Photo Story: Inked Up

From a special childhood lullaby to a favorite lyric, our music libraries hold a wealth of inspiration for tattoos. Three students share their stories on the sounds that motivated them to get their own tattoo.

Photos by Erika Ramirez

Kennedi White

Kennedi White tattooed a symbol of the sun to commemorate a childhood memory of her parents singing to “You Are My Sunshine,” a lullaby by The Hound + The Fox.

“When I hear it, I feel happy and at peace — it reminds me of my parents,” White said. “Nothing else can do that but music.”

Sharahi Leon

Sharahi Leon received a tattoo of “glorious” to commemorate the title song of the album Glorious by Foxes. Leon feels nostalgic when she plays Glorious; the music takes her back to sophomore year of high school when she first listened to the song and album.

“The song talks about not giving up because life is glorious, and there’s always happiness,” Leon said.

Claire Markowitz

Claire Markowitz tattooed the lyric “every now and then the stars align” from one of her favorite songs, “Lucky Ones,” by Lana Del Rey. The song is Del Rey’s tribute to people who are lucky enough to find love.

“It’s kind of open to interpretation and can be applied to life overall, not just romance,” Markowitz said.