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Born To Die by Lana Del Rey was my song of choice for this parody about junior year. Lana Del Rey's music has carried me through countless late nights studying and early mornings struggling to get out of bed, especially during junior year. I felt it only proper to use her song for my parody, because sometimes when you are overloaded with schoolwork and incredibly stressed you feel like you were born to study, work, then die. However, incorporating lightheartedness and being able to view a tough situation as humorous can always be helpful, so I hope this song resonates with juniors who are also feeling the burn out of all the classes and academic pressures.
After choosing this song for my parody, I began on my lyrics. I had to brainstorm lyrics that matched the tempo of the song, so it took a bit. Following this I took my backing track and lyrics into the recording booth and recorded my final vocals in two tries to be sure that it was still humorous, with the imperfections adding to the message. After gathering my vocals, I edited them in Adobe Audition and added some effects like a DeEsser and Reverb to make it a little easier on the ears. Once I had my final product, I exported it! My favorite part of this process was definitely the recording and singing, as I felt very professional in the recording booth, despite not sounding too professional. I appreciated getting a little peek into the world of musical artists.
During high school, schoolwork and the pressure put on you by parents or peers to overachieve can be a cloud over your head, preventing you from truly enjoying these wonderful years. Especially during junior year, when you have AP's, the SAT, college, and much more to think about, it's so easy to get incredibly burnt out and unmotivated. I hope that my song can bring some humor into the situation and help people realize that we are all going through it together. My overarching message is that in a few years when we are in college we will all look back at ourselves now and laugh about all the wild things we had to do to get there. This time may be stressful, but there is still light and hope and whimsy in the world, if you're able to tap into it and create it.