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Music Monday: Tunes To Get You Through Finals Week

We’ve all been dreading this for months, but it’s finally here. Finals week is the most stressful time of the year for college students. A week of all-nighters and last minute cram sessions isn’t how most people want to spend their last week at college. But don’t worry! Onward State has you covered with some music to pull you off the struggle bus and get you back on track. Here’s ten songs for the finals week marathon.

Taio Cruz — Hangover


After a weekend of partying to celebrate the last few days of school, no one wants to wake up and realize that they have to buckle down accept the responsibilities of real life. This song brings out how we all felt on Sunday morning. Something along the lines of, “Hey, I just woke up. I’m hungover. Don’t make me do anything!”

The Killers — All These Things That I’ve Done


I don’t know what this song is really about, but it seems to fit perfectly with a finals week study marathon. The lyrics in the chorus seem like my review notes are speaking directly to me:

Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don’t you put me on the back burner
You know you got to help me out
You’re gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you’re gonna bring yourself down…

Kids These Days — Summerscent

With a unique sound drawing from hip-hop, funk, blues, and soul, Kids These Days made an impression on Penn State after playing an awesome set at Movin’ On over the weekend. This song couldn’t be more perfect for this week, as we all look forward to summer break.

Oh that summer scent is calling me
It drags me out my front door
Cause everybody’s waiting
How could I feel bad anymore?

Lady Gaga — Born This Way

Lady Gaga is always a crowd favorite. Although Penn State fans missed out on Gaga’s performance at the BJC after the show was unexpectedly cancelled, that doesn’t mean we can’t all jam out to some pop music goodness! And really, I don’t think it’s physically possible to be in a bad mood and listen to “Born This Way” at the same time.

Smash Mouth — All Star

This song isn’t really related to finals, but it is guaranteed to bring you out of that depression of an all night study session. Anyone who hears this song is instantly put in a good mood. Can’t we all just go back to 1999, when life was so much simpler?

El Ten Eleven — My Only Swerving

Though this song lacks a vocal track, this instrumental jam is perfect for some background music while you bust out your final paper or have a long study session ahead of you. If you need a serious studying playlist (one that doesn’t involve singing your lungs out to Lady Gaga), I would highly recommend El Ten Eleven’s self-titled album.

Passion Pit — Take A Walk

This isn’t so much of a study song, but more of a pump up song. You’ve been working hard with your head buried in class notes and textbooks for hours. You’re gonna drive yourself crazy! This song reminds us that we all need a little break sometimes. So go ahead, take a walk.

Coconut Records — West Coast

Okay, so maybe we don’t all live on the West Coast. But still, this song is relevant to our last few days at Penn State. Yeah, we’re all going to miss college, but at some point we have to pack up and go home, at least for a few months. So enjoy the time you have here, but don’t forget, we all have to get back to real life at some point.

Daft Punk — One More Time

This one goes out to all the graduating seniors. You’ve got just a few days left at Penn State, so live it up!

One more time, we’re gonna celebrate
Oh yeah, all right, don’t stop the dancing

Sublime — Doin’ Time

Yeah, this is the stereotypical summer song. But really, how could we not include this in the playlist? This is the first thing that pops into my head when I’m done with my last final and ready to start my summer break.

Summertime, and the livin’s easy…

If you have any more suggestions for our finals week playlist, let us know on Twitter.

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About the Author

Zack Rutstein

Penn State 5th-year Materials Science and Engineering student, Onward State Arts Editor, Musician

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