The birds may sound like they're chirping along to Pharell Williams' "Happy," but if any prospective students really want the quintessential Wildcat tunes, these music essentials are sure to perfectly accompany any long campus tour. Now, Northwestern’s voice can literally be the soundtrack of your summer.
Chet Haze’s “White and Purple (Northwestern Remix)”
Although the song is an obvious rip off of Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow,” frat boy-theater major Chet Haze, better known as Tom Hanks’ son, is the recent stuffs of Northwestern star power. While an average prospie may be oblivious to the 2013 graduate’s preeminent distinction (or surpassing douchebagginess), the aspiring musical singer-songwriter has drastically changed Northwestern as we know it.
Kind of. In oh-so-original “White and Purple,” Chet pays tribute to the Keg, gives a campus panorama “from North campus to South campus, Bobb to Allison,” and gets down to the accurate specifics of our affinity for books and blunts. Mull on the lyrics, and remember the two names “the Keg” and “Norris crepes” for Northwestern posterity (and upperclassmen friends). May they live forever in our hearts.
Nonetheless, Chet Haze's half-brilliant song captures Northwestern’s work hard play hard attitude, our way of personalizing mainstream culture the #Nerdwestern way and legitimately loving mediocre rap. But we’ll cut him some slack; being Tom Hanks' son is hard, and whether he's endearingly loved, hated or pitied, we all follow him on Twitter.
High School Musical’s “We’re All In This Together”
You’re lying if you say this high school classic never touched you. Or that there wasn’t a tinge of pride, when you became a Wildcat and this song became your anthem. The best moment in the lifetime of a Class of 201x Facebook page is the glorious one in which an insightful freshman posts a “Wildcats everywhere, wave your hands up in the air” snippet. Undoubtedly, it incites a round of lyric tossing, and the “omgggg we’re wildcats!!” light bulbs go off—ding ding ding (“We’re not redwoods! Or God forbid, buckeyes!”). And even though the movie came out in 2006, the freshman still thinks he’s clever, and the upperclassmen lurking on the freshman page still fluff their feathers, all “been there done that.”
After facing waves of people that don’t know Northwestern (“Oh, Boston is lovely!”) back in your West Coast suburb or three-stoplight town, there is something special about being “all in this together,” realizing “everyone is special in their own way” and “together is where we belong.”
Northwestern’s serious purple pride, remnants of high school dorkiness and grooving dance moves all culminate in this epic finale. Yes Zac Efron, we are all stars, we’re all in this together and we see that!
John Legend’s “All of Me”
The nine-time Grammy award winner and 2009 A&O fall show headliner has soul, prestige and complexity written all over his lyrics, exactly the complicated love we often have with our beautiful school. What would I do without your smart mouth, NU? Drawing me in with fine academics, kicking me out with a 2.5? Legend, whose CDs are still displayed in the Whole Foods check out line, is genuine about his imperfect love. Even despite the campus propositions that are still vying for change, from mental health awareness to race equality to a CEASAR that actually works—all of me still loves all of Northwestern, all its curves and all its edges, all its perfect imperfections.
Legend’s “All of Me” is a perfect example of Northwestern’s wide range of ratchet house music to high-quality acoustic croons. We always appreciate a little classy action, some honest-to-goodness original a capella and some soulful reflection.
Other Northwestern songs include elements of sass (excuse me, no admit packet told you that?), quasi-techno songs (since we're...almost cool enough) and other melancholy songs about Chicago, like Mat Kearney's version (because winter quarter does get melancholy from schoolwork, and we're in love with everything about Chicago). So whether or not you're in Bienen, sound off on these starter beats and get ready to add dozens of tracks from your own Wildcat experience these next four years. GO 'CATS!