On April 9, 2022, the pop singer Camila Cabello appeared as the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live". The second song she performed, with some help from her friend Willow Smith, immediately reminded me of Suzanne Vega's 1987 hit "Tom's Diner". As soon as I noticed the connection between those two songs, as well as some others (see below), I knew exactly what I had to do.
Weirdly enough, I came up with the idea to use Ed Sheeran's 2017 hit "Shape of You" in this mashup before I learned that he was a guest vocalist on Cabello's "Bam Bam".
Some words about my more obscure music sources. "Unlimited Saga" is a Japanese role-playing video game for the PlayStation 2, and although it was critically reviled and a commercial failure, it features an absolutely wonderful soundtrack by Masashi Hamauzu. AnnenMayKantereit is a German band known for their cover of "Tom's Diner". Jean-Luc Ponty is a French jazz and rock violinist who worked with Frank Zappa and Chick Corea, among many others.
Here's a list of everything I used:
Camila Cabello featuring Willow - Psychofreak
Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (DNA Remix)
AnnenMayKantereit and Giant Rooks - Tom's Diner
Cranberries - Twenty-One
Unlimited Saga - Time-Space Travels
Ed Sheeran - Shape of You
Jean-Luc Ponty - Metamorphosis
Tears for Fears - Break It Down Again ("Worldbuilder" Soundmark)
