My College Soundtrack

I thought coming up with “My College Soundtrack” would be fun and easy, but it’s actually been incredibly stressful. Which songs should make the cut? Which should get the axe? Which really brought back the memories of me making a fool out of myself?

I decided to leave out songs that will forever be ingrained in my memory thanks to overkill at fraternity and apartment parties, such as “Crank Dat (Soulja Boy),” “Paper Planes,” and “Party in the U.S.A.,” as well as those I’ve jammed out to way too much to make them unique to my college years, such as “All The Small Things” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. So here’s my list:

1. “Wagon Wheel” Old Crow Medicine Show
This is the quintessential UVA song. If it comes on in a Charlottesville pub or at a frat party, you can put your arm around a stranger and be guaranteed they’ll know every lyric. I heard it the first day on grounds, I’ll hear it the last day on grounds, and I’ll never tire of it.

2. “Cornbread (Live)” Dave Matthews Band
Speaking of “quintessentially UVA,” how could this list not feature a DMB tune? My first-year roommate, K-Rec, constantly blasted this song for the world to hear, and he got me hooked.

3. “Sittin’ at a Bar” Rehab
Thanks again to K-Rec for finding this hidden gem of a song, as addictive as it is raunchy. My mind is sent straight back to freshman dorms whenever I hear it.

4. “Collie Man” Slightly Stoopid
Saw these guys live my first year, at an awesomely intimate little venue right on campus. It’s still one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. This song was the highlight of the night -- two minutes of pure acoustic bliss.

5. “Teenage Dirtbag” Wheatus
The summer after freshman year is the perfect time to reminisce about all the crazy shenanigans you and your friends got into over the past several months to remember what, exactly, makes you a teenage dirtbag.

6. “Let the Beat Build” Lil Wayne
Call me mainstream, but Tha Carter III is one of the most addicting rap albums from the past decade. I’ll never forget driving around my hometown, windows down, sunglasses on, feeling unstoppable and cranking this song on full-blast.

7. “Where Is My Mind?” The Pixies
If there was one song to define my sophomore year, it’d be this Pixies jam. Let’s just say I didn’t make the most brilliant decisions. …

8. “Make You Feel Better” Red Hot Chili Peppers
Beach Week ’09 goes down as one of the best trips of my life. Surrounded by my pledge brothers and best friends, this tune from my all-time favorite band -- which was blared throughout the week -- is the definition of awesome.

9. “Time to Pretend” MGMT
I discovered MGMT’s debut album long after its 2007 release -- a shame, since the band’s songs go straight to the heart of a fickle, glassy-eyed college student. The lyrics to this opening track resonate with me most. Aren’t we all just “fated to pretend”?

10. “Up up & Away” Kid Cudi
This was Cudi’s sleeper surprise from his first studio album. When I was abroad for a semester in Spain, I listened to it on every single friggin’ plane, train and bus I boarded. Is it sad to admit I’m still not tired of it?

11. “Corona and Lime” Shwayze
Last year’s spring semester has been the best of all four of my college years. This laid-back song epitomizes spring-turning-into-summer. Only that. Not anything else.

12. “Pickup Truck” Kings of Leon
The intro is killer. And, by the way, I really feel like buying a pickup truck after the first few listens. (Subliminal messaging?)

13. “The Cave” Mumford & Sons
When it comes to Mumford & Sons, you either love ’em or hate ’em. I’m a fan. Gotta have some quieter music at the tail end of my list to represent the intense depression I’m going to feel when this awesome college experience ends.

Talk it up! What songs would be on your college soundtrack?