You may think you have the complete playlist for this weekend. You may have an estranged sense of school camaraderie. Forget what you think. These seven songs are perfect for building up that much needed feeling of pride and belonging:
1: “Homecoming” by Kanye West
If nothing else, you must include this in your playlist. It is the perfect song to capture what homecoming is all about – coming home.
2: Kanye West’s “Homecoming”
This is one of the lesser known tracks from West, but it is perhaps one of his best. One of the opening lines is “I’m coming home again,” which makes the song incredibly relatable. You can tell West wrote these lyrics to connect us all together by telling us what it feels like to come home.
3: The fifth single from Kanye West’s 2008 album “Graduation”
Arguably one of the best albums by West has one of his best songs. And that song is “Homecoming.” It is perhaps not as famous as “Flashing Lights,” but it should be. If you listen real close, you can hear that West is singing about his hometown, Chicago. Few realize this, and even fewer realize that Chicago is a place people sometimes leave. West was one of those people, and his carefully written lyrics demonstrate his ability to sing about leaving somewhere and coming back to it.
4: Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Kanye West’s debut collaboration
Ice cream and soy sauce. Chicken wings and oatmeal. The NFL and morals. Complete opposites don’t go well together. Chris Martin and West is one of the rare exceptions. When the lead singer of Coldplay and this generation’s version of Einstein get together, you get the perfect song. And that perfect song is “Homecoming.” This powerful collaboration will get you in the mood for this weekend. You may not know what it’s like to come home, but luckily Martin’s boyishly English voice will having you feeling the rush of going back to a place you’ve marginally acquainted yourself with.
5: Complex Magazine’s 38th Best Song by Kanye West
As a paragon of excellent taste in music, Complex knows what it is talking about when it says that West’s “Homecoming” is one the best. You don’t need any other reason to put this banger of a track amongst the others, because Complex’s review is objective truth. There is no arguing that. If you do not agree than you just don’t understand homecoming. And you probably never will. Maybe you never left but you should. But don’t come back. You may think if you do that you’ll be coming home, but the reality is that this was never your home to begin with. Leave and get a better taste in music.
6: That song by Kanye West about coming home
Something about this song just perfectly fits this weekend’s theme. Maybe it’s the narrative that Pitchfork’s Mark Pytlik said “hits all the right notes.” Maybe it’s the cute little bear on the album cover that kind of looks like a campus squirrel if you squint hard enough. Maybe it’s the vague sentiments about a place you don’t have much experience with. Maybe the letter jacket on the bear reminds you of a football player. Who knows? What’s for certain is that this song is symbolic of something.
7: “Redbone” by Childish Gambino
This song has literally nothing to do with homecoming. I just think it should be in every playlist.
Click on this link to listen to The Collegian’s homecoming playlist.
Collegian reporter Zach Bermejo can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @zach_bermejo.
