Concerned Jr. ’29 – “Lose Yourself” by Eminem
“I fell in love with this song because of how I relate to it every time I walk into Commons. After ASM, I feel like I only have one shot or one opportunity to get food at a reasonable hour. Even after climbing over the manic crowd of Andover students streaming out of the chapel before the speaker even finished, it’s a mad dash to get to whatever’s good that day. Many days, my shoulders slump at the sight of yet another day of an exclusively turkey and cod menu. Last time I dared to indulge in the incredibly repetitive menu, I got food poisoning! My palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms were heavy. Next thing I know, there’s vomit on my sweater already. I’m yearning for mom’s spaghetti. Whenever that song starts, I get hit by a sense of nostalgia for the good ol’ times when I still trusted Commons.”
Phillips Academy Administrator – “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel
“I just love this song. It encapsulates the Core Blue values we hold here at Andover. Whenever the students start a walkout to demonstrate their disapproval of how current events are handled on campus, we blare this song in our offices. Kids these days do nothing but complain. The E-files this, Iran that, something something. Although this makes our lives quite difficult, we just keep telling ourselves that “We didn’t start the fire. It was always burning since the world’s been turning. We didn’t start the fire. No, we didn’t light it, but we tried to fight it.” We’ve made sure to acknowledge all the hot, current events that students keep asking for. We’re so up to date that we recently addressed the Lewinsky scandal after the class of ’01 asked about it during their prom. We’re so up to date that we know that Obama is the most recent president before Trump came to power.”
Revisit Kid ’30 – “Creep” by Radiohead
“When I first came to this school, I felt like I’d be a creep or weirdo! Like, what the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here! But then, I met my revisit host. I thought I was bad, but to think that this kid has friends at Andover was baffling to me. Every time he enters a room, let’s just say that, “She’s running out the door!” Although I did say yes to Andover, when I was here before, I couldn’t look him in the eye. He’s not like an angel. His skin makes me cry. Despite his presence being branded into my memory every time I hear this song, I still listen to it fondly, since it encapsulates the social anxiety that got me into Exeter.
