lucy's top songs sept/oct edition

top songs playlist

full oct playlist

1. Cassiopeia by Bears In Trees

even the slightest reference to greek mythology is always gonna get my attention (its the percy jackson stan in me) and the first line of this song is “you were talking on zoom about women in ancient greece” WELL. women and ancient greece. consider my attention caught.

theres something about the lyrics to this song that's sort of?? soft?? but in a kind of naive hopeful way that makes it seem a lot more upbeat than it is. the buildup to the chorus is such an easy rise and it goes so well into the other verses. the chorus specifically is maybe my favorite part of this song because the lyrics themselves are actually kind of heavy, but they don't come off that way which is a fairly popular technique but theres something about how they are written and how they use specific words and phrases that feels unique to this song

2. love is embarrassing by Olivia Rodrigo

this is one of those songs that i glanced by in my earlier listens of GUTS but after i switched back to my playlist I found that it was stuck in my head all the time so I added it and clearly it worked out. even just the title, its not exactly memorable, but catchy and simple enough that its easier to recall the lyrics using both the title and the music as a point of reference.

3. A$$A$$IN by Beauty School Dropout

i really like the vibe of this song because its dark and kind of?? broken in a way that shows the descent of the relationship but also the dynamic itself and how the repetition of this pattern only makes it worse ‘do or die you and i were guilty’ ‘they speak in alibis’

i love the last rendition of the chorus in comparison to the other iterations because there is a soft kind of held back anger that rises into the intensity of the rest of the chorus and that anger is not just at this other person but at the speaker themself

4. the blue room interlude by Xana

the opening lyric of this song really sets the tone for it, the sort of angry despair and devastation in knowing that there is nothing you can do to change things ‘never gonna have what i want so bad’ combined with the darker inclinations in her voice and the intensity of the following lyrics really set this tone of melancholy but in a darker way that really captures the anger behind it

5. It Could’ve Been You by Hannah Grae

this is another that really stuck in my head specifically the third verse about regrets that could’ve been, partly because its so fast paced but also because of how it lines up with the beat. a lot of her lyrics are really cool to me in how they are arranged and how that effects the flow and interpretation of the song, these two specifically ‘its not love its just the comfort of its name’ and ‘with the songs he’d never heard of and nor did he want to.’

ending line, ‘if you weren't a liar and i'd have been kinder’ is one i really like because it shows both flaws and in this particular situation, those things don't fit well together

6. Foreign Language by Nothing But Theives

nbt has this way of writing the most romantic, heartbreaking love songs and i live for it.

starting out with a sort of bright little electric rhythm then adds a beat and goes straight into the focus of the song ‘sometimes i don't understand you’

i've tried so many times to figure out what it is i like so much about this song, but i think its more that i love how they interpret this kind of intense relationship and how you can fall in love with something so simple as someones voice and how they talk

7. I’m Trying (Not Friends) by Maisie Peters

when my sister told me to listen to maisie peters she was like ‘yeah with maisie you've kind of just got to accept the super pop-yness of it all’ and she wasn't wrong.

even from the very beginning this song has such a distinct rhythm with the clapping in the background mixed with fast paced lyrics that flow really well into each other. i've woken up with this song stuck in my head on many occasions so naturally i know all the lyrics by accident

8. heart of gold by Beauty School Dropout

the first thing that really caught my attention about this song was the chorus, especially in the beginning, it has this sort of buildup that ropes you into the following verse and hooks you into the rest of the song. specifically the opening line of the chorus is one that i really like not just as a lyric but also in how it is held going into the next one and how the sound reflects the feelings behind the words. there is also a sort of roughness to specific lines within the chorus that really magnify these feelings

9. get him back! by Olivia Rodrigo

this song opens with a funny little quip about being on the right song (the sort of behind the scenes interactions is something i love in songs because its so much more personal in a ‘these are real people’ kinda way) anyway the change from this into the first verse is so distinct that it sort of draws you into the rest of the song. olivia rodrigo has this way of making such a distinct intonation on specific lyrics that conveys beyond the regular emotion you usually see in songs. simply reading the lyrics is just not the same because all of her real feelings and opinions are reflected in how she says things. there are so many examples of this in so many songs but in terms of get him back! some of my personal favorites are ‘he said he’s 6’2 and i'm like dude nice try’, ‘but i am my fathers daughter, so maybe i could fix him’.. also ofc, theres the contrast of 'get him back' as in get back together vs get him back as in get revenge

10. Keeping You Around by Nothing But Theives

nbt back at it with these heart wrenching love songs and i'm here for it. even from the beginning this song is kind of eerie and sort of haunting, like a black and white movie if that makes sense. the opening line itself ‘her lips want anyone else mine taste like everyone else’ is interesting to me simply because nobody is getting what they really want. it feels like slowly coming to understand that nothing lasts forever and that things could always end badly. with this sort of slinky, lowkey ethereal cloudy vibe, its like looking at something through someone else's glasses or drunk goggles or whatever and finding this air of tragedy, like you know something is going to end badly but you do it anyway