The Thoughts of an All-Night College Student

Last night, instead of finishing my final papers by midnight and going to sleep, I instead finished them around 2 a.m. and didn't sleep at all. To pass the time, I watched The Marx Brothers' fantastic Duck Soup (one of the funniest films of all-time), and watched YouTube videos, including:

"Round Here" by Counting Crows

Round here, we're carving out our names
Round here, we all look the same
Round here, we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here, she's slipping through my hands

"Casimir Pulaski Day" by Sufjan Stevens

Oh the glory when he took our place
But he took my shoulders and he shook my face
And he takes and he takes and he takes

"Idiot Wind" by Bob Dylan (alternate version)

I been double-crossed now for the very last time and now I'm finally free,
I kissed goodbye the howling beast on the borderline which separated you from me.
You'll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise above,
And I'll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kind of love,
And it makes me feel so sorry.

"Pig" by Dave Matthews Band

This love will open our world
From the dark side we can see a glow of something bright
Oh, there's much more than we see here
Don't burn the day away

"The One" by Backstreet Boys

There you were, wild and free
Reachin' out like you needed me
A helping hand to make it right
I am holding you all through the night

My friend Kayley and I had a long discussion about "The One" and the album it's from, Millennium, last night. Not in its artistic merits (of which it, of course, has none because, come on, it's boy band music), but rather what it means to us. For me, it brings me back to middle school going into high school, not having developed a strong sense of musical quality quite yet, and listening to what was popular on WFLY 92.3, a top-40 station for Albany, NY. During that time, when boy band music was at its peak, the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC were everywhere, and you couldn't help but hear their songs no matter where you went.

Looking back at that time, everything seemed so simple and there was no worrying about finishing up finals, getting an apartment and the financial woes that come along with it, and it was a time that had a certain amount of innocence attached to it that'll never be reached again.

I'd never want to return to those days, but while listening to the simplistic "The One," I can't help but look back on them with fondness.

(As for the picture, I didn't take it but rather grabbed it from a Facebook group. I feel I have the right to do so because that's my graduating class and I know everyone in the picture, and it also reminds me how little I want to go back to high school.)