A few months prior to studying abroad during the spring semester of the 2024-2025 school year, I found myself frequently listening to the magnificent Beabadoobee.
Part of the preparation for study abroad included taking an online class meant to help better prepare students for the potential culture shock of living and studying in a new country. One week, the class recommended we listen to music by artists from our study abroad destination.
I was headed across the pond to Winchester, England, so I did some research on British music artists. I was delighted to see Beatrice Laus, the beloved Filipino-British singer-songwriter, highlighted on one of the websites I explored.
Prior to this discovery, I had long been a casual listener of Laus’ 2022 album “Beatopia.” And Laus’ “Glue Song” featuring Clairo, released in April 2023, had made its way onto nearly every one of my monthly playlists since its debut.
But my study abroad class urged me to explore more of her discography in attempts to get a better feel of England’s indie music scene. I eventually stumbled upon “Last Day on Earth,” a single from 2021 that oozes euphoria, wonder and possibility.
According to a Rolling Stone interview, “Last Day on Earth” is about all the things Laus would have done if she knew the world was going into a lockdown following the 2020 pandemic.
“It was written shortly after the first main lockdown and lyrically it’s me reflecting on how it would feel if we all knew ahead of time what was going to happen,” Laus said. “All the things I would have done if I knew it was the last day of our old normality.”
In this interview, Laus also said she feels the song has a “feeling of togetherness to it,” and represents, “how we’re all in this joined as one.”
So, there was no better tune to grace my ears on my last night in England, surrounded by my darling friends, on a prolonged tube ride. Luckily for me, instead of reflecting on all the things I would have done, I was able to spend a moment cherishing all the memories I had created over the semester.
After a cozy pub dinner and a celebratory sweet treat, my three pals and I boarded the tube for an hour-long ride back to our hotel. The next morning, we would fly back to the United States.
But we were determined to stretch our last night as far as possible — not quite ready to leave the country we had lovingly made a home in for the past five months.
Gleeful tears slipped from the corners of our eyes as we retold silly stories and reminisced about new people we’d met and things we’d learned.
As the end of our ride approached, we confronted the mixed emotions of leaving what had become our home to return to the states. “Last Day on Earth” played quietly from my now-abandoned headphones amidst our sappy, bittersweet recollections.
Co-written with Matty Healy from The 1975, the song’s lyrics are at times questionable, but this lack of seriousness helps “Last Day on Earth” lean into carefree joy. It was the perfect soundtrack for reflecting on pleasant memories during my last tube ride and is now interwoven with this special experience forever.
If you find yourself inclined to check out “Last Day on Earth” or more of Beabadoobee’s discography after reading this, check out her Spotify.
O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
