Thank U Next, by Ariana Grande is the perfect breakup anthem for girls. It was released on November 3rd, 2018. During this time Grande broke off her engagement with SNL star, Pete Davidson. Their messy breakup gave fans this sassy come back track. Grande uses this song as a way to show him she is moving on to better things, She explains she has found a new love, but this one is different. Grande begins to find herself in this time of heart break by learning from her past relationships and gaining a better understanding of self love. Grande opens the song with calling out her four most recent exes. She does this in a polite way of thanking them for they have taught her. They teach her love, patience, and pain as repeated in the chorus.

One taught me love
One taught me patience
And one taught me pain
Now, I’m so amazing

After these relationships Grande explains that she has turned out amazing from them. Like most breakup songs she does not dis her exes in Thank You Next. This song is a perfect example of how to move on from a breakup. Grande shows that it is important to start focusing on yourself and learning from the past. She goes onto explaining how to do this in the song. She begins to spend more time friends, stop worrying, and lastly be happy with the person she is. Grande has hope for her future and that she will one day find the one.

One day I’ll walk down the aisle
Holding hands with my mama
I’ll be thanking my dad
‘Cause she grew from the drama

In this closing verse Grande explains how she will eventually get married and walk down the aisle beside her mom. This is so because her mother and father split and she grew up seeing her mom move past from the pain. Grande is thankful for the experience her mom had to go through with her dad because it shaped her into the strong woman that she is today.

The significance of the title, Thank U Next, has a deeper meaning. Before the single was dropped, Grande commented on a tweet of a SNL skit done by Davidson dissing their previous engagement. She simply replied with, “thank u next.” Within days she then released the song. The meaning of the title is that she is thanking all of her exes then moving on by saying, “next.” Thank U Next embraces the pains that comes with a relationship and sets an example for all girls to not dwindle on it and move on. Instead Grande wants people to be thankful for the love, pain, and patience that came from the relationship.

In today’s society our country is divided by political opinions. People often forget to put politics past them which damage relationships. Lady Gaga’s, Angel Down, discusses the problems that the world faces. In a chaotic age of violence it is hard to find peace in knowing that everything is going to be okay. Gaga uses this song to voice her opinion on the current struggles our country faces with violence. She hopes that people will eventually come together, especially in violent times, despite their differences.

In Angel Down, Gaga is a believer of people. In her most recent album “Joanne” she sings about many social issues. Gaga wants what is best for the worlds and makes that a point in her songs. The song opens with Gaga confessing that even she is lost and often times does not know how to help America’s problems. She explains that one should be grateful for their lives and live with love.

I’m a believer, it’s a trial
Foolish and weaker, oh, oh, oh
I’d rather save an angel down
I’m a believer, it’s chaos
Where are our leaders?

This line from the chorus is very meaningful. Gaga points out that in a time of trial and error she still believes in the good of the world. Angel down is said in this line which helps listeners understand the title of this song. She uses the word angel to refer to the happiness of country is dying. Innocent people are being killed and Gaga explains that instead of arguing politics she would rather focus on the people who are suffering from the violence. She asks, “Where are our leaders?” inferring that congress of today are not fixing the problems occurring in America. In todays society gun violence is very prevalent and people like Gaga are using their voices to push for change.

 

Throughout our lives we barely take to enjoy ourselves and just live in the moment. With workloads piling up we often forget to take time out of days to be thankful for what we have. Have It All by Jason Mraz is a perfect song for living in the moment. He sings about all the good possibilities of where you can end up in your life. He commemorates on the happy moments in life that he has lived and wishes the best for everyone. Have It All gives cheerful vibes to listeners as they look forward to their future. “And may the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows, and may the road less paved be the road that you follow.” Mraz repeats this line through out the song as he wishes everyone the best of luck. He uses a creative way of wording to offer goodwill to everyone. When he hopes, the best of your days are the worst of your tomorrows, he wishes that even the worst part of your days are great. He wants people to take risk and be bold by following the less paved road.

Oh, I want you to have it all
All you can imagine
All, no matter what your path is
If you believe it then anything can happen

This line at the end of the song demonstrates the wishing that Mraz has for the world. Even when the situation you are in could be bad there is still a hopeful future because anything in life could happen. If you put your best foot forward in life and just believe in yourself you will be happy and successful. I relate to this song because often times in college it is easy to think your life is not going as planned. I know that in every class if I work to the best of my ability I can achieve my goals and “have it all.”

Mraz uses his song to bring all types of people together. The joyful rhythm puts a smile on your face. In the music video Mraz demonstrates all the great things that people get out of life. He uses children in the music video as an example to pick them up when they are down because they have such a bright future ahead. The future is a big unknown and Have It All gives hope for people to stay strong and keep their end goal in mind.

