Arts Playlist: 5 Angsty Songs to Accompany You on the Journey of a Drastic Hair Change

This playlist is not particularly suitable for a tasteful balayage completed at the hands of a seasoned hairdresser or a routine split-end trim. It’s for the drastic hair changes, which definitely require some bravery, along with a healthy dose of not giving a damn, to undertake. When you realize that hair isn’t static — it grows back and it grows out — there’s an incredibly liberating feeling that makes it easier to conjure this bravery. This is not to say that drastic hair changes aren’t still peppered with uncertainty. These songs will help accompany the rollercoaster ride of even the brightest pink streaks, the hair-drying bleach, and the scissors that reverse months of hair growth within seconds.

Listen to the playlist here.

“Devils Haircut” by Beck

In the preliminary stages of getting a drastic hair change, inspiration is often drawn from other sources. Maybe it’s boredom or frustration with your own hair. Maybe it’s the sleek box dye ad you saw on the front flap of a magazine at the doctor’s office. “Got a devil’s haircut / In my mind” summarizes the hopeful prospect of rocking a neat new style, which may not be one that you’d show up to an interview with, but one that makes you happy and brimming with anticipation to change up your hair.

“Cut Your Hair” by Pavement

A dopey-sounding tune from a one-hit wonder band (as many ‘90s grunge embodyers were), this song transcends its mandatory “woo hoo hoos” and delves into the problem of changing ourselves in hopes of seeking validation from others. “Darling don't you go and cut your hair / Do you think it's gonna make him change?” points to how our decisions shouldn’t be reflections of how we want others to perceive and accept us. It urges those who are meaning to change their hair to do it out of their own volition, instead of attempting to impress others and adjust their perceptions. At the end of the day, it’s your own hair that you’re changing, and so it should be a decision that you’re comfortable with, a sentiment that this song conveys with a light-hearted, laid-back feel.

“Blood in the Cut” by K.Flay

K.Flay brings us a minimalist yet acerbic tune, one of a more modern generation than the other songs in this playlist. It captures the heat of the moment of following through with your new style. This would be an excellent accompaniment to a frenzied buzzcut in a gas station restroom or in the quiet of your dorm on a rainy Saturday night. “Say something / Do it soon / It’s too quiet in this room” expresses the urgency of wanting to cut it all off right now otherwise-you-are-going-to-implode.

“Where is My Mind?” by the Pixies

Popularized by the film “Fight Club,” the Pixies explore the out-of-body sensation, when you can’t shake the feeling that some part of you is amiss. This is analogous to how it may feel after changing your hair — you see someone quite different in the mirror, and it perhaps is jarring at first to process. Even though you might draw inspiration from other sources, it may be strange to see your Sunday school brown transformed into a Björk blue — the sense of ownership of a constant, personal characteristic seems to have departed. But as we grow, it’s okay to redefine what makes us us. “Where is my mind? / way out in the water / see it swimming” captures finding comfort even when a central part of yourself — your old hair — departs. It describes the sense of disorientation after a drastic departure of a norm, and subsequently finding solace even in the face of this departure.

“Change (In the House of Flies)” by Deftones

This is a viscerally haunting song that really seems capture the listener. The instrumentals really bring an eerie, unsettling atmosphere that reflect the uncomfortable theme of metamorphosis. Lyrics like “I watched a change in you / It’s like you never had wings” regard change as a negative thing — a reaction you might face as well, as not everyone will appreciate your new side shave as much as you do. However you choose to change your hair, disapproving comments may be inevitable, so hearing it from Deftones might prep you to face this criticism. It’s the ultimate preparation for you to answer, “Because I wanted to,” when asked, “Why did you change your hair?”