To reflect the recent changes in weather, here are some songs that make listeners feel a happy-sad medium. 

Nick’s picks

1. David Kauffman and Eric Caboor – “One More Day (You’ll Fly Again)”
2. John Prine – “Angel from Montgomery”
3. Loving – “Visions”

The final song from David Kauffman and Eric Caboor’s only album, “Songs from Suicide Bridge,” “One Day More (You’ll Fly Again)” embodies the bittersweet nature of moving on. Starting with a beautiful solitary acoustic guitar, “One Day More” seems sad during the first half of the verses. The final verse starts “You’ve looked for answers in the wind / You tell yourself you’ve reached the end / But you can’t go back home again / The shape you’re in.” This verse is horrifying and sad, but Kauffman and Caboor change the mood of the song in its final words. Where they seemed hopeless, they offer up a line of hope, singing “You’re on the ground, but not for long / You’ll fly again.” As the song ends, the strummed guitar fades away, as if the listener is flying further from it, higher and higher away. 

Where Kauffman and Caboor look at moving on, John Prine’s song “Angel from Montgomery” looks at what happens when everything stays the same. With grooving piano, guitar and organ, “Angel from Montgomery” is a fun song that makes you want to bob your head. But the thing is, the song’s chorus is absolutely haunting. “Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery,” Prine opens it with, likening his protagonist to a prisoner by referencing the phrase for a governor’s pardon, the angel is a pardon sent from Montgomery, where the governor’s office is. He goes on, singing “Make me a poster of an old rodeo / Just give me one thing that I can hold on to / To believe in this living is just a hard way to go.” This sad verse is Prine’s imagined reflections on a life well-lived. This country tale tells the story of a woman who, while she used to have a good life, has grown old, tired and bored. 

Lo-fi and meek, Loving’s “Visions” is the ultimate slacker-indie anthem. The song tells the story of two people who like to be home alone. The fourth and fifth verses mimic each other, both starting with the idea that the verse’s protagonist “Loved to be alone, alone.” The solitary nature of these two people is personified by the simplistic and vibe-based instrumentals: Strummed electric guitars and soft drums accentuate the lead singer’s relaxed, almost uncaring voice. The instruments rise, crescendoing to a final chorus which ends with the line “And it’s a lie.” This final line taints the whole song. These people, who claim they like to be alone, are lying. They like the company of others but won’t let themselves have it, keeping them in an existence stuck between happiness and regret.  

Sarah’s picks

1. David Kushner – “Daylight”
2. Arctic Monkeys – “I Wanna Be Yours”
3. Lizzy McAlpine, Jacob Collier – “erase me”

David Kushner’s song “Daylight” has him conflicting with the good and the bad that come with desire. Kushner released his single on April 14 after teasing the track for weeks on his social media. The song relies on its piano melody to deliver a pensive, longing tone. The pre-chorus lyrics, “There’s darkness in the distance / From the way that I’ve been livin’ / But I know I can’t resist it” convey a feeling of desire for something Kushner knows he can’t have. This resistance is felt through his raspy vocals which sound like he’s preaching his sins in an open, echoey church. Listeners feel as if they too are confronted by the same lightness and darkness.

Arctic Monkeys’ singer Alex Turner is the king of creating bittersweet romance songs. “I Wanna Be Yours” is easily one of their most popular songs, and the repeated chorus lyrics of “I wanna be yours / I wanna be yours” are hard not to belt out. The song talks about wanting to be with someone and all the things Turner would do for that person. It’s a love poem within a song and makes listeners yearn to be at the receiving end of Turner’s words. The song is bittersweet because you are left hoping Turner’s crush likes him back and that they accept the genuine love he pours into the lyrics. 

Lizzie McAlpine and Jacob Collier collaborate on a song about how it feels to break up with someone you once loved. It’s not hard to hear the pain in McAlpine’s voice as she sings about filling the emptiness inside her with other men. The song’s title, “erase me,” can imply that McAlpine wants to be erased from her ex’s life, as the breakup was too painful. She wants to move on from the heartbreak and experience a new relationship that fades the past one. The guitaristic melody blends with her pop vocals, producing the perfect track to scream to when you face heartbreak yourself. 

Eli’s picks

1. Pernice Brothers – “The Weakest Shade of Blue”
2. Smog – “Feather by Feather”
3. The Beach Boys – “Wouldn’t it be Nice”

Songwriter Joe Pernice has perfected the art of the bittersweet song over the course of his long career. On “The Weakest Shade of Blue,” recorded with his band, Pernice Brothers, Pernice expresses painful feelings of unrequited love. However, idealistic feelings of hope for a relationship sweetly counter the bitterness with lines like, “I’ll save you from this dreamy life / To the hardest love you could ever know,” the narrator clings to the thought of a relationship that may never happen. Pernice is one of the few songwriters who can write heartbreaking songs at such a fast tempo. While this subject matter is more commonly found in ballads, Pernice somehow manages to transform it into a jangly power-pop anthem.

Though it’s no “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M, “Feather by Feather” is an uncharacteristically inspiring song for brooding, moody lo-fi pioneer Bill Callahan, who formerly recorded under the name Smog. The opening lines are relatable to any human being as Callahan sings, “You spent half of the morning / Just trying to wake up / Half the evening / Just trying to calm down.” The song explores the battle that people suffering from depression go through everyday just to keep functioning in life. Despite its somber opening, the song quickly becomes an encouraging call for strength with the lines, “If you’re losing your wings / Feather by feather / Love the way they whip away / On the wind.” The song serves as a reminder that there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel for those who can hold out hope for long enough.

While frequently used in films and TikToks to signify joy and happiness, an undeniable bittersweetness lurks beneath the surface of The Beach Boys’ 1965 classic “Wouldn’t it be Nice.” In the song, a young person pines for his youthful, perhaps immature relationship to become a genuine adult relationship. The song centers around the pain the narrator feels about having to wait what feels like a lifetime to marry the person they love. Much of the song consists of hopeful fantasies of a dream-like future. The lyrics in the bridge reveal the underlying emotions as Brian Wilson sings, “You know it seems the more we talk about it / It only makes it worse to live without it.” However, he follows this line with “But let’s talk about it,” deciding that it’s easier to daydream than it is to come to terms with the harsh realities of life.