I’m sure this is a DeJamz that has been told in one way or another before. In writing this, I’m drawing inspiration from a former DePaulia editor — who happens to be the voice in my head telling me to enjoy my college years. My nineteenth year felt fixed on a precipice. I’m looking toward adulthood but fixed on a romanticized epoch of my life: being a teenager. Semantically, that chapter is ending and I will no longer be a teen. But I hope to hang on to any shred of joy and delusion that makes us kids — but life continues, on to the Jamz. 

“Ribs” Lorde

Nothing fills me with more melancholy and joy than “Ribs” by Lorde. This ethereal lament on the woes of growing up has spoken to me throughout my adolescence but even more now as my teen years come to an end. 20 isn’t a year of anything grand, no driver’s license, no alcohol (well… legally), no renting cars! This song is an elegy for my youth, “And I’ve never felt more alone / It feels so scary, getting old.” 

“all-american bitch” Olivia Rodrigo 

I need to balance out that depression somehow and this fits the bill. I’m still not sure about our stance about swearing in the paper but rules be damned — “all-american Bitch” needed to be included. Olivia Rodrigo, a former Disney Channel actor, released her debut album “Sour” out of thin air. Nothing could’ve prepared me for the hits that ensued. In Rodrigo’s sophomore album “Guts,” “all-american bitch” sticks out as a reminder of the rage and joy of being a teenager — “I know my age and I act like it.” 

“Motion Sickness” Phoebe Bridgers

This song has been through it with me. I am reminded of the day I listened to it 40 times on loop senior year while working on a scholarship application… good times. Driving home from a friend’s house sobbing… to this song. Anyway nothing serves as a better reminder of my lows than “Motion Sickness,” but I digress, it’s a banger! 

“betty” Taylor Swift

“folklore,” Taylor Swift’s debut into the indie music space, was released as a surprise in July 2020. For more reasons than I can name or remember 2020 was an awful year;  But “folklore,” was a high point. “Betty,” with its country twang and dreamy lyrics of teenage love filled me with indescribable joy. However, the first time I heard “I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything but I know I miss you” after I had turned 18 left me broken for a hot second. Going on to 20, three years senior of 17, I can start to see how I’ve grown since then and can look back with fondness. 

“Landslide” The Chicks (Cover)

While Stevie Nicks’s original is perfect and wonderful, nothing reminds me of my childhood more than listening to The Chicks with my mom. I’ve had an up-and-down relationship with country music, especially the “I love America and guns” brand, but The Chicks’ storytelling and twang is so fun. The lyricism gives me the warm fuzzies: “Even children get older / And I’m getting older too.” I look back with nostalgia to my youth and look into the future with delusional excitement. Nothing is scarier than getting older, but I am excited to be going into my 20s. As I get older I see how great life is now and how sucky the teen years were. Manifesting this decade of my life is the best one yet!