10 Most Relatable Songs For College Students

By Melody Chi on January 15, 2015

Have you ever thought your college life needed a theme song, or several? Then you’ve come to the right place!

These 10 songs are the ones I think best represent a student’s experiences in college. So get ready to bust out your iPod and hairbrush microphone so you can jam to these relatable tunes.

Image via Flickr

10) Train- “50 Ways to Say Goodbye”:

You’ll likely have at least one relationship during college, and that  probably means a break-up or two.

We’ve all been there: you only just broke up with your latest partner, and you run into an acquaintance who obviously hasn’t gotten the news OR the message that you’d rather repeat finals week all over again than talk about it.

Train’s hilarious song “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” is actually a remedy for that exact scenario!

The song takes a ridiculously fun approach to the usually agonizing process of making excuses for why your ex isn’t surgically attached to your side anymore.

Best of all, Train’s tune encourages a lighthearted attitude towards break-ups that is sorely needed after the event, so don’t give this one a miss.

9) Neon Trees- “Sleeping With a Friend”:

Speaking of relationships in college, they can get … complicated.

After all, you’ll be hanging out with dormmates, friends, classmates, exes (I said complicated, didn’t I?), and people in between all of those categories.

“Sleeping With a Friend” perfectly summarizes this trend of having nebulous relationships in a tune that you can both relate to (admit it!) and enthusiastically bob your head to.

8) Guns N’ Roses- “Welcome To The Jungle”:

You know that overwhelming feeling you got when you were first faced with moving to a new city, making new friends and figuring out where all your classes were?

That’s exactly the emotion “Welcome to the Jungle” talks about. Even the title says it: you’re in a new place and it seems crazy, almost like an unconquered jungle.

But there is pleasure to be found in the madness, such as by listening to this song, so don’t be afraid of new, wild college experiences.

7) Papa Roach- “Still Swingin”:

Like I said with the previous song, college can feel like too much to survive sometimes, and all you can do is stick it out. Actually, Papa Roach’s rock melody is about just that: sticking it out.

To be more specific, “Still Swingin’” celebrates people who choose to stay in the ring and fight to the very end (although that’s figurative fighting, of course), whether that’s to be the best or just to be able to say you gave it your all.

Such a work ethic is needed for college, so give this track a try and let it pump you up.

6) Hercules movie soundtrack- “I Can Go The Distance”:

Let’s be honest: who hasn’t jammed to this song throughout their childhood (and more recently, c’mon)?

This Hercules movie masterpiece is uplifting, empowering and exactly what you need to get through studying for finals or writing that last 15 page paper.

You might not have super strength like Hercules, but everyone can go the distance if they dedicate themselves to it.

5) Kansas- “Carry On My Wayward Son”:

Like any time in your life, your college career will include some days when you feel like you can’t get through one more second without bawling your eyes out in a thoroughly embarrassing manner.

This is where “Carry On My Wayward Son” comes in.

(Ignore the gender specificity, because this song really is for anyone who’s having a tough time.)

Kansas preaches a reassuring message in their jingle: you can always take some time to “lay your weary head to rest” and try to overcome whatever issue is plaguing you, and eventually there will “be peace when you are done.”

Plus, this rocking tune can serve as great sound cover (and won’t even judge!) if you do actually need to curl up and cry for a while. 

4) Sara Bareillis- “Brave”:

College may be tons of fun, but it will also involve situations when you’ll have to be assertive or show off your confidence, such as when you’re interviewing for an internship or getting up the nerve to ask out that cute guy/girl who always sits next to you in lecture.

In this song, Sara Bareillis implores you to be brave, stand up for yourself, and go after what you really want.

These three ideas are ones I think you should wholeheartedly try to achieve in all your college endeavors, and that’ll be easier to do when you’re rocking out to this catchy tune.   

3) Revive- “Blink”:

I think the thing that everyone who attends college agrees with is that the time really does fly by.

One minute you’re moving into the dorms for your first year, and the next you’re walking across the graduation stage to grab that well-earned diploma.

Revive’s “Blink” focuses on this phenomenon, as well as declares that you should try to make the most of your time while it lasts.

I don’t know about you, but that seems like some pretty fine advice to me. So live life to the fullest, YOLO, or whatever else you want to call it, but just blast this song and have some fun so you have no regrets.

2) Pharrell Williams- “Happy”:

In contrast to what it may seem I was saying with song No. 5, I’m pretty sure college is mostly an exciting and joyful time for most of us.

That’s why “Happy” is No. 2 on this list.

It’s the perfect theme song for those days when you just aced that midterm and you can’t contain your cheer or well-earned self-congratulations! After all, there’s a reason the music video shows people rocking out to this song everywhere—it’s addicting.

So don’t skip downloading this song to your iPod and queuing it up regularly for a little sunny reminder that life can be oh so good.

1) Survivor- “Eye of the Tiger”

“This song is old,” you might say. Well, I’ll argue that it’s not old, it’s a classic.

And for good reason!

Not only is this song No. 1 on this list because it’s the most relatable, but in my humble opinion, it’s also one of the catchiest, most head-bangable songs ever written.

In fact, that’s partly why it’s relatable. Even more so than No. 3, this song is the ultimate re-energizer and motivation booster simply because of its instrumental sequences and encouraging lyrics.

The lyrics especially make this song a college student’s mantra. With all of Survivor’s talk of not giving up, how can you do anything but put this song on repeat and get everything you need to done?

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