Why I Chose My 46 Favorite Songs
Recently, a couple friends and I decided to create a playlist of our top favorite songs, and we swapped them. I've decided to now write a brief explanation for why I picked each song on my playlist. I may expand my list to a full 50 songs in the future.
Also, hi, I'm Abigail Muñoz and I'm the author of Rock & Roar and a huge music nerd. Writing about music scratches something in my brain real nice and makes me happy. Maybe someone out there will find my writings entertaining too.
Click this link to listen to: The Playlist
1. Wake Up - Arcade Fire (2004)
I decided to open my playlist with an iron-clad punch to the heart, a song that has meant a great deal to me for two decades now. "Wake Up" is Arcade Fire's most iconic track, which has since been credited as the early precursor to indie rock's trend of overusing the so-called "millennial whoop". But unlike the stomp-clap ho-hey flourishes of later hipster fare, the cries that permeate Wake Up are soulful, at once melancholy and hopeful, a perfect expression of the painful emotion at the heart of the track. Wake Up is the universal story of growing up and coming face-to-face with disillusionment, when what seemed promised in childhood has turned out to be, as Win Butler sorrowfully sings, "a lie". But in spite of this rough realization, the song ends on an optimistic note, the music becoming joyful with the beloved line, "with my lightning bolts a-glowin', I can see where I am going". Finally, we end the song with childlike joy and playfulness restored, like doing a cannon-ball into a swimming pool on a summer day: "You better look out below!"
2. Until the Day I Die - Story of the Year (2003)
Soaring emotion, melodramatic lyrics, gory imagery, and piercing screams: "Until the Day I Die" is a textbook example of third-wave emo, and teenage-me was smitten with it and the album "Page Avenue" as a whole. Emo singers rip their bleeding, still-pulsing heart out of their chest and shove it in our face, and Dan Marsala does this beautifully, creating an angst-ridden but vulnerable track that provides a satisfying emotional release for the listener, at least it certainly did for me. This song blared (automatically, with no way to turn it off, you're welcome) from the hidden coding of my MySpace profile page for quite some time, until it was replaced with "Voices" by Saosin (which we'll visit further down in my playlist).
3. Myth - Beach House (2012)
Beach House were a staple for me in college, and "Myth" is my favorite song by them, hands down. The song feels like a waking dream, a mesmerizing soundscape with layers upon layers of texture that gradually builds up to its climax, all while the ambiguous lyrics give this living, breathing song the freedom for your interpretation. Victoria Legrand's smokey vocals float and swirl in the haze. The song surrounds me and pulls me in deep, and I live for that kind of experience in music.
4. Space Age Love Song - A Flock of Seagulls (1982)
I love 80s music (obviously, or I wouldn't be doing Rock & Roar) and Space Age Love Song embodies everything I love about the decade's new wave genre: soaring synths, punchy percussion and otherworldy sounds. My favorite new wave songs give me a sensation of floating or flying through space and time, something I'll address again when we get to another song on my list, "Drive" by The Cars. Space Age Love Song achieves this, but is also irresistibly fun and danceable, giving me more than one reason to love it.
5. The Mother We Share - CHVRCHES (2013)
Another college-era favorite of mine is this sparkling yet melancholic track. I love its energy and crisp production, it's actually quite simple in its arrangement yet sounds so huge. The main synth melody to me just shimmers and shines as if music had a touchable surface, if that makes sense. I can't listen to music without visualizing stuff in my head, and this vibrant song makes that very easy. Lauren Mayberry's vocals feel "small" and perfect against the enormous and bright backdrop of the music, almost conversational in the way she is delivering the confessional lyrics.
6. The Downfall Of Us All - A Day To Remember (2009)
Now here's a song that grabs you by the throat and throws you right into the moshpit. "The Downfall Of Us All" opens ADTR's album "Homesick" with a blast-off, from which radiates a ferociously fun energy throughout the rest of the album, until that fire sizzles out elegantly with the heartfelt closing track, "If It Means A Lot To You". I could have easily included several tracks from "Homesick" in my list (an album defined by incredibly catchy riffs and gut-shaking breakdowns that drop you down into Hades) but I made myself only include one song per artist to avoid glutting my playlist with, I don't know, the entirety of "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge" or something. I feel that "The Downfall Of Us All" was the most representative track to choose, not just because it's the most popular ADTR song, but because it sets the tone of the whole album.
