Music

Last year, I made a list of the best songs ever. I thought it would be silly to make another list like that, so I came up with the list of the most important songs in my life. Year by year, these are the songs that I connect with different events, moments, and feelings from my life. Everytime I hear each of these songs, it brings back memories.

1994 "Self Esteem" The Offspring - For Christmas, I received what the kids called a boom box and my first CD - The Offspring's Smash. My mom picked it out because that's what the guy at the store recommended (that store, most likely, was Tape World, which is kind of ironic because it was a CD). My favorite song was "Self Esteem" which is so appropriate because I had a ton of teen angst in middle school.
1995 "Lightning Crashes" Live - The first song I ever slow danced to. I felt like the coolest 6th grader because some hot 8th grader asked me to dance.
1996 "Glycerine" Bush - I don't know why, but this is the song I would most associate with middle school.
1997 "Seasons of Love" Rent - I first fell in love with Rent around 97. Since I can sing almost every song verbatim, I had to include it on this list.

1998 and 1999 - I swear I liked music then, but I really couldn't come up with anything memorable.

2000 "I Will Remember You" Sarah Maclachlan, "In My Life" Beatles - The two senior songs I had (The first was our senior song in Varsity Blues). I am cheating a little, since we graduated in 2001. I still remember getting choked up while singing both, which means it had a pretty big impact on me. Not so much the choked up part, but the fact that I still remember it.
2001 "Wish You Were Here" Incubus, "Thunderstruck" AC/DC - My favorite Incubus song. Plus, freshman year was lonely, so it's fitting. The one thing I loved most about freshman year, though, was football Saturdays. I miss the Thunderstruck entrance (I don't think they do that anymore). Stacey and I decided it is going to be our entrance music to the reception. I wasn't joking.
2002 "I Shall Not Walk Alone" Ben Harper, "Lose Yourself" Eminem - Another tie. The two things I will remember most about sophomore year is the 8 Mile premiere and working at the radio station. I discovered Ben Harper at the radio station - in my opinion he's the most underrated artist of the past decade... he's brilliant. I felt a great deal of independence sophomore year, so the song is fitting.
2003 "Fa Fa" Guster - The first time I really discovered Guster was Tastefest. Although FaFa isn't my favorite Guster song ("Demons" is), it was the one I remembered most from that day.
2004 "Jesus Walks" Kanye West - I feel like Kanye West was the biggest artist of the year. The song doesn't have any ties for me to 2004 - I just like it.
2005 "Don't Stop Believin'" Journey - One of the Lugnut's had this as their intro song. I made sure we played it every chance I had. It reminds me of the long summer days in the ballpark. Plus, I remember it shot up to the iTunes Top 10 just because it was on Laguna Beach one night.
2006 "Mike and Mike Podcasts" - Discovering this gem reinvented my mornings and got me through many boring days of postering campus. It may not be a song, but it was the most important audio to me in 06.
2007 - I really don't know yet. It may be too early to tell.