I often throw this question out like a life preserver on road trips, or at dinner with friends when the conversation starts to die. Our generation listens to such a wide variety of artists in an array of genres. With iTunes and Spotify, you can listen to any song from any artist you want in a matter of seconds. Your friend may be really into Alternative, and you just cannot wait to hear the new Kelly Clarkson single. But who will stand the test of time? Just like our parents with Aerosmith and Cindy Lauper, millennials will show their kids the songs that mattered most in their glory days.
The soundtrack to the hit moments of the college years.
Beyoncé — the moments when you were out every weekend cruisin' with all the single ladies before the countdown, and it was you and your boo and your boo boo riding senior year.
Maroon 5 — the moment when you broke up with bae and realized she will be loved by somebody else and you're living in misery.
Taylor Swift — the moments when the only thing that could cheer you up at the end of a day when you failed a test was shaking it off to a top-of-the-lungs Taylor Swift singalong.
Coldplay — the moment you got to tell everyone you knew that you were in paradise at the raddest concert of your generation where the audience looked like a sky full of stars.
John Mayer -- the millions of moments you didn't care who says it was wrong to be free fallin' in love with this man's angelic voice.
Josh Abbott Band -- oh, the night when you two-stepped with your baby and knew she was the one.
Black Eyed Peas -- the moments when you were at the party and got a feeling that the guy in the Chubbies and half-tucked shirt was about to dance his smelly self over to meet you halfway.
Jack Johnson — the moment you got to make banana pancakes after you finally moved out of the dorm or the times you spent on spring break going to the sea.
In reality, what you pass on will be unique to you. It will tell your own story: the song you and your first love agree is your song after the first five months, the hit they play as your football team runs out of the tunnel before the big game, the band you put on repeat the summer you spent all those weekends at the lake, the rap you and all your friends memorized freshman year, the albums you listened to for hours and hours as you studied for finals at the end of every semester, that band you saw in that dingy bar with all your best friends that made you play their tunes again and again trying to hang on to the sweet moments of your youth. These are the melodies we will remember; these are the lyrics we will share with the next generation.
