both of these artists had passed away, and it was like they wrote the music for me, standing in the room cheering me on as I listened. That leads me to the crazy days and the artists I leaned on when I wasn’t living in reality- NF, Skitz Kravern, and Eminem. Those musical days were fun even if it wasn’t real. Narrowing down the list as best as I could, check out my favorite 13 songs as of today.
1) 2009 by Mac Miller
2) Session 9 by Skitz Kravern
3) You might not like her by Maddie Zahm
4) Flowers by Lauren Spencer Smith
5) Wings by Mac Miller
6) Wishing well by Juice WRLD
7) ALIEN SUPERSTAR by Beyonce
8) Ghost by Justin Bieber
9) Cross me by Ed Sheeran
10) Treacherous twins by Drake
11) You should see me in a crown by Billie Eilish
12) Rumors by Lizzo
13) Ring the alarm by Beyonce
You could also check out Macklemore for songs about sobriety and Lady Gaga really inspired me when talking about trauma (especially sexual assault). For my religious folks, check out Maddie Zahm and her journey with being gay (or just simply WHO SHE WAS) while being religious. AND MAC MILLER HAS AN ALBUM COMING OUT JANUARY 17, 2025, SO CHECK THAT OUT (I’m most excited about the song titled friendly hallucinations).
xoxo
