Favorite Alt Music

All right, I haven’t done one of these in about a year, but I’m back at it and I’m excited to share with you what I’ve been listening to on repeat the most lately. For the month of May, I’ve chosen only three songs because the last one I talk about is pretty lengthy. I want to share these songs with everyone especially if anyone hasn’t heard one or more of them. I hope that after reading this, readers will check out any tracks that are new to them, and that can be done below through my updated playlist. Anyway, let’s begin!

“FUNERAL GREY” by Waterparks: Let’s start with a more upbeat, lively tune. Awsten Knight has dyed his hair red which indicates that Waterparks is entering a new era. With that, the band released their latest single titled “FUNERAL GREY,” your new favorite song just in time for summer. This is a catchy tune with what you could call to be “fun” lyrics, the second verse including what could be a fan favorite. The girl Knight sings about seems to be edgy, have an attitude and is a tease, only to make this single be more amusing. It’s so entertaining that I even made a TikTok using this song (you can check it out below). You could probably make a better one, though.

“Clairvoyant” by The Story So Far: Who doesn’t love a beautiful sounding yet heart-ripping lyrical acoustic pop punk song? And yes, we’re getting sad now. When you write a song about two lovers separating and no joy is left between them, it’s heartbreaking not only for the two individuals but to the listener, too. The Story So Far does an amazing job portraying the thoughts and feelings of half of the ex couple. There is so much emotion and pain behind the lyrics while the acoustic tune sounds almost lovely, catching the listener off guard if they don’t pay attention to it lyrically. This song is calming until you get deep into its meaning.

“Wish You Were Here” by Neck Deep: This is the last track I’ll talk about here and there’s a reason for that. Every time I listen to this song I cry. It was mostly on repeat in mid May on my three-hour drive to my friend’s celebration of life. She passed away in November 2020 unexpectedly and it shattered my heart. Our friendship wasn’t the kind that we were so close that we were practically sisters. Instead, she was the sister I never had since I am an only child. She’d call me her little sister and I’d call her my big sister. With this song, it just punches my stomach almost. The first verse I can already feel my gut hurt, but when the chorus hits, that’s when I start to shed a tear or two (or more). Part of the last line in the second verse is where I start screaming: “Your life ended.” Imagine driving three hours and you start sobbing hysterically and screaming out the song’s lyrics and you have to pull onto the side of the highway for a bit because you can’t see where you’re driving anymore. This song is heavy and brings very strong emotions in me and others I’m sure, but it’s also important to me because I can use it to feel my feelings and let it out. Music is special that way, it’s therapeutic (cliché, I know). I even wrote a braided essay about my friend and I incorporated this song — maybe one day I’ll share it. But for now, this is good. “‘Cause a picture is all that I have to remind me that you’re never coming back/If I picture it now it just makes me sad, and right now I just wish you were here.”

Check out my TikTok I made using part of “FUNERAL GREY” and below my Spotify playlist.