7. The Missing Frame - AFI (2006)
Choosing just one AFI song felt almost impossible, but I ultimately settled on this track from "Decemberunderground", because of where it places me in space and time. In 2006, I joined my dad on an errand to Fry's Electronics (RIP) in San Jose. While he shopped for whatever computer doodad he needed for work, I perused the CD aisles. And there on the shelf was the just-released DECEMBERUNDERGROUND, its circle of black rabbits beckoning me over. I already knew I loved AFI, so it was over. I slid that CD and a bag of sour skittles to my dad right as he was about to pay, and he was like, "whatever", paid for it, and it was mine. It has since been my favorite album of 2006, and “The Missing Frame” is my favorite track because its soaring chorus makes me feel that fresh excitement of that year, like life was just beginning and so many possibilities still lay ahead for me.
8. Midnight City - M83 (2011)
There is no song more perfect than this to blast in a car while driving past a big beautiful city skyline in the night, and that's exactly the imagery painted in this vibrant electronic track. This is one of those songs that for me is a millennial anthem, a song that breathes with the optimism of the early 2010s, taking me back to that time when the world felt like it was ours and we frolicked around in our freedom and youth. Cringe, I know. But we were free. Put me in a car and take me back there, M83.
9. Running with the Wolves - AURORA (2016)
Aurora's ethereal vocals give this dark, magical song its sense of mystery and dangerous beauty. The song's chorus is defined by stylish, howl-like vocals as the speaker takes off running into the woods, simultaneously being hunted while also hunting her would-be captors in return. This one's a perfect example of a song that picks you up from reality and takes you to a new world, with a very specific setting, inhabitants, and feeling in the air, like falling into a storybook. The song takes you on a journey as you escape persecution and the confines of human society, and become one with nature again, in touch with your senses and all that is truly real.
10. King For A Day - Pierce the Veil, Kellin Quinn (2012)
Pierce the Veil's Vic Fuentes is joined by guest Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens in this metalcore masterpiece. The two vocalists take turns singing the furious verses, and it's a perfect, explosive pairing. This huge and theatrical song is pretty much my idea of perfection; every single riff, drum blast, and scream falls exactly where it should, the twists and turns are exhilarating, and there are so many layers to enjoy in the production here. There is literally nothing I would change, and its drama and ferocity demand that this song be played LOUD. My heart races from beginning to end with this one. My favorite part is the breakdown at minutes 3:00 to 3:18, where the screaming reaches its most intense.
11. Intro - The xx (2009)
Ask me who my favorite act at Coachella 2013 was, and I will tell you it was without a doubt and to my joyful surprise, The xx. With no backdrop or visuals to speak of -just dark lighting and vibes- the young trio absolutely mesmerized me. The magic of The xx lies in the minimalism of their music; nothing is wasted, and every note counts. "Intro", the aptly named opening track to The xx's debut album, doesn't even have lyrics - and yet, it is powerful and it lingers. My friends and I all bought a The xx shirt that night, wore them the next day, ran into The xx singer Romy, and took a photo with her. Serendipity is a wonderful thing.
12. All I Wanted - Paramore (2009)
Opening gently with a beautiful guitar riff and building up to Hayley Williams's jaw-dropping vocals in the final verse, "All I Wanted" is an emotional ride all the way. Every second of this song glimmers with melancholy elegance, and you'll be left wishing you had just the tiniest ounce of Hayley's singing talent by the end of it.
13. Harpy Hare - Yaelokre (2024)
Like a folk tale or children's' rhyme from a time past, or perhaps from a witchy other-world of fantastic creatures, "Harpy Hare" enchants with its whimsical yet curiously dark tale of an overprotective mother. I totally want to run through the woods under the moonlight when I listen to this one. And indeed, there is an entire fictional world of stories and illustrations by Yaelokre that accompanies this and their other songs.
