Once upon a time, we were all in middle school. Everyone says that high school is hell, but really, high school wasn't all that bad. Middle school, middle school was torture. Little freedom, the beginnings of boy/girl drama, and terrible teachers: a horrid combination.

Yet music, music can make everything more bearable. As iPods made carrying large amounts of music around easy (no more Walkmans, woot!), the adolescent goth (and when I say goth, I don't mean legitimate goths, I mean preteen girl wannabe-goths) was able to indulge in the comfort of 'alternative' bands that fulfilled their need for something a little darker than "Umbrella."

So sit down, pull on your black hoodie, and get ready to reminisce about a time when flip phones were cool and Hot Topic was, to outsiders, not.

1. Linkin Park

Verging on the mainstream, Linkin Park was a staple of the musical diet of any young goth. Although "What I've Done" and "Shadow of the Day" were likely the most popular, "Crawling" and "In The End" attracted their own fans.

2. Evanescence

What list would be complete without Evanescence? Every young goth's heart agreed with the line, "Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken," from "Hello" and dreamed someone would bring their soul back home.

3. Secondhand Serenade

Secondhand Serenade, while not as dark as the first two on the list, sympathize with the young broken hearts. The cartoon characters of Pon and Zi are practically the unofficial mascots of Secondhand Serenade, showing up in many a fan video for the band's songs, including the one above. These cute, awkward little beings are from the emo love cartoon of the same name, and were adored by many a young goth.

4. Mayday Parade

A song encouraging girls named Katie everywhere, "Miserable at Best" provided the perfect balm to those suffering from unrequited loves or break ups. Other songs, such as "You Be The Anchor That Keeps My Feet On The Ground, I'll Be The Wings That Keep Your Heart In The Clouds," competed for 'Longest Song Title You Can't Read All Of At Once On A MP3 Player.' Yet the words to their songs -- at least their old ones -- still ring true for many people, not just the young goths of 2007.

5. All American Rejects

A staple of the young goth musical diet, the lyrics to AAR's "It Ends Tonight" provided a piano-rock ballad in contrast to some of their other, Other songs, about far less serious topics, such as "Dirty Little Secret" were more mainstream, but still provided outlets for those needing to confess their darkest secrets to strangers on the internet.

6. Panic! At The Disco

Ah, Panic! At The Disco, where would we have been without your nonsensical lyrics at nine in the afternoon? How would we have learned what the word "Harlequin" meant without you? Although you and Mayday Parade fought for longest-song-title, we still loved you anyway.

7. Boys Like Girls

Another of the more mellow bands, not as dark (well if you fail to include "Dance Hall Drug"), but still not the more mainstream "Hips Don't Lie" that came out the same year.

8. My Chemical Romance

"When I was... a young boy... my father... took me into the city, to see a marching band," the song begins and young goths begin the ballad. Then the schism happens and the crazed dancing starts. Cue copying the band members' head banging.

All joking aside, "Welcome to the Black Parade" was and is a fantastic song about death and loss.

9. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Ah, sacrifice, the hallmark of true love. What young heart didn't cry when "Your Guardian Angel" popped up next in their playlist? Starting with a simple acousitc guitar riff and crescendo-ing into the addition of some electric, more than one young goth applied the song to themselves or their favorite book/movie/anime characters.

10. Within Temptation

Foreign band with haunting vocals, check. Within Temptation had the same haunting vocals as Evanescence, but with a fuller sound and more Latin. Not to mention their haunting music videos, such as the one for "Frozen," destined to reach through time to give you the creeps.

11. Fall Out Boy

As far as I know, people have a love-hate relationship with this band. Yet "Thnks fr the Mmrs" (such a clever title, yes?) was quite the anthem. Thank you, FOB, for the memories, but let's let the good times roll back into the past, eh?