Spice Up Your Teen Spirit

It’s 1998, I’m four years old sitting in the back seat of my dad’s Jeep Cherokee singing ‘Big Empty’ by Stone Temple Pilots at the top of my lungs. I lovingly referred to this as ‘the da song’ because, of course, four year old me made up my own lyrics and before Scott Weiland would break into the chorus (“Time to take her home her dizzy head is conscious laden”) I would scream ‘DAAA’. Normally, a four year old singing along to a song that the singer has said is “about f—cking in the backseat of your car” would seem odd; but, to this day, it’s one of my dad’s favorite memories.

My eclectic taste in music was born in the ‘90s. In my dad’s car we would listen to STP, Pearl Jam, REM, Hootie and the Blowfish, Garth Brooks, and Charlie Daniels. In my mom’s car, we would listen to the Spice Girls, *NSYNC, Shania Twain, S Club 7, and a lot of Britney Spears. Pair all of that with, what I would argue to be, the best Disney soundtracks of all time (lookin’ at you Pocahontas and Tarzan!) and, just like that, a music lover is born. Some of my favorite songs are from the ‘90s and even more of my favorite memories are affiliated to said songs.

One of those memories being learning the dances to the incredible pop hits of the decade. My sister and I used to learn these moves and recreate the music videos for fun. Spice Girls hit ‘Stop’ was one that we we will still breakout the dance for when the song comes on. And who can forget the incredible ‘Crazy’ music video by Britney Spears that featured Melissa Joan Hart? I had that dance down! Of course, this hobby of ours carried on into the early 2000’s when we got a karaoke machine and access to our dad’s old video camera to really make these renditions come to life; but it originated from making the best mix tapes you ever heard from a five and seven year old on our dad’s tape deck and spending what seemed like hours mimicking our idols.

One of my favorite things about ‘90s music is how everybody knows certain songs because they’ve been in movies ever since. The first time I heard The Mighty Mighty Bosstones was on the movie ‘Clueless’ and, until very recently, I had no idea who sang the song. But I loved it anyway! One song that I feel like is universal is ‘You Get What You Give’ by New Radicals. Even if you don’t know the band, the title, or even the lyrics; everyone I know can mumble through the song and will always know the ‘1, 2, 1, 2, 3, owe!’ at the opening of the tune. This song has been in so many movies it’s hard not to at least go “Oh yeah, I’ve heard that,” and that rings true for so many songs during this decade.

Whether I was recreating Spice Girls music videos in the basement with my sister or entertaining my dad with renditions of grunge hits, music of the ‘90s is key to so many of my favorite memories from my childhood. As I got older, my brooding teenage soul found solace in Nirvana and Mudhoney. No matter what the situation, no matter where I am, I can guarantee you if I hear ‘Waterfalls’ or ‘My Heart Will Go On’ I’m halting everything and singing along. ‘90s music might not be for everyone, but it’s a piece of me forever.