The Yolk: The moment a song hits just right 

The 2:02 mark of Lorde’s “Buzzcut Season,” off of  Pure Heroine (2013) fills me with an inexplicable emotion. The way she harmonizes behind the chorus is heavenly. It‘s a combination of euphoria, melancholy, and other emotions I can’t yet find the words to describe. Maybe it’s the way in which the song reflects on the little things we do that makes it so dear to my heart. To express those quintessential moments when you can’t express all of the complicated ways a moment of a song makes you feel, my friends and I established the term “yolk.”   

First coined by my friends, Brooks and Isaac Harris, the yolk describes the one moment in the song that hits differently than any other. It can be lyrical or instrumental; a second long, or ten seconds long. It can be virtually nothing to someone else, yet everything to you. There can be multiple yolks in a song, but ultimately, there are no rules. 

Brooks first shared the concept of yolk with me in 2018, and since then, I’ve shared it with everyone at any given chance. We went back and forth on the Spotify queue showing each other songs that had our respective yolks. Sometimes I would have to rewind the song because my yolk was so inconsequential that it was easily missed by someone else, but I think that’s what is so cool about yolks: they can vary differently for everyone.

For example, the song “What Once Was” by Hers, has a guitar break towards the 2:48 mark which makes my heart swell. I told someone that the way that instrumental break made me feel was the same way I felt when I thought about a particular person special to me. There is truly no other description than the happiness both the song and the person made me feel. 

I’ve found that I tend to resonate particularly with instrumentals of songs. When asking my friends what their yolks were, Spencer Vilicic responded that they were often, “the addition of sounds either in the highest or lowest registers because they stand out the most. Key changes are similar because they switch up the pattern my brain is used to while listening.” Likewise, mine are often key changes not only because they stand out, but they can also be very subtle. 

Although, sometimes they can be less than subtle. Another one of my yolks of a lyrical creed is the song “6 Weeks” by Beach Bunny. There is one lyric where Lili Trifilio sings, “So we went around corners/ So I could lean a little closer into your shoulder.” This part recounts the universal experience of sitting in a car with people and turning corners when everyone starts to lean into one another. It is something that we have all done dozens of times, but Beach Bunny made me reflect on that experience. Who hasn’t used the g-force of a turn to lean a little closer into someone? It is a tender lyric that makes me reminiscence on the times I’ve done that.

Here are some of the various ways my friends describe their favorite yolks:

 “Pyramids” by Frank Ocean (5:18) 

“When it transitions to a sort of ringing upbeat song to a smoother melody. I really love this part of the song specifically for what the transition symbolizes to me at least. It takes the woman he talks about in the beginning and had continually been comparing to Cleopatra and in this second part of the song alluded to her being a sex worker. I think more than anything the songs transition and connection to Cleopatra, someone of such ancient status and stature is an empowering commentary on female sexuality as a whole. Especially when he comments ‘what good is a jewel that is still precious.’ He sort of attacks the standards of purity and virginity by placing a sex worker at the same level of caliber to Cleopatra.” -Noor Hasan 

“Instant Crush” – Daft Punk ft Julian Casablancas (4:05-4:21)

“ I don’t know but something about Julian Casablancas hitting that high note is really the only reason why I listen to this song” -Cameron Flores

“Need Dat Pak” by  MadeinTYO (0:50) 

“This one hits so fucking different because I had a huge crush on this girl from high school since my sophomore year. I did everything I could during those two years we had together to get her to like me, but she’d always talk to me about other dudes and pass me up every chance she had. However, I persisted, listened to her guy problems, and confessed how I truly felt about her my senior year at a party and she kissed me. Like a scene out of a movie. I managed to leave the friend zone and I heard this song the next day and felt on top of the world” -Micah Moore

“Boy Problems” – Carly Rae Jepsen (2:08)

“My yolk in this song is at 2:08. She’s singing the chorus ‘I think I broke up with my boyfriend today/ I don’t really care,’ except when she says, “I don’t really care,” she adds harmonies that she only does once, right there, when she says that line. The harmonies are just so perfect to my ears. It’s amazing.” -Brandon Villareal

”The Flight” by Toro Y Moi (2:07-2:34)

“The only way I can describe this specific verse is that every instrument is doing exactly what I want them to do including the modulation of lead singer Chaz’s voice. For many other reasons this might be my favorite song.” – Walker Bozzi

“LSD” by A$AP Rocky – (0:00-0:22)

“Literally the first 22 seconds (0:22 or any time before that) that beat that comes in!!!!! SO BOMB literally makes me feel euphoric!!! It sounds like how falling in love would sound to me or like that feeling where you know everything’s gonna be alright??? kinda dumb i know but literally my favorite song ever” -Megan Freeman

“So We Won’t Forget” – Khruangbin (0:39)

“Starts at :39 in for me. Reminds me about my dad. If you ever see the music video the song is about a dad losing his daughter. Makes me think about death and losing someone. Always hits different. But it’s my yolk.” – Randy Chavez

“Entertainment” by Phoenix (2:46-3:12)

“My yolk is from Entertainment by Phoenix and I really like that part in particular because it builds really heavily and then instead of dropping immediately, they bring in a children’s choir which just creates this sort of chant like thing??? it really helps to create tension and then when the song drops with the final “i’d rather be alone” it rlly creates an emphasis and relief” -Erin Lopez

In reading about each of my friends’ yolk, I found the differences so interesting. Some of their yolks recounted specific memories of adolescence while others drew out raw emotions like nostalgia or euphoria. Listening to music is an experience rewarded by so much dopamine, and the yolk feels like a concentrated block of happiness. No amount of words can ever truly emulate the feeling our yolks give us.

Article by Jax Samsell

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