A Socially Anxious Student’s Soundtrack: a fresher's guide

By George Leggett, Third Year Ancient History

Whether this be making it to your classes having done any sort of preparation, or - my personal white whale - attempting to actually forge bonds with the people you meet, there’s a chance you have some kind of music you’d listen to in order to get through this anxiety. With this in mind, here are some personal recommendations (something of an insight into my music taste) for the resonance or overcoming of anxious feelings that arise in various different university scenarios.

Gracie Abrams - The Secret of Us

The first thing I’d like to say about Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us is that it’s a travesty it hasn’t even been nominated for Best Album for the Grammys. I’d been weighing up in my head for weeks whether I thought it deserved a Grammy more than Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, and as it turns out I don’t have to make that choice as the latter has been nominated while the former has not. Clearly, I don’t pay enough attention to expert opinions.

But this entire album has basically transformed me from casual fan to superfan of Gracie Abrams; every song feels like a hit. The ones I feel have the biggest “relatability” factor are The Secret of Us’ two singles, ‘Risk’ and ‘Close to You. Essentially, the two songs, aside from being complete bangers, epitomise what it’s like to have a crush as a student or young adult.

The pick of the lyrics outline this perfectly; Risk’s 'God, I’m actually invested, haven’t even met him, watch this be the wrong thing - classic' and 'Close to You’s' 'I burn for you, and you don’t even know my name/if you asked me to, I’d give up everything'.

I really enjoy Gracie’s playing on the idea of not really knowing someone properly but still feeling extremely drawn to that person, it feels quintessentially student-y given the amount of people you run into and develop a dumb crush on and delusionally think might like you back. Speaking of…

Lizzy McAlpine - Give Me A Minute

In a similar vein, Lizzy Mcalpine’s ‘Pancakes for Dinner’ is another song about the anxious uncertainty about the reciprocity of someone else’s romantic feelings that I love. It’s entirely possible it’s only me who relates to this situation, but hey, that’s fine.

Interestingly, Lizzy said in an interview she no longer likes pancakes for dinner (the song. not the meal.) Another Lizzy Mcalpine song that partly fits this mould is ‘Ceilings’, by far her most successful song.

Ceilings, however, goes further and turns daydreaming and wishing into full-blown hallucination, imagining a loving relationship, 'but it’s not real, and you don’t exist, and I can’t recall the last time I was kissed'. For lack of a better word, this is one for the 'delulu' people; it doesn’t even have to be a romantic fixation, but more a longing for something that can only ever exist in your head.

‘Older’, meanwhile, the title track of Lizzy Mcalpine’s most recent album, is beautiful, elegiac, and discusses the difficulties of maturing and acceptance of things both changing and not always living up to your expectations.

Taylor Swift - Midnights

Everyone and their mother has probably told you to listen to Taylor Swift, so I’m going to be generic and do the same. I know, a lot of you are probably sick of hearing about her but from my entirely unbiased opinion. I think she is an incredible artist, however, instead of just recommending any Taylor song like a fanboy there’s some specific ones worth writing about. 

When I first got to uni in September 2022, nervous and introverted as I was, I had the release of Taylor Swift’s Midnights in October to look forward to. After its release, the song I overwhelmingly listened to the most was ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid’.

Taylor is renowned for her storytelling quality, but ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid’ is one of the only ones where you can truly feel time progressing as it outlines the story of her journey as a songwriter.

As such, it’s incredibly resonant for anyone who’s given it their absolute all to be at uni, and is doing their absolute all to fit in, and keep going, and make the best of their life away from home: 'there were pages turned with the bridges burned, everything you lose is a step you take'.

Noah Kahan - Stick Season

Throughout Noah Kahan’s Stick Season album, he explores the idea of wanting to escape home but never quite being able to, still drawn to the memories of childhood and adolescence within unhappiness and dissatisfaction at his attachment to his hometown of Trafford, Vermont.

One of his songs, ‘Homesick’, is ironically more a sickness of home; a cleverly relatable phenomenon for students returning home for visits and holidays. The less flippant, highly emotionally charged ‘The View Between Villages’ tells a tale of an angst and heartbreak upon returning home having grown up, taken back to easier and happier times.

‘Call Your Mom’ and ‘Northern Attitude’ more emphasise mental health and finding light within the darkness. ‘Northern Attitude’ pleas with a partner or friend to be patient with the speaker as they battle their ‘Northern’ pessimism, as they were ‘raised out in the cold’.

‘Call Your Mom’, which Noah Kahan also released as a duet with Lizzy Mcalpine (featured earlier in this article), goes even deeper and discusses overcoming thoughts of suicide and having a person to rely on to ensure they stay safe.

The song works incredibly well as a duet, as it paints the comfort another person can provide through a friend or partner’s struggles as a mutual exchange; both play the roles of a shoulder to lean on at different points.

Charli XCX - Brat

And ending on a more positive note, these two last artists are probably the shot of confidence boost a socially anxious person needs in the morning (I’m sure there’s a Spotify mix with these two just waiting for you).

Confidence is a complete fake-it-till-you-make-it quest, one that I have not managed to master at all, but the 2-4 minute escapism the songs on Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess and Charli XCX’s summer-defining Brat is enough to spark you into life for that 9am (or, at least, it does for me). 

‘Guess’ is a racy, hyper confident ride and a total earworm, and ‘360’ is one of the two biggest songs on Brat (alongside ‘Apple’), a complete energy-inducing vibe and self-loving pop fun.

Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess

Meanwhile, ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’- one of Chappell Roan’s more underrated songs - given the success of songs like ‘HOT TO GO!', ‘Red Wine Supernova’, and most recently ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ is overwhelming sapphic pop delirium.

I wouldn’t say I listen to either of these artists for a swooning emotional experience, but I couldn’t recommend any others more for morning energy motivation. Or for clubbing, even though I’m not a massive fan of clubbing. Hell, Brat even has a song called ‘Club Classics’ on it.

What album do you listen to when you're feeling anxious?