1. "Single" - The Neighbourhood

This one dates back all the way to my senior year of high school. Over the summer, an older guy in this band direct messaged me on Instagram and wanted to meet up—so of course I said yes.

We met up in this nearby town at a park, and we talked for hours, and he sang to me, and everything was great. At the end of the impromptu "date", he walked me back to my car, hugged me good-bye, and said he "couldn't wait to hang out again". He even texted me afterward to tell me he had a great time. So it only makes sense that I never heard from him again.

Nevertheless, during the short week that we messaged back and forth, he recommended that I listen to "Single" by The Neighbourhood, and for that reason, and that reason only, I refuse to hold a grudge against him.

This song is so euphoric (and catchy) and I love every aspect of it. Not only do I love this song, but it also led me to discover a few other songs by The Neighbourhood that have since shaped my life. I even saw them in concert this past summer and the lead singer crowd-surfed directly over my head.

I guess you could say this one came full circle... Thanks, Alex.

2. "Rose In Harlem" - Teyana Taylor

This one is a product of the boy who peed in my room (if you know you know, and no further questions). I talked to him for maybe two months this past fall, and one night I went over after he came home from a party. He was drunk and blasting music.

To say the least, I was sober and very annoyed. Yet in the midst of my paranoia of receiving a noise complaint, this glorious song came on. When Kanye's "Fade" music video came out, I endured a brief obsession over Teyana Taylor.

However, I didn't find out that she sang this song until I came home later that night and searched up the lyrics I'd hammered into my brain. You can never let a man know that he has good taste in music because then you're even powerless than you were before. So long story short, he peed, he ghosted, and you can see why.

So there are no hard feelings there and he'll always have a special place in my heart.

3. "Cherry Hill" - Russ

This one I have mixed feelings about. The song itself is a total bop, but the context of the ghosting literally haunts me, pun intended.

I'd been talking to this guy from Tinder for a few weeks and we decided to meet up half way for dinner and a movie. Of course, afterward, we "hung out" in his car and this was the first song he put on. And let me tell you, this song is great for "hanging out" in the car. The date went well and he came to visit me at school a couple weeks later.

But after he assaulted me and I kicked him out, all communication ended. I tried telling him that what he did wasn't okay, and when he didn't understand why I was mad, it only made sense that he just stopped texting me... But anyways, the world might hate Russ and I might hate that guy, but I will never hate this song—regardless of the memories that come with it.

P.S. He texted me six months later saying he "missed me", and when I explained to him that he still assaulted me, he said, "But that was so long ago"... Um, what? Anyways ladies and gentlemen, "Cherry Hill".

4. "Lullaby" - Sigala

This song evolved from my favorite memory of my freshman year of college. I finally "hung out" with this guy who was a literal meme after putting it off for months.

He was a fist-pumping, fake glasses wearing, monkey emoji using frat boy, but he was the hottest guy I'd ever met. I went over to his dorm and don't even get me started about how uncomfortably terrific it was. But when we woke up the next day, he had to get ready for some event, so he put on some music and hopped in the shower.

Little did I know this frat boy was about to put on "Lullaby" by Sigala at 8 AM and start fist pumping. This was a priceless moment in my life. 10/10 experience and I'll never forget it. Anyways, he hit me up all summer, but when I got back to school in the fall he suddenly stopped.

Unfortunately, he got a girlfriend. I mean, good for him, good for her, but I'm not going to lie—I was kind of sad. To this day, I miss that boy's fist-pumping and I pray for the day that I get to see it again.

5. "SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK" - Joji

Now last but not least, this song was shown to me by a seventeen-year-old.

Yes, I was ghosted by a seventeen-year-old. We met on Tinder, which by the way you have to be eighteen to have so, anyway, we'd been talking for a couple of weeks and we totally hit it off. I'm not going to lie, it was the first time I'd felt any type of feelings in the last couple of years, but that meant that it had to end badly. We met up in this sketchy parking lot at this park at like 11 PM on a Friday over Christmas break and we just listened to music and talked for hours. And while both of us played tons of different songs, this one stood out to me.

Sitting in that car, in the pitch black of the night, feeling feelings for the first time in a long time, this song blaring into my ears really had an impact on me. He took me out to breakfast the next morning, we'd planned a couple of dates for later on in the week, but when he asked his mommy and daddy if he could take me out, they told him he wasn't allowed to talk to a girl in college and that was the end of that.

So, yeah.