Music for the Olympics

After the Milan Winter Olympics, my playlist has welcomed a few new songs, which are the songs skaters have used for their programs, such as The Lost Crown, Dies Irae, MacArthur Park, Fear by NF, Promise, and of course, Viva la Vida. Those songs always bring me back to when the skaters skated their programs and I watched them on the TV in my living room. As amazing as they are, I also thought of another song (other than Viva la Vida) that would encapsulate the vibes and the Olympic experience, and that is Long Live by Taylor Swift. I have always kept a note in my Notes app saying: “If I were to use to one song to describe the Olympic experience, it would be Long Live”. This was because Long Live encapsulates the emotions of victory and happiness after experiencing a range of things. Whenever I go to my photo album and see the pictures I took of the Olympic gala from my TV, I would always pause and take in the moment because all the athletes standing together, smiling to the audience and to their journeys of skating, is something that one can be proud of forever. 

“Long live, the walls we crashed through, all the kingdom lights shined just for me and you” is the exact reflection of the end of the Olympic Gala. The walls we crashed through represent the competitions the skater have participated in and have given their best at, and although some may have received the results they are satisfied about and some may have not, they have all “crashed” through the walls of the competition, training year after year, and falling down and getting back up again on their own journeys. For Alysa Liu, this might be retiring and getting back on the rink to shine brighter than before, while still facing the challenge of retrieving her jumps and spins like before. For Adeliya Petrosian, it might be recovering from her injury, trying to complete her jumps flawlessly in her programs and improving her techniques. For Ilia Malinin, it might be constantly breaking the walls of skating, completing movements and jumps that no other can ever complete. Different skaters have different journeys, and seeing them together, simply celebrating the joy and gratefulness of being at the Olympics under the dynamic lights of the rink is what the “kingdom lights” are for and will forever be for—the warriors that are “me and you”. 

Whenever I see the athletes skate and do their jumps, I always get this false sense of ease as they would always complete them so easily and gracefully because they are “easy”, but as someone who has even struggled to complete her doubles, the only way for me to perceive this as an athlete who have been through probably similar experiences as the athletes is that they have the extraordinary talent and dedication to do things that the ordinary cannot do. The is also reflected in the lyrics of Long Live, as the song is a lively and uplifting one, but also has lyrics that show the hardships and times when one has broken down. This is what sports is: the amazing but also painful, but at the end of the day, if you actually love the sport, it is something to be grateful for forever. 

“Confetti falls the ground, may these memories break our fall”.

“It was the end of an era, but the start of an age”. I love this line, because whenever I think about the end of the Milan Olympics, it always symbolizes the end of something significant, but it also means the start of a new chapter for so many athletes, whether they are retiring or just having their first Olympic experience. I don’t think I will ever stop reflecting on this Olympics, as it is one of those (including Beijing in 2022) where I feel the most connection to.

Photo Credit: Sportcal