By Ulrike Granögger

Some parents may have heard this song on repeat from their kid’s room. Everybody in the Zillennials (late Millennial/early Gen Z) crowd seems to be talking about it. A song that to some may sound like how your head feels at 2:00 am, Prewn’s “System” is quite the smash hit among college students and those in their 20s and 30s entering the workforce.

Izzy Hagerup, the lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and solo composer behind Prewn, strikes a chord. What is this system that we are supposed to serve and continue? It keeps us busy yet makes us feel paralyzed, grinding through each day for money without real meaning offered.

The song doesn’t answer this question but clearly resonates with the silent doubts in many young people’s minds. It is Prewn’s talent to put them into words and sound—often the first step to gaining clarity.

The numbers speak for themselves: Prewn has roughly 110,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, yet this song has about 3.8 million streams. That’s a lot of people choosing to come back to it, and it spread without a huge marketing machine. But it is also just really well-done lo-fi music, performed on real instruments including a cello (played by Tala Hackbarth) that also draws older indie rock purists.

Lyrics:

I don't know how to move
I'm giving into the fear again
Too many people, too many rules
Are keeping me lonely in my head
It seems that misery's my best friend
I know it'll come to me again and again
It's just the price you pay
Another dollar, another day

(Go away) There's no reason
No sense to find below
(My best friend) Don't look away
It's nothing that you know

Just give your life away
Turn on your lights, baby, give them a show
It won't be long, you say
But it's a system and all that you know
The clouds won't go away
They keep on coming again and again
Just give your life away
Another dollar, another day