While I wasn't even old enough to speak full sentences for most of the 90's, I still consider it my go-to jam genre, because let's be real, so much better than today's music. These are 10 90's jams that I listen to on the regular.
1. "How's It Going To Be"- Third Eye Blind
Yeah, Third Eye Blind had some smashes in the 90s ("Jumper," "Semi-Charmed Life") but only our man Stephan Jenkins (Yeah, I had to look that up) could write a line like "the soft dive of oblivion" - which none of us REALLY knew were the actual words.
2. "My Own Worst Enemy"- Lit
I just really don't understand why we don't karaoke this song EVERY. TIME. WE. GO. OUT. Can we all agree that we've had a night or two where "Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk" was the catch phrase of our evening?
3. "Crash Into Me"- Dave Matthews Band
This is one of those tricky songs of the 90s. I didn't figure out what this song was actually inferring until I was 18 but only Dave could have written about watching a naked girl through a window and made so many of us think "hmmm... I like this. My ears like this fine line between romantic and restraining order."
4. "Pardon Me"- Incubus
So technically this song came out in February of 2000... but who cares because it's Incubus. While it makes a great pump up jam, at its roots, it's about being sick and tired of the world and the people in it (hello election season). Sometimes you need to listen to a little Incubus to remember our issues are small in comparison to many others.
5. "This Is How We Do It"- Montell Jordan
I mean, could we even have this list without this song? There are so many one-liners in this song that are still relevant in 2016. My two personal favorites: "All hands are in the ay-errr and wave 'em from here to thay-errrr" as well as "If you're an O.G. Mack or a want-to-be player." So, which are you?
6. "No Diggity"- Blackstreet
There's "No diggity, no doubt" that this song is one of the best of the 90's. A perfect slow-paced R&B classic that all of wannabe gangstas can rap in the Uber on the way to Margarita night and still feel super cool.
7. "Tears In Heaven"- Eric Clapton
1992 was a classy year. The year of my birth, the year of Bill Clinton, and the year of "Tears in Heaven." While the song was actually written for Clapton's son (who passed away as a toddler), this song is just such an evergreen when it comes to dealing with grief. So, here's to crying over this song for decades to come!
8. "You Oughta Know"- Alanis Morissette
I didn't want to go there, but I had to. My girl Alanis LIT UP the 90s. While she describes herself doing some pretty questionable things, she's still the coolest female of the 90s and beyond. And yes- I do sing this in the shower because my roommate oughta know how much I love this song.
9. "Loser"- Beck
While I have absolutely no idea what this song is about, it taught me my first lick of Spanish- "Soy un perdedor." Which, unfortunately, is not a great conversation starter.
10. "I Want It That Way"- Backstreet Boys
I just felt incredibly compelled to at least round out the list with the most scream-worthy song of my own personal childhood. And if you can hear this song without busting it out at the chorus, you have much more self control than I will ever have.
