This week’s Friday Favorites theme is “Keep Calm and Jam On.” We hope these songs will get you through midterms and the cold weather as we wait for spring. Enjoy!

Truckin’ – The Grateful Dead

Phebe Myers

While the Grateful Dead could definitely not be called pump-up music, listening to some classic tunes is sure to improve any mood. This song in particular is all about “truckin'” through all of the obstacles that get in your way, and how sometimes things suck but we just have to push through it. Also, for any “That 70’s Show” fanatics (like myself), in the yearbook quote episode, they all want to quote this song – “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” Just keep truckin’ and everything will be alright.

Crossroads- Don McLean

Nancy Payne

Yes, the guy who sang “American Pie” wrote more than one song. And not only is “Crossroads” one of the most motivational pick-me-ups I’ve ever heard, it reaffirms my belief that my marriage with Don McLean would be a very successful one. So what if he’s 67? He makes unbelievable music and that’s good enough for me.

Nina Simone – Feeling Good

Bennet Goldstein

After Carly Rose Sonenclar sang Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” to a skeptical Simon Cowell on last year’s X Factor, a copy of the tune sits on my computer desktop. I start difficult days by listening to the 13-year-old defy Cowell’s criticism the song was a bad choice for a girl of her age. Sonenclar defies all critique when she belts, “Freedom is mine! / And I know how I feel.” Maybe one day, I too will have former X Factor judge Britney Spears tell me, “Wow, Ms. Thang! You are a little diva!”

Flesh and Bone – The Killers

Spencer Semonson

Throughout this semester this song has pumped me up, kept the demons away and led me around campus to the detached beat and the inspiring lyrics. Seriously, this beat-bouncing song not only keeps me calm, but gives me hope for the next great adventure.

The Climb- Miley Cyrus

Colin Kellogg

I am by no means a big Miley Cyrus fan, but this song got me through IB tests my senior year of high school, and I have to give Ms. Cyrus props for such an inspiring track. This song reminds me that just because you’ve lost a battle, doesn’t mean you’ve lost the war.