TGIF folks and welcome to another edition of Top 9 Lists! Today's list is very near and dear to my heart. Yup, you guessed it, it's about music!! YAY!
I've mentioned before how I've been told I'm an old soul. I think the area that most reflects this in my life is music. I was born in the early 80's, making me a member of what is referred to as Generation Y. However, musically (and often, culturally) I find that I relate more to members of the previous birth group, Generation X. The songs, the music, the lifestyle that I connect with most came out when I was just a kid. The early 90's saw an amazing shift in mainstream music. No more were the hair bands of the 80's and the sound that emerged was like nothing mainstream had ever heard. The grunge bands, the "alternative" music became alternative no more. Teenagers and twentysomethings all across America were calling the radio stations and requesting bands that were previously only seen on the alternative-punk-rock scene. Generation X stood up and told the world what they wanted to hear. And radio played it.
Today's list is what I consider the top 9 songs of the 1990's. These songs were picked with careful thought and consideration. Each song has something that I think helped to define that awesome change in the music scene. I realize that this is just a small sample of the music of that era, sadly, not every song or every artist can make this list. In fact, there are many artists that made an impact during that time frame, they just weren't necessarily impacting the scene as a whole, as I saw it. Artists like Mariah Carey, Garth Brooks and Whitney Houston all had their peaks during the 90's...but they just weren't part of the "change" that occurred industry-wide and therefore don't have a place on this list. That's not to say they aren't great in their own ways, they are. They just don't fit the criteria.
So without further ado, I give you:
The Top 9 Songs That Defined the 90's (and yes, these songs are in order of importance)
**Editor's note: Some of the songs' original music videos had embedding disabled so I was unable to post them here to share with you. Instead I found the best live version I could. I do, however, encourage you to look up the original videos and watch them. You'll thank me.)
#9 Creep by Radiohead
Lyrically, Creep seems to embody a lot of the personal angst that defined the era. According to Thom Yorke, Creep tells the story of a man who is trying to get the attention of a woman but lacks the self- confidence to pursue it. To me, it is the classic tale of never being quite good enough. In the 90's the majority of the bands/artists that broke threw the barriers of mainstream music were not the classic idols of the past. They weren't clean cut, all American boys nor were they the sexy, long-haired rock stars of the decade before. They were unkempt and didn't care. Take us or leave us became the unofficial motto for musicians of the 90's.
#8 Loser by Beck
Another song whose lyrics tell the story of not being good enough. Jon Pareles wrote in The New York Times that "The sentiment of Loser...reflects the twentysomething trademark, a mixture of self-mockery and sardonic defiance." Although Beck has stated that it was not his intent behind what he calls nonsensical lyrics, the song is often taken as a satirical parody of the slacker theme of Generation X.
#7 Everlong by Foo Fighters
Everlong makes the list not because it defines the musical climate change that took place in the early 90's but rather because it rose from the ashes that was the crisis of the grunge era following Kurt Cobain's tragic death. That's not to say that Dave Grohl wouldn't have created Foo Fighters without his launch from Nirvana. However, because things happened the way they did, we will truly never know. Released in 1997, Everlong was at the tail end of the "alternative" era. And in my opinion, one of the last few great songs released before bubble gum pop took over the radio waves.
#6 Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Under the Bridge was the song that broke the Red Hot Chili Peppers into "mainstream". It's extensive airplay on both the radio stations and music television helped to launch the song into immortality. It is very easily identifiable and immediately takes the listener back to a time when it still wasn't okay to talk about drugs or addictions openly. The ground breaking that occurred with Anthony Kiedis's lyrics paved the way for numerous other bands and songs exposing the dirty, un-talked about aspects of teen life.
#5 Losing My Religion by R.E.M.
