When Carly Rae Jepsen’s Kiss dropped earlier this month, it was unclear how well the Canadian pop starlet would do after her viral hit “Call Me Maybe.” However, after hearing the 80s-inspired album, it is apparent that the 26-year-old is a music genius, well-versed in the tribulations of love. Not only does she captivate audiences with catchy lyrics and danceable melodies, but her songs capture the essence of every kind of feeling the heart could have imagined possible by Northwestern students.
“Tiny Little Bows” — for when you’re hardcore crushing on someone and can’t stop thinking about them
You first spot your new crush in your Russian Lit discussion. They sit two seats over from you, and you can’t stop checking them out. After finding out they’re an Econ major from somewhere in the Midwest and making some Anna Karenina joke they chuckle at, the crush seed is planted. Now you come every week dressed as well as you can while still being casual on a Thursday morning, excited for any kind of interaction. Whether it’s holding the door open for them as you “bump” into them in the hallway or making the same face to each other when the TA says something indecipherable, it’s only watering the giant weed of a crush growing in your heart. All you can daydream about is holding hands with them while walking to Andy’s for some custard or dancing to Rihanna’s "We Found Love" on some magical dance floor where only you two exist. You’re crushing and just can’t stop.
And everywhere you are, is a place I want to go / Dancing really high, dancing really slow / How do you think it goes, with those tiny little bows / You’re the one I want
“Turn Me Up” — for when you and your hookup buddy from winter quarter decide to break up, but you can’t get rid of that emotional attachment
Lots of people go through it: It was Winter Quarter and nobody really wanted to put on their North Face to go out, so people began pairing off. Now it’s spring, and the ice has begun to melt. Flowers have started sprouting, and the sidewalks are now safe again to use in the trek for booze. You’re ready to meet new people again and partake in some tomfoolery with other members of the student body. So the time has come for you and your hookup/cuddle/study buddy from Winter Quarter to call it quits. Although it was supposed to be something strictly physical, temporary and to give you something (or someone) to do, you can’t shake those lingering feelings. The late nights where you’d stay up to write papers together. When you’d go out to dinner even if the check was split. The texts when you were bored at work. You want to be something, but you don’t at the same time. Whatever your feelings are, they’re nothing to be ashamed of. In an attempt to move on, you go out with your group of friends to see if you can find someone new to focus on, even if it’s just for the night.
I’m breaking up with you / You’re breaking up on me / You kissed me on the phone / And I don’t think it reaches
“This Kiss” — for when your hookup from last night doesn’t feel the same about you
You’re out on a Saturday night, only to gaze upon your next target of sexual frustration. They have that one weird thing you look for in a hookup, whether it’s resembling a marsupial or the ability to shotgun a beer in 3.6 seconds. Whatever it is, you make eye contact from across the dance floor and instantly bodies are grinding to some crappy dubstep remix. Finally one of you goes in for the DFMO (Dance Floor Make Out), and next thing you know you’re waking up in their bed to the taste of jungle juice and unbrushed teeth. After exchanging numbers and getting home, you can’t stop thinking about them, the way they looked like a wombat or didn’t spill a drop of their beer. Crap, you’re attached. You just can’t explain why, and you totally know they’re not into you the same way.
This kiss is something I can’t resist / Your lips are undeniable / This kiss is something I can’t risk / Your heart is unreliable
“More Than A Memory” — for when you run into your ex and can’t figure out what to do with your flurry of emotions
It’s been two months since you last talked. While picking up a new toothbrush at CVS, you run into them. Images begin flashing through your mind. The first dinner that counted as a date at Dave’s Italian Kitchen. When the two of you laid in bed all night arguing about whose death was the saddest in the whole Harry Potter series. The first kiss shared when you were sprawled out on the Lakefill rocks during a chilly fall night. As you force a smile and make small talk about how classes are going, all you’re wishing for in your head is that things could be normal again. That there could still be talks had, laughs shared. It’s uncertain if you necessarily want to be with them again, but it’s clear that you want there to at least be something. It’s your turn in the checkout line, and you decide against opening your arms for a hug. As you leave through the revolving doors, you catch in the corner of your eye them looking back at you.
Say my name / Cause no one else can say it quite the same / It takes me back to your September days / I’ve missed you way too much