I have a confession to make. I did not care for The Godfather. Did not care for it. And it may be the Peter Griffin in me, but he was correct. It insists upon itself. It insists upon itself. It presents as the most profound thing in the world but really it is shallow and a bit pretentious. Just like our fellow editor, Maleek. Anyway, that’s not to say all things that insist upon themselves are bad. This very factor is actually the deciding point in what makes certain things good. Here are Maleek and Diannah’s top three best songs that insist upon themselves.

Three.

Maleek’s Take

Peace – Taylor Swift

Peace is a heart-wrenching moment suspended in time. It’s a ballad that feels like she’s holding a mirror in front of me. It’s the feeling of never being enough for the one person you’d live and die for because you feel there is too much baggage that comes along with being in your life. She tells Joe that she’ll give him CHILDREN and her WHOLE SOUL but still fears that the war that will always surround her will scare him and force him to leave. She looks at him and thinks of him as this perfect, noble man of honor, and she feels as if her pettiness and insecurities may ruin his honor. She warns him that her enemies will come after him and the love they share, and begs him to tell her if he is able to handle it. She gives him the world but the one thing she can never give is peace of mind. And you sit there, and say peace isn’t the best song Taylor Allison Swift has ever put to pen? Listen to it….with an open heart. Peace is for the ones who love the most and fear the most. 

Standout Lyrics: “

Diannah’s Take

Ribs – Lorde

To be very honest, I could fill this entire list with Lorde songs and that’s not to be said as a bad thing. Lorde has, (or had- Solar Power is not included in this) a skill for presenting common feelings and emotions as the most profound thing in the world. Ribs is a song about the bittersweetness of growing up and being forced to leave our youth in the past. The simplicity and repetitiveness of the lyrics gets overshined by the emotion the song evokes.

Standout Lyrics: “This dream isn’t feeling sweet. We’re reeling through the midnight streets, and I’ve never felt more alone.”

Two.

Maleek’s Take

Hope is a Dangerous Thing For a Woman Like Me To Have – But I Have It – Lana Del Ray

Even without hearing the song, just looking at the length of the song title you immediately know the type of ride you’re in for. Instead of sitting back and casually listening to this 7-minute ballad, you have to act as if the class is in session. Lana Del Rey is an artist known for wallowing in her sadness and crafting the most life-threateningly gorgeous and rich lyrics known to man. When teetering on the line between sadness and sensuality, Del Rey is at her peak. And perhaps this song is the greatest work in her discography and yet is also the densest, overly written, and in a sense unforgiven to listeners who aren’t masters of poetry deconstruction. Yes, if you don’t sit down with a red pen and go over the lyrics with a fine toothcomb, you’ll feel like this painfully slow piano ballad is lackluster and uninspired. But that’s what makes it such a powerful piece of music. It dares you to enter into Del Rey’s mind and learn about her journey of grief, destruction, and failed self-worth. She fully plays into the character trope of the man-woman. The song paints the image of a mania-induced woman running through the hallways of her mansion screaming at top of her lungs and using her own blood to paint the walls red. But this isn’t what makes it “pretentious”. What makes this song insists upon itself is that it is less of a song and more of a modern Sylvia Plath poem filled with complex metaphors and refuses to let the reader in on what exactly the meaning of the piece is. 

Standout Lyrics: “They write that I’m happy, they know that I’m not but, at best, you can see I’m not sad.”

Diannah’s Take

Brutal – Olivia Rodrigo

Brutal is a fan favorite among Rodrigo’s fanbase and gen z overall and honestly I see the hype. Rodrigo sings about the hardships of being a teenager not only in the limelight but just in general. She complains about not being able to connect easily with others and not knowing how to parallel park. The song jumps from relatable to unrelatable with her acknowledging that fame is based on being exploited. Although this is only her debut album, she has proved that her strong suit is being a nervous, emotional wreck in her music. Rodrigo is basically screaming, “Look at me, I’m just like you.” and that is not a bad thing, especially given how early she’s saying this in her career. Brutal is undoubtedly one of her best songs.

Standout Lyrics: “And I’m not cool and I’m not smart and I can’t even parallel park.”

One.

Maleek’s Take

Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen

He equates romantic and intimate love with religious euphoria in a deeply personal and vivid manner 

Standout Lyrics: “Well, maybe there’s a God above. As for me, all I’ve ever learned from love is how to shoot somebody who outdrew you.” 

Diannah’s Take

I Know The End – Phoebe Bridgers

I only realized that this was simply a breakup song last week when I was scouring songs to include in this list. I listen to this song on repeat when I’m in the car for long trips or taking a long walk on a dull and cloudy day. This song is easily one of Bridger’s more popular ones and with good reason. She sings of wandering around, searching for adventure, and accepting the seemingly end of the universe. The tangent she goes on about driving off the coast and disappearing is profound given that the song is simply about the state of sadness she fell into after a breakup with her partner. The switch in tone for the second half of the song not only in lyrics, but also in beat really does a lot of the heavy lifting. Bridgers is known for her sitting in depression songs but this song being able to create a sense of hope and hopelessness at the same time is what makes it great. 

Standout Lyrics: “Driving out into the sun, let the ultraviolet cover me up. Went looking for a creation myth, ended up with a pair of cracked lips.”