Fast Times: WVUM's High School Music Picks - Caroline

Ahh, the high school years…. How were we told those would be the best years of our lives?! However cringe-y, those four years held a lot of impact in the evolution of who I’ve since grown to be more and more, and they were very formative, for the most part! The funny thing is, however, is how much both I and my music taste have changed since my secondary school years. Oh yikes, I have some very interesting music picks from those years…… can’t wait!!

I began high school in the era of the extreme prevalence of Lana Del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, Arctic Monkeys, Charli XCX, (still love her… stream “How I’m Feeling Now” out May 15), and…. the scream-o KINGS, Pierce the Veil. Nirvana, The Kooks, and more angst-adjacent bands also earned a spot on my poster plastered wall. All of these artists (along with my discovery of “American Horror Story” and “Skins”) were the very pinnacle of my existence, the rise of the Tumblr era loud and clear in my ear buds every day from middle school to freshman/sophomore year. Coincidentally, to brand “TEENAGE GIRL IN THE DIGITAL NATIVE ERA” on my head even more so, I was obsessed with 5 Seconds of Summer and One Direction for years. I even remember the fateful day that was March 25, 2015. I was heading into Spanish class when I heard the news….. Zayn Malik was leaving 1D ;(. Probably the scariest thing to confess is: I met Melanie Martinez… and I had a big Crybaby phase when it first came out… yeah, yikes. ALSO, does anyone remember 8tracks? That app/site my favorite thing ever, I used to discover different versions of songs and curated playlists for different moods. So very 2014 Tumblr chic? Below are some 8tracks playlists I loved!

Anyway, I also just recalled that I was in love with “Heathers the Musical”, among other shows. Yes… I was a theatre kid. Though I’m not anymore, DAMN that musical slaps so hard. I was always obsessed with the “Heathers” film, so when I discovered the off-Broadway musical was coming into existence, I streamed the hell out of those songs, dreaming of playing Veronica Sawyer or… Heather Chandler (???…. but that’s a different can of worms).


Freshman/Sophomore year naivety pictured here…. Who was she!! I hope maybe she’d be proud of the 2020 iteration of herself?

The weirdest thing, however, is how my music taste and my sense of sense did a full 180 in Junior and Senior year…? Perhaps it was a lack of judgement… or just adolescent confusion… but it was weird?? I liked soft singer songwriter ballads and such, and I liked something to sing along to.. I was also going through a period of loss and overall teenage stagnation. This was right around the Khalid era cough industry plant cough. So do with that information as you wish. I also liked certain funk bands like Ripelove/Vulfpeck in those times, and even some folk??? Idk. I still have a wave of nostalgia when I think about these songs. Here’s a playlist from those times! No shame to any of these artists/songs though, many of these songs are near and dear to my heart.

Also peep Junior/Senior year Caroline. WHO WAS SHE!!!!! Don’t try to stick to the status quo/be what suburban midwestern people want you to be— it’s not worth it, baby Cari from the past!

It’s odd, in many ways, for I feel as if I’m now just an evolved version of 8th/9th/10th grade me, and I relate to that iteration of Caroline much more than I relate to 11th/12th grade Caroline. Even my music taste now is based in the obsessions I had in my Tumblr era discovery. I still binge Charli XCX, I even relapse and sing every word to PTV’s “Collide With the Sky” album, and my affinity for 20th/turn of the century bands has cemented itself into love for New Wave/Gothic Rock sounds, and my liking for Experimental Hip Hop lies in my love for JPEGMAFIA, the Madvillain duo, and the like. This article was a very quick glimpse into a summarized version of my tastes through the years, but overall, I’m happy I went through a lot of different music phases in order to formulate my current taste!! Woohoo, I love many many forms of music, and I can’t wait to see my taste evolve even more so as I discover new things and grow my appreciation for an even more increasing variety of artists/genres. Yay!!