I have to be honest up front: I stole it all from her. During finals week last spring, I grew frustrated with the short selection of songs in my primary Spotify playlist. So what did I do? I took several songs from Newsletter Editor Ava Sjursen’s famed playlist, “2024.” Now, I must pay the price for my actions in reviewing her iEdit.
Sjursen connects with her Nashville, Tenn., roots in her opening song, “Wide Open Spaces” by The Chicks. The song brings to mind Sjursen’s undeniable southern drawl, but also her indomitable adventurous spirit.
The lyrics draw an indisputable resemblance to Sjursen’s decision to leave the South to attend college in Boston.
“She needs, wide open spaces / Room to make her big mistakes / She needs, new faces / She knows the high stakes,” The Chicks sing.
In “I Hate Boston” by Reneé Rapp, Sjursen illustrates her mysterious, sad-girl aura. Sjursen can’t help but add a mind-bendingly depressing song to her iEdit, a difficult listen for me. Regardless of the reason Sjursen listens to the song, it cloaks the playlist with a depressing vibe, one that will recur throughout her iEdit.
In “Honey” by Red Hearse, Sjursen seems to step into her lover-girl era. In Sjursen’s own words, “It’s just the coolest-sounding song ever.” One can’t help but picture Sjursen bobbing her head to the vivacious beat.
Sjursen gets back to her overarching theme of despair with “If Now Was Then” by Maggie Rogers. A few weeks back, Sjursen ditched me to attend Rogers’ concert at TD Garden with a different, unnamed editor on The Heights.
While I vehemently expressed my interest in attending the concert, Sjursen appeared utterly uninterested in attending such a concert with me. For the above reasons, I rate the song a five out of 10, largely because of the emotional distress that Rogers now gives me.
In her playlist’s fifth song, Sjursen returns to her country roots with Tyler Childers’ live rendition of “Deadman’s Curve.” If I didn’t know Sjursen better than I do, the song paints a picture of a young Sjursen donning a cowboy hat and a distressed pair of boots to attend her local rodeo.
The concept is ironic, especially because Sjursen grew up in the suburbs, a far cry from the song’s conception of the South. Is Sjursen a country poser? This song makes me think so.
Sjursen crosses into a new genre with Ms. Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor,” returning to her adoration of breakup songs. Regardless, the song also presents a new phenomenon on Sjursen’s playlist: songs derived from TikTok sound bites.
Little known fact: Sjursen falls asleep every night watching TikToks in bed with the lights on. It’s not uncommon for her to be fast asleep with videos still blaring from her phone speaker. “Ex-Factor” serves as a small reminder of Sjursen’s TikTok addiction amid the greater zig-zag between heartbreak and love songs.
With “Only the Good Die Young” by Billy Joel, Sjursen moves into the territory of dad rock. I can only picture a young Sjursen learning the song while riding shotgun in her father’s midnight-black Lexus. The song serves as a heartwarming reminder of Sjursen’s tight-knit relationship with her father.
“Holy Ground (Taylor’s Version)” by the one and only Taylor Swift comes in at number eight on Sjursen’s iEdit. While Sjursen claimed that “This is my favorite running song,” her assertion must be examined more deeply.
This summer, Sjursen expressed strong interest in running the Red Bandanna 5K at Boston College. When race day came, however, she slept through it because she “had a late night.”
The upbeat ditty reminisces on a happy relationship of the past, but it also appears to provide insight into Sjursen’s inability to stay disciplined in her quest to become a runner girl.
“But I don’t wanna dance / If I’m not dancing with you,” Swift sings.
Is this song a cry for help, a cry for a running partner? Is Ava so incapable of running consistently that she’s blaming her lackluster persistence on her failure to attain an adequate running partner? Such a notion would not just be distressing but a problematic glance into Sjursen’s character.
Is she really that undisciplined?
Sjursen places “Nashville, TN” by Chris Stapleton as the penultimate song on her iEdit. Similar to “Wide Open Spaces,” the song resembles Sjursen’s departure from Nashville to pursue bigger and better opportunities at BC.
Stapleton’s slow southern drawl is oddly reminiscent of Sjursen’s skills as a hockey goalie. While it’s quite impressive that Sjursen was a key member of the first all-girls hockey team in Tennessee, her save percentage was not impressive in any capacity.
Ava and I have a habit of sparring by punching each other’s hands to relieve stress or anger in our lives. I more than anyone can confirm that just as Sjursen’s 5-foot stature wasn’t suitable for her to excel in the goalie position, neither was her slow-as-molasses hand speed. The song offers an interesting glimpse into Sjursen’s hockey skills.
Sjursen rounds out her playlist with “Dreams” by The Cranberries, the best song on her iEdit by all standards. It also, however, represents another switch back to a love song.
Sjursen appears to be hell-bent on switching back and forth between love and breakup songs, confusing any listener as to how she might be doing socially and emotionally. Are you okay, Ava?
