Back To School: 17 Songs You’ll Be Using For Yearbook Quotes This School Year

Carl Williott | August 29, 2013 5:30 am

Students across the country are heading back to school over the next week or so, and with the return to that academic prison comes picture day! Picture day is especially important for high schoolers, because high schoolers are incredibly superficial and judgy and awkward, but also because they will have to submit a totally funny yet thought-provoking (but not too thought-provoking lest they appear nerdy) quote to accompany their photo in the yearbook. A quote that really, truly encapsulates Who You Are. That’s a lot of pressure for one measly quote!

But we’re here to help. We spent years spouting off choice song quotes via AIM away messages (look it up, youngsters), so we’re sort of experts at this. And believe us, you can’t go wrong cribbing from a song. People love songs! Plus, pop lyrics tend to be either fun-loving or inspirational, which is perfect for a yearbook, because let’s be honest, we know the only things you crazy kids care about are going H.A.M. and pretending to be deep.

Thus, we’ve compiled a handy list of quotable lyrics from 17 pop songs from this year to help you choose your yearbook quote — stuff we just KNOW will be timeless and not at all stale by the time you actually get the 2013-14 yearbook next May.

2013’S BEST POP YEARBOOK QUOTES:

1. Miley Cyrus — “We Can’t Stop” “We run things, things don’t run we, we don’t take nothing from nobody.” Grammar is for textbooks, not yearbooks.

2. Daft Punk ft. Pharrell — “Get Lucky” “We’ve come too far to give up who we are, so let’s raise the bar and our cups to the stars.”

3. Katy Perry — “Roar” “I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar.”

4. The Wanted — “We Own The Night” This one’s got options: “We are only young if we seize the night, tonight we own the night”; “Written on my tombstone, I want it to say: This man was a legend, a legend of his time, when he was at a party, the party never died.” For all the meatheads.

5. Drake — “Started From The Bottom” “Started from the bottom now we’re here.” A good one for seniors who got shoved into lockers a mere four years prior.

6. Lorde — “Royals” “We don’t care, we’re driving Cadillacs in our dreams”; “We’ll never be royals, it don’t run in our blood.”

7. Snoop Lion ft. Drake & Cori B — “No Guns Allowed” “Money makes a man and that’s a crime.” For the kids who are entering the Peace Corps after graduation.

8. Sara Bareilles — “Brave” “Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out.” For the snobby students who have too much self-respect to admit to liking Katy Perry.

9. Goodie Mob ft. Janelle Monae — “Special Education” “It’s kind of sad and it’s a shame, everyone wants to be the same.”

10. Robin Thicke — “The Good Life” “No crown, I am no king, and the kids they don’t all know my name.” For the shy ones.

11. J. Cole ft. TLC — “Crooked Smile” “We ain’t picture perfect but we worth the picture still.” So meta.

12. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Mary Lambert — “Same Love” “Live on, and be yourself.”

13. Janelle Monae ft. Erykah Badu — “Q.U.E.E.N.” “This life is just a play with no rehearsal.” For the theater geeks.

14. Justin Timberlake — “Take Back The Night” “Nobody cares who we are tomorrow.” Teens may not know this, but nobody cares who you are on most days.

15. Avril Lavigne — “Here’s To Never Growing Up” “They say just grow up but they don’t know us.”

(These next two are super quotable but would never get Yearbook Committee approval, so you’ll have to save them for when you’re signing yearbooks at the end of the school year.)

16. Kanye West — “New Slaves” “There’s leaders, and there’s followers, but I’d rather be a dick than a swallower.”

17. 2 Chainz ft. Fergie — “Netflix” “Let’s make a sex tape and put it on Netflix.” Netflix doesn’t even have that capability, silly!

Which songs will you be quoting this year? Let us know below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter!