To prepare for study week (and the stress that comes with), the CHALK staff has put together a playlist for all of your studying (and crying) needs. Take a listen to our playlist on Spotify during those sleepless studying nights, and make sure to take care of yourself.
“Dawn" - From the "Pride & Prejudice" Soundtrack
Taylor Worden | @taynoelle7 | CHALK editor
Perfect for writing my final English paper or crying on the bathroom floor, this song makes me feel as if I’m sitting in a field at dawn too instead of staring at my computer screen at 1 a.m. Filled with just as much pining and dreaminess as the film, “Dawn” puts me into the ideal headspace I need to write (or yearn) for hours.
“Motion Sickness” by Phoebe Bridgers
Nicole Asbury | @NicoleAsbury | editor-in-chief
So, I know this is one of her most popular songs, and most of us have heard it before, but it’s so perfect for winter finals season. I always play it on Spotify whenever I’ve been staring at my computer for too long and just need to lay on my floor for a break. (Plus, you can learn this TikTok dance during your break.)
“Drowsy (Lightning)” by Viji
Lucy Peterson | @lucyepeterson | associate news editor
Perfect for studying because I can’t really understand what she’s saying unless I really try to focus hard on the lyrics, but the vibes are incredible. Good background noise, or a song to pause and contemplate your life for a little bit.
“Rom-Com Gone Wrong” by Matt Maltese
Nicole Dolan | @nikkidolan279 | community editor
This is the song that you can disassociate to while you’re sitting at your favorite table at the Sunflower Bike Shop with your vanilla oat milk cortado on the window sill to ponder your silly little life and all the silly little tasks you have to complete to accumulate that silly degree that will help you get that silly little job.
Maybe you’ll fall in love here or maybe you’ll leave still unsatisfied with the amount of work you got done and let the imposter syndrome that’s been festering since you sat down fully take over your head space. At least you got out of the house; this song will reward you for that.
“Female Energy, Pt. 2” by Willow Smith
Ashley Zellers | @stellarzellers | CHALK correspondent
This song is perfect for getting yourself into a chill headspace to write a long essay or study for an exam. The song is somewhat ethereal and gives me enough main character energy to feel motivated. It’s also just an incredible song in general, and impossible to skip.
“Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller
Abby McCoy | @AbigailLMcCoy | CHALK correspondent
If I could bottle up all the senses of late night coffee shop vibes, it would be this song. It instantly transports you to an outdoor café somewhere in Northern Italy on a chilly fall evening. There are no lyrics, only serotonin-inducing old jazz instrumental to fuel your writing.
I promise you this song is magical and there are plenty more like it if you just search some combination of the words “jazz,” “vibes,” “café” and/or “writing” on your preferred streaming platform. Grab an overpriced coffee, turn on some tunes and get to it!
“Suspirium” by Thom Yorke
Faith Maddox | @FaithMaddox | CHALK correspondent
A song showed to me by one of my dearest companions, “Suspirium” balances a late November sense of dread with a deeply moving embodiment of yearning. Best played while driving down Massachusetts Street late at night, with the streetlights casting odd shadows that seem to move of their own accord.
“If It Wasn’t for the Nights” by ABBA
Elizabeth Walters | @Eliz__Walters | CHALK correspondent
Perfect for a mid-study sesh brain break, “If It Wasn’t for the Nights” will satisfy all your disco dreams. Like any ABBA song, it is best played in your childhood bedroom while you’re dancing in the pajamas you wore when you were 14.