14. Steal My Sunshine - Len (1999)
The carefree, stupid fun of being young in the summer in the late 90s seems to me to be permanently preserved in Len's "Steal My Sunshine". A favorite of mine ever since that year, it refuses to let go and it still holds a million miles of fun memories.
The carefree vocals are effortlessly cool, with that rascally character to them that was everywhere in the 90s but has since gone extinct. And though the song feels like sunshine itself, I can't help but notice a slight wistful tinge in there, or maybe that's me feeling the nostalgia of a summer long gone by.
15. The Sign - Ace of Base (1993)
And speaking of the 90s, "The Sign" is one of the earliest songs I remember being surrounded by, and the intro alone is enough to transport me back to childhood. I was conscious of the fact that I loved this song then, and I still love it now.
It's got that happy-sad thing going on that is characteristic of a lot of Swedish pop, with lyrics about ending a relationship underneath an immensely cheerful and insanely catchy surface. Like "Steal My Sunshine", "The Sign" feels like pouring a bottle of liquid sun over my head. In a good way. Maybe it's a bottle of a Sunny Delight orange drink, also a childhood favorite.
16. Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003)
Karen O's raw vocals and the anxious guitar deliver such an emotional experience that this has been one of my favorite songs ever since its release. It was introduced to me on a mix CD a friend burned for me (songs I discovered in this way will be a common theme throughout this entire list) and right off the bat, I was gripped by that weird, sustained guitar and the emotional pain in Karen's voice. I'm a big fan of releasing the ugly emotions in a song (hence why I love emo so much, though this isn't an emo track of course) and "Maps" (which stands for "My Angus Please Stay", Angus being who Karen was in a relationship with) does this explosively. In the music video, Karen is even crying for real, because the subject of her song told her he'd be at the filming, but he didn't show up.
17. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes (2008)
In my first semester of college, my friend shipped a package to my dorm. He told me nothing of what it was, other than "I think you will love it".
It was Fleet Foxes's self-titled album on vinyl, and my friend was correct; the second I dropped the needle on the record, I was captivated by my first-ever listen of the indie folk band.
"White Winter Hymnal" has only one simple, repeating verse, but combined with the music it tells all the story that needs to be told. Nostalgia, in all its bitter-sweetness, is captured in a single childhood memory of playing in the snow with friends. The joyfulness is contrasted with the imagery of one of the kids injuring themselves in play, and Robin Pecknold has shared that the song is about the pain of drifting away from childhood friendships.
18. Airplanes (feat. Hayley Williams) - B.o.B (2010)
My senior year of high school is preserved in the time capsule of this song, and to this day, spotting an airplane in the night sky brings the lyrics back to my mind. I could certainly "use a wish right now" in the present day, so the song, about wanting something out of reach and long gone, still hits. And the older I get, the more I can appreciate the lyrics and that longing, that wish to return to creating the art one loves for the sake of it, out of authenticity, "before this was a job, before I got paid". And yet, the speaker has not lost faith in that airplane. I myself will continue to wish upon them.
19. No Scrubs - TLC (1999)
Everything about this song and its accompanying music video just embodies the y2k era, and goodness, the repeating no's in the lyrics will resonate with many a listener who has found herself being pursued by an unwanted someone, "scrub" or otherwise. The song spins its subject matter -about having standards in dating- into a funny, irresistible and addictive banger that is endlessly quotable.
The sleek production and iconic guitar riff in this song not only sound very nostalgic and typical of the era, they also still sound fantastic today in my opinion. Fun fact, as a kid I misheard that one lyric as "and just sits on his bogasso", and I thought she'd invented a new word for "butt". And I thought that was great.
20. Teardrop - Massive Attack (1998)
Hypnotic and dark, "Teardrop" pulls me in with its heartbeat-like pulse and unsettling atmosphere which I find captivating. The song sits somewhere between organic and electronic, like you can feel something "off" about this thing that is almost human but not quite, if that makes sense. Elizabeth Fraser's ethereal delivery of the mysterious lyrics brings it all together, delivering some of my favorite lines like "love is a verb, love is a doing word".
