by Molly Lloyd

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Music is one of those things that has an influence on all aspects of our lives. You can hear a song that you haven’t heard since middle school and inexplicably still know all of the lyrics. Movies manage to elicit emotional reactions from audience members purely through the well-crafted connection between what’s happening on screen and the soundtrack or score in the background. There is a visceral connection between music and our bodies: it makes us feel things. And sometimes, it makes us feel sexual things.

You know it, I know it, we all know it.

One of the most magical things is finding just the right song to get you going–just the right song to get you in the mood. A friend of mine calls these kinds of songs “mattress music,” and I’m here to find your mattress music. I asked people around campus (and a couple of friends from home) over the past few days what their favorite songs to get down to are and why.

Below are the responses that I received. Consider these the next time you want to spice things up with some sick beats and sexual lyrics.

“Partition” by Beyoncé: “Because have you fucking seen that music video? It gets pretty much anyone ~going~ and a reminder that even the Queen gets down ‘n’ dirty as much as me.” – Madi Taylor ’19

“The Weekend” by SZA: “Because it is smooth with a good beat and has some bold lines like ‘You like nine to five I’m the Weekend.’” – Maya DeGasperi ’20

“Sway” by Marian Hill: “It’s an awesome-sauce album all the way through. It’s funky, it has a good unifying theme while it’s got some soft female vocals about, ya know, stuff. And lots of instruments. All around an excellent artist.” – Rose Tarquini ’18 (not a Macalester student)

“The Morning” by The Weeknd: “It’s sentimental because I swiped the ‘V card’ with it, but also it’s just soothing enough that you want to cuddle up and get cozy but just fast enough that you still want to mess around. Best of both worlds.” – Taylor Durbin ’19

“Erotic City” by Prince: “Prince was the king of this shit.” – Darwin Forsyth ’18

“Redbone” by Childish Gambino: – “Honestly, I think I just have a thing for Donald Glover. Aside from that, though, ‘Redbone’ is just so smooth and funky and is something you can really move to. Plus it has the word ‘bone’ in it, so there’s that.” – Molly Lloyd ’18

“Come On Get Higher” by Matt Nathanson: “Because of the relaxed feel of the song and his voice is so sexy. Also the verbs and language that he uses to describe how naturally beautiful and desirable this person is to him are a huge turn on.” – Olivia Sailors ’20

“Marvin Gaye” by Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor: “It comes off as super wholesome but then just escalates so quickly and heart eyes emoji.” – Giulia Girgenti ’18

“Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and “iSpy” by KYLE: “Um, weirdly enough, ‘get you going’ songs are the one time that I don’t listen to lyrics or ignore things that bother me, so it really opens up a lot of songs with a good beat, which is what I’d go for. Ordinarily I don’t like ‘I spy’ but in this situation… also ‘Despacito’ (same thought process). And Spotify has some surprisingly good playlists. Something with a good beat, that I’m pretty familiar with but doesn’t make me drop everything to enjoy the song. Oh, and another language is a major plus.” – Bekah Griffin ’19

Album: AM by The Arctic Monkeys: “This isn’t necessarily a song that turns me on but, the Arctic Monkeys’ album AM just reminds me of sex, like the entire album. I could imagine having good sex to it.” – Morgan Kentsbeer ’18 (not a Macalester student)

Most people are fans of smooth beats, soft vocals and sexual lyrics, but there are some who think that lyrics and beats can be too distracting from the actual purpose of putting the music on in the first place: getting it on with somebody.

“I would say something that serves more as background and doesn’t become the focus,” said Kaia Lund ’18. “It’s weird if you’re having sex to the rhythm of one song and then the rhythm or genre or something changes dramatically and you have to adapt. Also, nothing too referential to having sex itself. [My old housemate] used to have a sex playlist with The Weeknd and the Magic Mike soundtrack and it was too much.”

I hope this article has got you thinking about what songs you personally would like to listen to while getting it on with someone/some people. I would highly suggest listening to some of the songs and albums in this article, because most of them have some real vibes.

Until next week, Macalester. Keep it sexy.