The phrase "losing my religion" comes from the South and refers to losing your temper. Michael Stipe says about the song, "It's just a classic obsession pop song. I've always felt the best kinds of songs are the ones where anybody can listen to it, put themselves in it and say 'Yeah, that's me.'" And I believe that's quite possibly what appealed so greatly to the masses in the 90's, the ability to hear these songs and identify with the lyrics. To place yourself and all of your pent up teen anguish into the song and feel that there was someone else out there who understood exactly how you felt.
#4 You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette
The thing about You Oughta Know is that it broke the mold. All of a sudden it was okay to be a different kind of female in the music industry. Alanis showed that you didn't have to be Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey to make it. You could be female and rock! You could be raw, scream and swear and have rock guitar in your song and still make it onto the radio. This song's release didn't just add to the change already occurring, it blew all of the doors and windows open and quite literally screamed "I'm a chick and I can rock!" Without Alanis and You Oughta Know would we have artists today like Pink and Haelstorm?
#3 Jeremy by Pearl Jam
Jeremy is another song that is easily identifiable. You would be hard pressed to find a member of Generation X who hasn't heard the song and doesn't know that it's by Pearl Jam. The lyrics for the song are actually based off of two different real stories. The main inspiration comes from an article that Eddie Vedder saw in a newspaper. Vedder has said that he felt "the need to take that small article and make something of it-to give it action, to give it reaction, to give it more importance." When asked about Jeremy, Vedder says, "It came from a small paragraph in a paper which means you kill yourself and you make a big old sacrifice and try to get your revenge. That's all you're gonna end up with is a paragraph in newspaper. Sixty-four degrees and cloudy in a suburban neighborhood. That's the beginning of the video and that's the same thing is that in the end, it does nothing... nothing changes. The world goes on and you're gone. The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself. Be stronger than those people. And then you can come back."
#2 Basketcase by Green Day
Green Day was the epitome of the alternative scene in the early 90's. Basketcase was their second single released but quickly surpassed Longview on the charts. Like other songs on the list, it is easily identifiable as Green Day and most fans of the 90's music scene will be able to recite at least the opening line for you. Billie Joe Armstrong wrote the song about his struggle with anxiety before he was diagnosed with a panic disorder. He commented that "The only way I knew how to deal with it was to write a song about it." The lyrics fit the criteria of the era, easily encompassing the angst and anguish of many of America's youth.
#1 Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
There is no other way to say it than that Nirvana defined the decade better and more accurately than any other band or artist. They perpetuated the wave of grunge and alternative crossing over into mainstream music. When you ask about 90's music, nine times out of ten someone will site Nirvana or one of their songs. Smells Like Teen Spirit has been widely interpreted to be a teen revolution, partly because of the song's music video. In an interview, Kurt Cobain stated the song was about his friends, saying, "We still feel as if we're teenagers because we don't follow the guidelines of what's expected of us to be adults ... It also has a kind of teen revolutionary theme." When describing the song in a biography by Michael Azerrad, Cobain said that he felt a duty "to describe what I felt about my surroundings and my generation and people my age." And truly, how better to sum up the era?
Honorable Mention: Enter Sandman by Metallica
Enter Sandman didn't make the list because, like others, it didn't define or add to the cultural changes that were happening in the 90's. However, Metallica was one of the few metal bands to make the crossover into mainstream radio play during that time frame. And for that, Enter Sandman gets the Honorable Mention. Without Metallica or this song, I wonder if the metal genre would have faded out of sight?
And there you have it, gang! Again, I stress to you that these lists are my lists and therefore represent my take on things, my opinions. My intention is never to hurt some one's feelings or give misplaced adoration but simply to show the world as I see it. Today's list did have some much appreciated help from someone I consider an expert on music and whose intelligence I admire greatly. Thank you! And as always, I appreciate any and all opinions my readers may have so feel free to comment and challenge or agree with me. This is a subject I could talk about for days. Sadly though, it is time for me to transform into the groupie for tonight's show. Until Monday everyone! Have a safe weekend and don't do anything I wouldn't do :p
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