Last week, McCormick announced plans to expand Tech yet again, turning a parking lot next to the building into a facility for programs that combine biology and engineering. Of course, we at North by Northwestern support new research, but come on! Tech is huge, and scary, already. Still, as much as we complain about Tech — its massive size, its notoriety as a home for tough classes — it’s a place we all call home for some time during our stay at NU. Here’s our tribute, in seven songs.

Stepping into the building

Pixies — “Gigantic”

Tech is, in a word, gigantic. If a building requires a computer to tell students where their classrooms are, then it’s too big. But that’s alright, because with Tech Express and all of those couches, Tech will always be “our big, big love.”

Trying to make a call from inside

Beck — “Cellphone’s Dead”

Like nearly every important building on campus, Tech’s leaden walls block most cellphone signals (this doesn’t apply to those insufferable kids using some exotic carrier like Verizon). If you’re lost, you don’t get to phone a friend — you just get to try and guess whether you’re in the “A” wing or the “N” wing. Delirium may set in, and Beck can sympathize: He’s “lost in the desert,” with Tiki-room chattering and children’s taunts echoing in his skull.

Seeking that elusive classroom, or just rest

Interpol — “PDA”

Wandering from floor to floor, searching for room EG73, may lead to fatigue. It certainly did for that engineer slumped on the hallway sofa, The Daily draped over his face. Interpol’s chorus mimics the siren song you’ll hear — “We have 200 couches / You can sleep tight” — but the urban dread in Paul Banks’s voice is telling you something else: Move on, or you’ll be late to lecture.

Getting to Tech from anywhere besides Sargent

The Proclaimers — “500 Miles”

So you’re a biomedical engineering major who lives in 1835 Hinman. You’re rare, but you exist. We pity you, but you seem to be willing “to walk 500 miles…and walk 500 more” to get to and from class. At least you probably have strong leg muscles — or have thoroughly mastered the shuttle schedule.

Scientific seduction

Thomas Dolby — “She Blinded Me with Science”

The test tubes, the chemicals, the microscopes and the graduated cylinders. Tech is like a scientist’s wet dream. And luckily for all of those kids looking for love in Tech (does anyone look for love in Tech?) there are many beings of the opposite sex conducting research that may just tickle your fancy. Listening to her go on and on about her work on synaptic signal transduction may as well be girls jumping on trampolines to the Tech-ie. Unfortunately, for those of us who aren’t so well-versed in the complexities of organic chemistry, walking through Tech amidst all things scientific is a little less sexy and a little more like walking, well, blindly.

Falling in lab-partner love

Semisonic — “Chemistry”

Tech isn’t all about chem labs and problem sets. Sometimes, you get paired up with one hottie of a lab partner. Then it becomes, as Semisonic puts it, “all about chemistry.” Maybe you’d think about using those couches for better use, but please don’t. That’s gross. Plus, the video looks like an experiment someone in the physics department would try out.

Crashing after the stress of it all

Nirvana — “Where Did you Sleep Last Night?”

You thought it was just a nap. Once you laid your head on those luxurious couches, however, all of those sleepless nights of Orgo homework caught up with you, and you spent the night in Tech. Don’t worry: Your roommate will never know you spent the night spooning with your textbooks.