You ever want to travel back in time to the good ol' days when it was all so simple...? Well, I don't know about you, but I sure would love to go back to middle school: the time of my life when - I personally feel - I was at my prime... or at least the first of my prime-times so to speak.
If you ever wanted to take a trip down memory lane (via your ears), then look no further, for I have the perfect nostalgia fix for you – 25 songs that you had very likely had on your iPod back in middle school, or at least heard on the radio at some point in your life! What better way to experience those bittersweet feelings of your early adolescence (and even your childhood) than with these feel-good, angsty, and more or less decade-defining songs??
The only rules of this list are as follows: all songs are alphabetized by title, one song per artist or group, and no more than two songs per letter section, so I had to really narrow it all down…
Note: While most of these have come from my own iPod Touch playlist at that time, and a few on this list happened to not be on my playlist then, these are just a small sampling of a whole plethora of music from mainly the 2000s and early 2010s, so if you like what you see and hear here and want so much more, I encourage you to dig up the dusty records in the back of your mind – if you know what I mean…
"All Star" by Smash Mouth
"Hey now, you're an all-star
Get your game on, go play
Hey now, you're a Rockstar
Get the show on, get paid"
"Apologize" by Timbaland feat. OneRepublic
"I'm holding on your rope
Got me ten feet off the ground
And I'm hearing what you say,
But I just can't make a sound"
"Beautiful Soul" by Jesse McCartney
"I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul"
"Breakeven (Falling To Pieces)" by The Script
"I'm still alive, but I'm barely breathing
Just prayin' to a god that I don't believe in
'Cause I got time while she got freedom
'Cause when a heart breaks, no it don't break even"
"Clocks" by Coldplay
"Confusion that never stops
The closing walls and the ticking clocks gonna
Come back and take you home
I could not stop, that you now know, singing…"
"Closer" by Ne-Yo
"Turn the lights off in this place
And she shines just like a star
And I swear I know her face
I just don't know who you are"
"Dance, Dance" by Fall Out Boy
"Dance, dance
We're falling apart to half-time
Dance, dance
And these are the lives you want to lead
Dance, this is the way they'd love
If they knew how misery loved me"
"Disturbia" by Rihanna
media.giphy.com"Your mind is in disturbia,
It's like the darkness is the light
Disturbia, am I scaring you tonight?
Disturbia, ain't used to what you like
Disturbia, disturbia"
"Fifteen" by Taylor Swift
"'Cause when you're fifteen
When somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
And when you're fifteen
Feeling like there's nothing to figure out
Count to ten
Take it in
This is life before you know who you're gonna be
At fifteen"
"Grenade" by Bruno Mars
"What you don't understand is I'd catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I'd jump in front of a train for ya
You know I'd do anything for ya"
"Hey Ya!" by Outkast
"Don't try to fight the feeling
Because the thought alone is killin' me right now
Thank God for Mom and Dad
For sticking to together
Like we don't know how"
"Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry
"'Cause you're hot and you're cold
You're yes and you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up"
"I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas
"Let's paint the town
We'll shut it down
Let's burn the roof
And then we'll do it again"
"In The End" by LINKIN PARK
"I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end, it doesn't even matter"
"Just Dance" by Lady Gaga
"Half psychotic, sick, hypnotic
Got my blueprint, it's symphonic
Half psychotic, sick, hypnotic
Got my blueprint electronic"
"Misery Business" by Paramore
"I'm in the business of misery, let's take it from the top
She's got a body like an hourglass, that's ticking like a clock
It's a matter of time before we all run out
When I thought he was mine, she caught him by the mouth"
"My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson
"Being with you is so dysfunctional
I really shouldn't miss you
But I can't let you go"
"Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock
"Step up fast and be the first girl to make me throw this cash
We get money, don't be mad, now stop –
Hatin' is bad"
"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" by Beyonce
"'Cause if you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it
If you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it
Don't be mad once you see that he want it
If you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it"
"Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne
"He was a skater boy
She said, 'See you later, boy'
He wasn't good enough for her
Now he's a super star
Slammin' on his guitar
Does your pretty face see what he's worth?"
"Tik Tok" by Ke$ha
"DJ, you build me up
You break me down
My heart, it pounds
Yeah, you got me
With my hands up
Put your hands up
Put your hands up...
Now, the party don't start 'til I walk in"
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day
"Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are
As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends"
"Yeah!" by Usher feat. Lil' Jon & Ludacris
"'Cause I don't know, if I take that chance
Just where's it gonna lead
But what I do know is the way she dance
Make shorty alright with me
The way she get low
I'm like, yeah, just work that out for me
She asks for one more dance, and I'm like, yeah
How the hell am I supposed to leave"
"3" by Britney Spears
"Three is a charm
Two is not the same
I don't see the harm
So are you game?
Let's make a team
Make 'em say my name
Lovin' the extreme
Now are you game?"
"1985" by Bowling For Soup
"Bruce Springsteen, Madonna
Way before Nirvana
There was U2 and Blondie
And music still on MTV
Her two kids in high school
They tell her that she's uncool
'Cause she's still preoccupied
With 19, 19, 1985"
For those who have made it all the way to the end, you get bonus points if you found yourself completing the rest of the lyrics listed for each song! Which songs from your childhood did you find yourself wishing were on here? List or no list, the songs from your past will forever be held sacred in your heart, as old as you were back in the now-ancient days of middle school...
Energetic dance performance under the spotlight.
Taylor Swift in a purple coat, captivating the crowd on stage.
Taylor Swift shines on stage in a sparkling outfit and boots.
Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers sharing a joyful duet on stage.
