All Things Music

Hi friends, Happy December! Now that it’s the start of a new month, I’m back to share more of my music picks. Here’s what I’ve been listening to in October and November:

October

“good 4 u,” Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo embraces her teenage angst on this punk rock-esque pop song full of zingers about a breakup.

Standout Lyrics: And good for you, I guess that you’ve been working on yourself/I guess that therapist I found for you, she really helped/Now you can be a better man for your brand new girl

“favorite crime,” Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo details a twisted love story on this ballad from her debut album, SOUR. Rodrigo’s use of metaphor to describe the relationship is clever and adds richness to her storytelling.

Standout Lyrics: You used me as an alibi/I crossed my heart as you crossed the line/And I defended you to all my friends/And now, every time a siren sounds/I wonder if you’re around/’Cause you know that I’d do it all again

“Growing Old Young,” Tenille Arts

Country singer Tenille Arts sings about being forced to grow up when you’re still a kid on this emotional track from her third album, Girl to Girl. The track is equal parts heartbreaking and relatable.

Standout Lyrics: A ten-year-old should be playin’ house/Not holdin’ theirs together/Or blamin’ yourself or wonderin’ how/The bad will ever get any better/Yeah, the thing about growing old young/You fast-forward through the innocent stuff/You cut straight to the fallin’ out of love/And thinkin’ maybe you’ll never be enough/’Cause you’ve never kissed a boy, but your heart’s in two/Never had a drink but you know what it can do/Never got to see the world before yours came undone/That’s growing old young

November

“All Too Well (Sad Girl Autumn Version),” Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift takes her unarguably saddest song and makes it that much sadder. Not only is this the 10-Minute Version of the track–as released on Red (Taylor’s Version)–the video of Swift recording the song at Long Pond Studios just adds to the overall melancholy and is sure to put the listener in their feels.

Standout Lyrics: And I was never good at telling jokes, but the punch line goes/”I’ll get older, but your lovers stay my age”/From when you Brooklyn broke my skin and bones/I’m a soldier who’s returning half her weight/And did the twin flame bruise paint you blue?/Just between us, did the love affair maim you, too?/’Cause in this city’s barren cold/I still remember the first fall of snow/And how it glistened as it fell/I remember it all too well

“Shivers,” Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran produces a bright, infectious song about attraction with “Shivers.”

Standout Lyrics: Lipstick on my guitar/Fill up the engine, we can drive real far/Go dancing underneath the stars/Ooh yeah, I want it all

“If I Didn’t Love You,” Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood

Country artists Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood team up on this duet about struggling to get over an ex.

Standout Lyrics: If I didn’t love you I’d be good by now/I’d be better than barely getting by somehow/Yeah, it would be easy not to miss you/Wonder about who’s with you/Turn the “want you” off whenever I want to/If I didn’t love you/If I didn’t love you

And that’s a wrap on my October/November music picks. Let me know what you think of them, give them a listen on Spotify, and tell me what songs you’ve been listening to recently. Until next time…music on, world off.