Thank you for all of your great suggestions for our Songs to write your thesis to playlist! Here are some of the best "liner notes" to go along with the songs. Enjoy!
| Song submission | Student school, institute or discipline | Why did you choose this song? |
|---|---|---|
| Higher Power - Coldplay | School of Agriculture and Food Science | The lyrics are motivational, while the up-beat tempo and cheerful melody give a good mood to sit down and write. |
| Kesz as egesz - Vig Mihaly | School of Communication and Arts | This song is actually from the movie called “Werckmeister Harmonies”. I like to put it on the background when I'm studying because it can magically sooth my mind and make me feel relieved and more focused on my study although I know nothing about the lyrics loll (it's in Hungarian). |
| Hall of Fame - The Script | QAAFI |
Anyone if they chose can reach great heights and do great things, no matter where they come from
|
| Footprints on the Moon - Gabby Barrett | School of Human Movement & Nutrition Sciences | When I started my HDR lots of people (including myself) thought I couldn't do it. This song is a reminder that you can, hang in there! 'Everybody says that you can't til you do...' |
| Superheroes - The Script | QAAFI | Winners are not people who never fail, but people who never quit. |
| I'm Not Giving Up - Delta Goodrem | School of Human Movement & Nutrition Sciences | For the hard days, remind yourself not to give up! |
| Dust to Dust - Quixotic | School of Psychology | This track, with soothing melodies and awesome guitar riffs, makes writing so much more enjoyable :) |
| Apologise - Drew Walky | IMB | "I'm so sick of being weak so now I'm going to be strong" this just helps me a lot every time I procrastinate or get tired of writing. It's also my supervisor that is singing so even more reasons to get motivated, listening to your supervisor!! :) |
| Sometimes it Snows in April - Ludovico Einaudi | ACWEB |
I enjoy writing my thesis/manuscripts to instrumental music, particularly anything featuring the piano, like Ludovico Einaudi's music. Nowadays, I enjoy listening to instrumental music with a bit more of an upbeat feeling. I would like to contribute an excerpt/quote by Marie Curie, who wrote: "I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy" when describing her research. I hope this can also inspire many others on their research journey too. |
| DNA - BTS | STEM | I was introduced to kpop whilst writing up my thesis and went down a deep rabbit hole. I hope these songs can inspire others to write up their theses! |
| Wake Me Up - Avicii | ACWEB | Apart from calming instrumental music, I enjoy listening to Avicii's music whenever I need motivation and to remind myself to keep going! He's will always be remembered as an absolute legend and innovator with popularising EDM music. I hope his music will bring joy to everyone as it has to me during this period. |
| On - BTS | Education |
Last year when I had a really mentally tough time with the lockdown, I listened to a lot of BTS which motivated me to continue persevering in my PhD writing. On is a song of declaration, acknowledging the struggle of the PhD with its dark alleyways but lights at the end of the tunnel. As Suga from BTS raps, "even if I fall on my knees, I get back up, win no matter what!" |
| I Wanna Get Better - Bleachers | Biology | It is an anthem for any HDR student, always striving to get better, to move forward to push on despite set-backs and life happenings. |
| Cough Syrup - Young the Giant | UQCCR | Got me through my honours thesis; mindset of just stop thinking and keep working. |
| Don't Give Up On Me - Andy Grammer | School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering | I love this song, it's very inspirational! |
| Now We Are Free - Hans Zimmer | Economics | Nothing really, just a good track to feel pumped to start writing |
| "K" - Owane | Geology | I usually prefer to listen to instrumental music when I need to be focused and this song gives me that but at the same time makes me feel like I am somewhere else away from the office. |
| Children - Robert Miles | Education | A great song to get you in the zone....or at least get you (chair) dancing. |
| Coastline - Hollow Coves | School of Chemical Engineering | I have listened to this song every day during the lockdown in 2020 while working. I believe it kept me motivated thinking about when this is over. |
| Ezio's Family - Jesper Kyd | Electrical Engineering | I am a big fan of the Assassin's Creed video game series where this soundtrack originally comes from. Not only that this song is very inspirational as well. |
| Haven't Met You Yet - Michael Buble | Neuroscience | Quite cheerful and inspiring, I think that is what we need the most during thesis composition. |
| It's My House - Diana Ross | SMI | It goes well with a sunny afternoon |
| The Northwest Passage - Stan Rogers | School of Earth and Environmental Sciences | This is a classic Canadian folk song based upon an incident of endless suffering and death in vain pursuit of a historic goal, something every HDR can probably relate to at some point! |
| I'm Yours - Jason Mraz | QBI | Well, this one is really good for thesis writing. |
| Rocket Man - Elton John | QAAFI |
When Sir Elton John just gets you: "And all this science I don't understand |
| Super Human - Andrew Bayer | School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences | This song quite literally makes me feel Superhuman while listening to it while writing my thesis! |
| Dynamite - BTS | Faculty of Medicine | This song was written specifically to cheer up everyone around the world in lockdown and affected by COVID-19. It has a great, cheerful vibe and tone, and gives hope to the listener :) It has inspired me a lot and helped me through those days when I felt sad doing full time online study. |
| Fight on Fighter - For King and Country | School of Education | Every experience is a moving force (J. Dewey) Fighting all odds to finish this PhD race well ! |
| Hard to Concentrate - Red Hot Chilli Peppers | School of Earth and Environmental Studies | Looking for an album to chuck on in the background that won't surprise you out of your rhythm with sudden loud noises or articulate lyrics? Tame Impala - InnerSpeaker is 53min 21sec of pure study music. |
| I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor | School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering | I will survive! because the PhD journey is a lot about survival - mostly surviving everything going on in your own head! :P |
| Symphony No. 9 - Ludwig von Beethoven | Law | This classical piece, also called 'Ode to Joy' gives a sense of joy, as indicated by the title. |
| Swan Lake - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Law | This epic piece gives off relaxing swan vibes, and helps people to relax. |