Credit: IDOL RECORDS
Credit: DAVID WAX MUSEUM
For the most part, we’re out of Midterm-land.
Some of us got through unscathed, but some of us didn’t. Battling back anxiety, only to look at your midterm grades and see a big fat “F” staring right back at you can be a shaky experience. Music can’t make that experience any less of a bummer, but it might be able to help you gain a little bit more big-picture perspective on the grade.
At the precise moment you see that you received a hideous 7 percent on your midterm (but don’t worry, it’s only worth 30 percent of your grade), your mind does a funny thing.
In my case, at least, it goes completely and utterly blank, void of any discernible stream of thought.
On the album “Everything Is Saved,” released on Feb. 8, David Wax Museum has crafted a song that channels nothing better than a blank mind in turmoil. “Staggering and All” begins with jaunty violin before being joined by guitar and vocals in Spanish.
Then the song explodes into noise from brass instruments and a cacophony of music.
Then, almost as soon as it has begun, the song dips into string sounds akin to those of a horror movie, accompanied by far-away sounding vocals (again in Spanish).
If you’re listening to the song, you can track the process of a midterm victim’s mind along with the song (from anticipation of receiving the test to the blank noise after seeing the grade and finally into echoing despair).
Of course, after you’ve re-established the ability to think clearly, you realize that you just failed your midterm. This results in unhappiness. Doubt fills your mind, because you don’t see any reason why this same result won’t plague you on the final. Logic flees from the situation, replaced by a crushing lack of confidence in your own ability to turn this ship around.
In what can only be described as an extremely appropriate song title, “Doubt,” by The Boxer Rebellion, enters the equation. Off the band’s album “The Cold Still,” released on Feb. 8, the song channels doubt perfectly.
For most of the song, lonely acoustic guitars accompanied by cello during the chorus and the occasional melody picked on an electric guitar back up echoing, melancholy vocals that culminate in a chorus of “Oh, there’s doubt, oh there’s doubt.” The “oh” is extended in a long, undulating note of mourning, perfect for your present situation.
Eventually, the only thing you can do is make sure that you won’t receive a hideous “F” on your next big exam. Self-pity, though cathartic and semi-enjoyable when you’re in its midst, is not useful or productive. In case you’d like some evidence that I’m not the only one who thinks this, check out “Time for a Change” by The O’s.
Off the album “Between the Two,” which was released on Jan. 18, it’s a great pick-me-up song for someone needing a motivational kick on the behind. This kick comes in the form of banjo (it’s impossible to stay upset when there’s banjo playing), harmonica and earnest lyrics: “Thinking nothing’s gonna change the shape of your life, well baby that’s not right.”
The bottom line is: People fail midterms. Just take a look at the small army of Facebook statuses on the subject. I’m fairly certain the letters “f,” “m” and “l” experience a massive jump in popularity around this time of the quarter.
The only form of pep talk I can offer is that, hey, now you know what your professor typically asks on tests and hopefully you know how to study for the next one. Spoiler alert: Who knows, maybe a good pump-up studying playlist will help you out.
But for now, do yourself a favor: Toss the midterm in a drawer where it’s not staring at you all day, go into Westwood, and drown your feelings of inadequacy in some Diddy Riese. It works every time.
_If music helps you deal with your midterm grades, e-mail Bain at
abain@media.ucla.edu._
“Single-Minded” runs every Friday.