For as long as I can remember, I have been weird about music. When I was a kid, my parents used to threaten to take away my music privileges instead of dessert; I have a very vivid memory of my mom sneaking up on me at 2 a.m. and grabbing my phone while I was procrastinating sleeping in favor of listening to Wicked. Music offers me a form of comfort that I can’t really describe. There are times when I’m sitting in a doctor’s office losing my mind, and the only thing that can calm me down is ‘The Middle’ by Jimmy Eat World. 

That song holds a very special place in my heart. It was our Friday song in 2019, which means that current seniors are the only students who remember the feeling of listening to it every week after Block 2. I was so attached to that song, and I still am. It’s about perseverance, and it really does sound like a scene from a stereotypical 2000s high school movie. Back when I used to bring my headphones to school— and I’ll admit that this is ridiculous— I would queue up The Middle on my headphones so that I could listen to it at the same time that everyone else was without taking my headphones off (the increased sound quality was also a plus). 

Like most people, I had a really hard time with quarantine. I wouldn’t exactly say I was depressed, but the complete lack of social interaction gave me an excuse to start growing out of my floor like a tree and never move. I listened to music pretty much 24/7 back then. When we went back to school in 2021, I brought my headphones with me, hoping that they would soften the transition. But blocking out the world couldn’t solve the main problem with my junior year plans; I was really hoping that junior year would just be Freshman Year: Part 2. 

My first hint that that wasn’t going to happen was the ever-looming presence of ‘I Like to Move It Move It,’ the hit song from the cult classic film, Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa. I hated that song in August of 2021. Why was Sacha Baron Cohen on the morning announcements, and why was Jimmy Eat World missing on Fridays? At the beginning of that year I would listen to The Middle in the morning out of spite, specifically to block out that stupid dancing lemur. 

At some point in 2021, I started leaving my headphones at home for a variety of reasons. I wanted to look more approachable. I was tired of messing up my hair (though that is, consistently, a losing battle.) And my daily noise levels according to my health app had me going deaf at around 25. This meant that I had no choice but to subject myself to ‘I Like to Move It Move It’ every morning. And it was annoying. Horrendously so. And then, one day, it wasn’t. 

I don’t know when I started loving ETHS so much that I started to have warm, fuzzy feelings about ‘I Like to Move It Move It,’ but I do know that, these days, I sometimes listen to it willingly, just for nostalgia. In fact, King Julien taught me some valuable lessons. First of all, happiness comes from the most unexpected places. Second, the only way to survive change is to welcome it with open arms. And third, I should probably get around to watching Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa eventually. 

That being said, the 2021-2022 Friday song was an atrocity, and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive the class of ‘21 for leaving us with it.