Song 8: “Come” by Namie Amuro. “Throwback to 2003, it’s late and you wake up with your gameboy advance on your face because you fell asleep gaming, and an episode of Inyuasha is just finishing up, you hear this iconic song. Namie Amuro is a Japanese pop star from Naha, Okinawa, Japan. With a career spanning 25 years, starting in 1992, Amuro has sold millions of records across Asia. She has since publicly retired in 2018, and has lived as a private citizen since. Her music was available on streaming services in 2019, but was mysteriously removed from streaming and digital retailers like iTunes in 2023 without explanation. Only a few songs remain.” – Quinn Smalley
Song 9: “Bitter Sweet Symphony” by The Verve. “There’s a part that says ‘you’re a slave to the money until you die’ and it’s sad to say but it’s just true. You get into a routine and you’re here, over and over again, doing the same thing every day, your gas tank is empty…. It’s just real, honestly.” – Natalia Serrano
Song 10: “Ton Visage” by Frero Delavega. “My fiance’s family is French, so I’ve been practicing French for years in hopes to one day be fluent. This is one song I love and can recite. I don’t know what all it means, but I love its groove!” – Emma Peterson
Song 11: “Danse Macabre in G minor” by Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. “I remember when I learned this on the piano, when I was about eight! When I need to write, this is what inspires me. Who has it worse than the villains? Even my life doesn’t get as bad as Two-Face when he was in that gasoline explosion, or the acid burns the Phantom received in The Phantom of the Opera. Moriarty fell off a waterfall. My car broke down; I got disconnected from my bank account and my school account because I lost my phone and couldn’t receive a text message, AND my water got cut off – all in a two day period. But my I still had it better than those classic villains.” – Diedra Eby