Most Girls, by Hailee Steinfeld, is an upbeat pop anthem for all girls. The term “most girls” today is portrayed as a bad thing to be like. In today’s society being different is praised, but when people compare girls to not being like “most girls” they are supposed to take it as a compliment. The phrase puts the majority of girls in a box and makes them all seem similar. Most Girls addresses the issues with this phrase by explaining that being like most girls is actually awesome.

Most girls are smart and strong and beautiful
Most girls, work hard, go far, we are unstoppable
Most girls, our fight to make every day
No two are the same
I wanna be like, I wanna be like, most girls

In the chorus Steinfeld points out what “most girls” are actually like and that she aspires to be like “most girls.” She praises them for their characteristics of hardworking, beauty, and smart. She makes it clear that each girl is different in their own way and that’s what makes every girl so special.

In the music video Steinfeld demonstrates the meaning of her song clearly by presenting a conversation in the beginning. It starts out with a man explaining to her how cool she is for not being like “most girls.” Steinfeld is not charmed at all by his words and she does not accept this compliment. The rest of the video shows different clips of Steinfeld doing different activities that girls do, for example: she works out, paints, and reads. Towards the end of the video a group of girls comes out wearing different shirts with their personalities written on it. The shirts allow the girls to show off their personalities and be praised for it. The message of this song and video is that each girl is unique and special in their own way and “most girls” should not be a phrase that defines them all as the same. This song is very important because Steinfeld demonstrates woman empowerment and is an example for all girls to strive to be themselves no matter what anyone else says.

Perfect by Ed Sheeran is a beautiful love song. Ed Sheeran sings about a a perfect love. This love has no limits and the relationship is described in the song is pure. Sheeran sings about this woman who is his soulmate. This love symphony idolizes a love that all people hope to experience in life. The lyrics are touching and heart warming. “I found a love for me, Darling just dive right in and follow my lead.” The song opens with this line. Sheeran sings that this love is for him and he asks her to trust him. He professes his love for her in Perfect.

Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know
She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I’ll share her home
I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets
To carry love, to carry children of our own

This line stuck out the most to me because here Sheeran explains that this woman is not only beautiful but strong. I think that is very kind because most love songs today describes a woman’s looks, but here he is praising her for how strong she is mentally. He goes on to talking about how they both share their goals together and Sheeran hopes to one day have a family and spend the rest of their lives together.

The music video for Perfect portrays the relationship that Sheeran describes completely.  It is set in the winter time with Sheeran and his girlfriend on a ski trip. The snow represents the pureness of their relationship and towards the end of the song they make snow angels. In this music video you can see that they just love being together. They are laughing and having fun and it is shown that they truly are in love. This song puts a smile on your face when you hear it and makes you think of someone special. The message of this song is that your love for someone can be stronger than you know. Sheeran’s song Perfect is absolutely perfect.

Thomas Rhett’s song Life Changes is an upbeat country song that discusses the changes Rhett has experienced through out his life. This song is incredibly relatable as he sings about how fast time goes by and how you never know how life will change. “Waking up in my college dorm. Yeah, my life, it was pretty normal.” The song opens with Rhett taking listeners back to when he was in college. He describes his life to be pretty average, and has no real future plans. “Majoring in undecided, notebooks full of bad songs I was writing.” He day dreams of writing songs and performing instead of dong classwork and did not picture his music going anywhere. Rhett is a very talented and humbled artist and worked very hard to get to the top of the country charts. One of the most important messages from this song is to not stress too much about the things that are not important in life because years down the road those things won’t matter anymore. Rhett is an example of this because he was worried about his undecided college career but knew that if he worked hard and trusted god he would achieve his dreams.

The video to this song shows Rhett’s life today. He is touring and spending time with his family while smiling and just simply enjoying his life. Rhett is a family man and sings about his two daughters and beloved wife. Life Changes describes the most impactful years of Rhett’s life. He discusses his marriage and how people judged him for settling down so young. In the song he mention that even though he was only twenty-two he has known she was the one since the second grade. One of the cutest moments to the song is when Rhett mentions how him in his wife decided to adopt and then ended up having their own child also. His two little girls are shown in the video many times and clearly mean the world to Rhett. “Ain’t it funny how life changes.” This quote is repeated through out the song and draws attention back to Rhett’s main point. He finds it funny how you go through your different stages in your life and can end up at a point you might not ever imagine yourself at. Life Changes is a great song for understanding the ups and downs of your life and trying to look at life in a positive way because you never know what could happen.

Taylor Swift makes a comeback with her single from her new album Reputation called Look What You Made Me Do. The song was released on August 24, 2017. In Look What You Made Me Do she sings about all of the people who have wronged her in the past year and now she is changed. Swift started as a sweet southern country star and transitioned her genre to pop. Previous to Swift’s single all of her songs revealed the sweet and innocent side of her. She writes about love and happier life experiences. Unlike her old music Look What You Made Me Do shows a whole new side a Swift. She comes off as angry and ready to get revenge on her enemies.

Swift’s name has been dragged through dirt in the past couple years. Rumors being spread of her dating people just to have a song to write, being called a liar and a snake. An era of a new Swift appears in Look What You Made Me Do. She begins to take her music to a whole new level. In this song fans hear Swift’s side of the story about all of the rumors and fake tabloids about her. The first line of the song Swift sings:

I don’t like your little games

don’t like you tilted stage

the role you made me play

of the fool, no I don’t like you

Here she is talking about she does not like how people have been playing games by talking about her and pointing her out to be a fool. She goes on to singing about how she has become smarter and has learned to longer trust anyone.

Swift is known for her detailed and elaborate music videos but this one is by far her best work. The video starts in a grave yard with a head stone that say “Here lies Taylor Swift’s Reputation.” She then pops out of the grave in zombie form wearing the last outfit from the last music video she made. This is very symbolic because she is claiming that her good girl reputation no longer exists. She makes many subtle hints through out the video of what is more to come with her music and new reputation. She ends the video with a group of Swift’s fighting to be on top but her new reputation wins in the end. Swift is very clever when it comes to her song writing and music videos. She points out many of her own flaws in her music and that is why she is a very real artist. People find Swift so appealing because she is very true to herself. She is a very empowering woman who has inspired many people to stand up for themselves. Her music has helped me through out my life, but I can relate to this song especially because she sings about the people who have wronged her. Look What You Made Me Do is an upbeat and catchy pop song that makes you want to get up dance and just simply be yourself.

Self Care, by Mac Miller, is one of the most eye opening songs on how to be aware of treating yourself right. Miller touches on the subject of mental health in this song after getting out of two year relationship and recovering from a drug addiction. Self Care is the first single Miller dropped on his new album “Swimming”. Self Care was released July 13, 2018. This song focuses on many points of his own emotional journey. The subject of mental health and drug addiction have become very popular in the year 2018. Miller touches on the subject of his own addiction problems by referring to it in his song lyrics. Miller sings, “That Mercedes drove me crazy, I was speedin’ / Somebody save me from myself, yeah,” the meaning behind this lyric relates to the DUI he received on May 17, 2018, by crashing his Mercedes G Wagon into a poll. He when he says, “Somebody save me from myself,” he is calling out that his drug addiction is growing and needs to be saved from himself. Through out the song he repeats “Self care, I’m treatin’ me right
Hell yea, we’re gonna be alright.” Here Miller is acknowledging that if you just focus on yourself then you are going to be okay.

The music video Miller made for Self Care symbolizes many of his personal experiences. In the music video he is laying in a closed in coffin and seems to be okay with not getting out. He then lights a cigarette meaning that he is so comfortable in his enclosed space by himself. In the coffin Miller takes out a knife to carve writing on the coffin a latin phrase, “Momento Mori,” meaning remember you have to die. This messages symbolizes Miller’s out look on life. He is reminding himself that all the fame, drugs, and money that come with his life do not matter because he knows he has die someday. This is especially sad to see now because Mac Miller recently died of an overdose on September 7, 2018. Miller has suffered from a drug addiction all his life and has been trying to recover. The message from Self Care is very relevant to anyone suffering from an addiction. Mac Miller is a great artist and many of his songs helped me through harder times in my life. Self Care is not only a great song to listen to but also holds an important message to anyone suffering from addiction.

Vance Joy’s song, Saturday Sun, is the perfect hymn of happiness to bring a smile to your face. Vance joy an Australian singer song writer released Saturday Sun February 1st, 2018. This song embodies the feelings you get when you meet someone you don’t want to lose. Vance Joy sings about the his amazing new found love that he feels is just the start of something good. Since he is always on the road he has to leave but has an unsure feeling that he is leaving something great behind. Many times in the songs Vance Joy repeats, “I gotta get back, I can’t let this go.” This line is important because he knows he needs to leave but just can’t let her go. Vance Joy connects the feeling of summer fun and warmth to love with Saturday Sun. For anyone who has ever had a crush this up beat pop-folk song is the perfect way to describe the feelings you have when you begin to like someone.

Vance Joy reminisces on the memories he made with his girl in the song, Saturday Sun. The music video helps listeners visualize the moments they had together. Vance Joy is tired of his day to life is calling out for her in this song to be with him. “Don’t care what it cost no ray of sunlights ever lost.” This line from the songs shows that he is willing to do anything to get back to her.  The memories they had together are full of sunshine and fun on the beach with the girl he likes. He describes her as ray of sunlight in his life and this relates to anyone who has ever had feelings for someone because that person can just come in and brighten their day.  Vance Joy’s song, Saturday Sun, is the perfect Summer anthem for anyone who gets butterflies in their stomachs just thinking about someone.