Editor’s note: Lee and Lawler’s playlist is available here.

Madi:

I was doom scrolling on TikTok one night before bed, per usual, when I came across a creator with a list of things to do the day after your college graduation. She went on about packing up your clothes and saying goodbyes, but one item stood out: create a senior spring playlist, chock full of songs that will instantly take you back to this glorious time whenever you need the reminder. Something that represents the joy of being seniors frolicking through spring, the bittersweet feeling of every “last” and the change that is to come when graduation hits. As one of the lone few leaving the Bay Area entirely next year, this project feels like a multi-faceted goodbye: to the first city I lived alone in, to the state I’ve grown to love, to the campus where monumental growth has occurred and to the people who made all these places feel like home. 

But rather than spend my Monday and first day of post-grad life concocting such an important memento alone, I decided to enlist the help of Quinton and our friends.

Quinton:

As someone with self-proclaimed “good music taste,” I was overjoyed when Madi recruited me to help her with this article. I love the idea of a living time capsule of music, blending the many styles and genres of music, much like the way that Senior Spring is such a whirlwind of emotions. I am listening to our playlist as I write this, and shortly after bopping to “Alive” by Empire Of The Sun, I will be met with “When We Were Young” by Adele which will promptly send me into an emotional spiral. If that isn’t an analogy for senior spring, I don’t know what is. 

This quarter started with such excitement for what is ubiquitously understood as the best quarter at Stanford, and everyone was ready to relish this ideal. But now, at the end of the quarter, I can sense everyone’s panic as the end approaches. Every Partiful’s title now begins with “Last” or “Final,” as we all scramble to squeeze in as much social time as possible, compounded by the reality of “adulthood” staring us in the face. 

Lately, I’ve found myself fixating on the possibility that every ordinary campus moment might be a last. I try to remember the details in the columns in Main Quad, or take a mental image of the Dish trail when the poppies are in bloom. In some way, I have reverted to my Frosh self, reveling in the sights and sounds of campus, the grating noise of construction outside CoDa notwithstanding. I think “In My Life,” by the Beatles, sums up this feeling:

There are places I’ll remember 

All my life, though some have changed 

Some forever, not for better

Some have gone and some remain.

All these places have their moments 

With lovers and friends I still can recall.

As graduation approaches, these lyrics feel like a reminder: what makes a place meaningful is not the place itself, but the people and moments attached to it. That sentiment became the foundation for the playlist that follows.

The Playlist (Madi and Quinton): 

To build this playlist, we sent out a Google form to many of our senior friends asking for songs they were listening to on repeat this quarter, or that they felt were emblematic of the senior spring experience. 35 songs later, we were left with a snapshot of where we all are. Though the songs span genres, decades and moods, they paint an incredibly cohesive picture of senior spring. 

Our personal favorite part of this project was reading through our friends’ justification for their choice. Nick, who submitted “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield, wrote, “The lyrics of this song perfectly encapsulate the many fears and joys that come with graduating. ‘The rest is still unwritten’ serves as a hopeful reminder that there is so much good to come in our lives, while ‘feel the rain on your skin’ reminds us to treasure the present moment and enjoy how special this period is. Also, it’s a banger, and it’s hard not to feel a serotonin boost when blasting this song in the car, windows down, surrounded by friends.” Witnessing the people we cherish most at Stanford put emotions we haven’t even processed into words, making this project extra special. 

The Senior Spring Soundtrack starts with “Alive” by Empire of the Sun, emblematic of the happiness and excitement we felt returning from spring break. We’ve been told for years that senior spring is the only quarter that can rival the joy of freshman fall, and this song captures all of that and more. The rays on our face as we sunbathe at Farillaga and the beat of our favorite song reverberating through our bones at Patio. It’s Amina’s hype anthem, the key to making her truly feel “Alive.” The middle portion of the playlist showcases some pop royalty. From new release sing-alongs like “American Girls” by Harry Styles and “drop dead” by Olivia Rodrigo, to perhaps our most unabashed celebration of youth and friendship with “Long Live” by Taylor Swift, these songs represent the many facets of growing up.

The playlist slowly pivots to slower and more painful aspects of our journey’s end. It culminates with Adele’s “When We Were Young,” a fitting conclusion to a collection shaped by nostalgia and reflection. The song lingers on a question many of us are asking as graduation nears: how do we hold on to a moment we know is ending? As friends scatter across the country and beyond, it serves as a gentle reminder to appreciate the memories we’ve made, even as we prepare to leave them behind.

While it stings to know that these palm-lined paths and sandstone buildings will no longer be our home, we must remind ourselves that that’s the point. The Stanford bubble is meant to be temporary, and we need to allow ourselves the excitement of moving on and not focus solely on the loss of the ability to make more memories here. We get to carry the relationships and memories with us This playlist is a little piece of each of you who submitted songs, and a piece of Stanford we can literally tune into when we need a reminder of the shared memories we are blessed to have made here.