“This song has been and will forever be my favorite song for as long as I live.”

I first heard “Photo ID” by Remi Wolf at the start of 2021. I was doing online school like most people during that time, and I was working on my history homework. I had put on one of my favorite Spotify playlists called “Lorem” (you should check this playlist out, it’s amazing) to find some new music. Now you must understand that I am an Apple Music (sorry!) user before I get into the rest of my column. It’s not my fault that I use Apple Music, I’m on my family’s plan so fight me. And yes, I do subject myself to Spotify ads in the name of finding new music and I’m okay with that.

Anyway, I was doing my homework and listening to music when suddenly, as the music changes, I am hit with a snapping beat supported by a funky guitar chord. Then Remi’s vocals come in at a high, special effects voice. She is harmonized by multiple other voices of varying pitches but with the same special effects over them. The song then evolves into an explosion of sound with drums, keyboard notes, and underlying record scratch sounds, still keeping the same snapping sound and guitar chords. The tempo stays pretty steady but a few instruments drop off at points and are replaced by others.

Now my description of “Photo ID” does it no justice and to make me not sound crazy you should definitely check out this song… as long as it’s after you finish my column. I guess the best way to categorize such an eclectic song is like if you mixed indie and hyper-pop, to make hyper-indie? To put it another way, I have a very questionable taste in music, let’s just say and this is the song I would use to summarize said taste. Now if you are one of the people who have been subjected to my playlists, me saying “Photo ID” sums up my music taste is a threat and I think you’d also agree with me. It’s hard to put this song into one category because I believe it exists in its own and it brings so many elements from so many different genres that you could give it multiple classifications.

Anyway, so yeah as soon as I heard this song, now this is going to sound cheesy, but I immediately got on my feet. I abandoned whatever homework I was doing and just started dancing. Anyone downstairs probably thought I was jumping up and down for kicks, but I honestly didn’t care. I had just heard the song that pretty much paved the way for my music taste. As soon as the song finished I immediately added it to my Apple playlist so I could be surprised by it once again, but on my own playlists this time.

Today, “Photo ID” still exists on my playlist “luwu”, which is the main playlist I use today. I don’t listen to it as much as I used to but when it comes on my shuffle, I’ll occasionally play it through. It doesn’t bring the same feeling as it once did when I first played it, but this song still holds an important place in my heart. Remi Wolf is also one of my favorite artists because of this song now. I’m going home to see her concert this weekend with my best friend and when this song comes on, when I tell you I’ll go feral I mean it. I have been dreaming of hearing “Photo ID” live for years now and now that it’s only a few days away from me it is almost impossible to comprehend. I owe a lot to “Photo ID” and Remi Wolf and I will never remove that song from my playlist for as long as I live because it’s like my grounding song, the song I go back to when I just don’t know what to listen to.