21. Helena - My Chemical Romance (2004)
This is it, this is the song that changed my life. Sure, that sounds dramatic, but so is Gerard Way in that iconic music video. Drama is what this is all about.
As you probably inferred, I was barely into adolescence when this song reached me via burned CD, probably pirated off of LimeWire, courtesy of my cousin. The next moment lives on as a core memory for me: arriving home from that visit, popping the CD into my player while sitting on top of my bed in my room alone, putting the headphones on, and shuddering at Gerard's rattling opening vocals to the first track, "Helena". I was scared at what I was hearing, but I loved it. Then the next track came on, and I was even more scared of that one, and then I finished the entirety of this theatrically violent album called Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. And then I dressed in all black at school the next week, and from there on after.
22. Slow Hands - Interpol (2004)
2004 was such a killer year for music, and because I was exactly at the age that I was becoming really passionate about it, my brain formed some pretty powerful connections between the songs that were coming out at the time, and the memories I was forming alongside them.
"Slow Hands" is one of these songs. I hear it and I'm flung back to hanging out with my friends after school, trading burned CDs and shoveling cheap pizza. As is typical for Interpol, the song is stylish and cool and has got that disaffected delivery that elevates that coolness. It's sharp and restless, and packs so much energy. I love that guitar, it will always get me up and wanting to run to somewhere. I won't because I'm tired a lot of the time now, but the feeling is there, you know?
23. Every Day Is Halloween - Ministry (1987)
This anthem for misfits everywhere has resonated strongly with me from the time I first heard it as a teen. As a neurodivergent kid, I never fit in to begin with, and then Halloween quickly became my favorite day of the year because that just seems to be the way it always goes with kids like me. As a teen, I got into alt subcultures and wearing lots of black of course, and while I had like-minded friends, others were afraid of me. Then of course, there was the bullying in middle school, and when I combine all of these things together, I might as well be the person in this song, and I love that.
24. Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
It would be fair to say that Radiohead songs in general are profoundly sad (though that's part of the appeal for me) but something about "Fake Plastic Trees" has always hit me particularly hard. It's a beautiful song, with a soaring climax that gives me chills every time, but it's also a miserable painting of a world where nothing real can be found anymore, and not only can the song's characters not make a connection with anyone, the final speaker in the song also can't be who he is expected to be and therefore can't be accepted and loved, as sung in the devastating final lines. And it wears him out.
25. I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys (1999)
I know. But hear me out. "I Want It That Way" is a masterpiece, and I will tell you why.
Your experience of the 90s was defined by a Swedish record producer named Max Martin. Yes, it was, even if you think you don't know who that is. "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears? Max Martin. "It's Gonna Be Me" by NSYNC? Max Martin. "That's the Way It Is" by Celine Dion? Max Martin. And so many more.
These artists were all united by the Swedish sound and philosophy of pop song crafting, and that meant they were defined by incredible hooks, nonsense lyrics, and most importantly, extremely clean production. Take "I Want It That Way" as an example. You could eat off the surface of that song. You could perform surgery with that song as your operating table. That's how clean it is, and it's gorgeous.
I knew there was something delicious about the way it sounded from the moment I first heard it as a kid, during the great Backstreet Boys-NSYNC war that tore my friend group apart. And after my parents obtained a copy of it via a Grammy Nominees 2000 CD, I could not stop listening and re-listening to this song. It was ear candy, the way I could hear every crisp little sound in this perfect pop confection, never mind the stupid lyrics and cheesy dancing. "I Want It That Way" is the crown jewel of the Swedish-produced 90s pop sound, and I will die on that hill.
26. Across the Universe - The Beatles (1969)
Choosing only one Beatles song is no easy feat, but Across the Universe is one that pulls me in, time and time again. I float weightlessly through the flowing, poetic world sung by John Lennon, like I'm a part of his thoughts in this song that feels like his stream of consciousness as he meditates on what wonders surround him. It feels lonely, but peaceful, and the line "nothing's gonna change my world" moves me every time.
It's spiritual, and beautiful, and I've chosen a specific mix for my playlist that keeps the orchestral arrangement but un-muddies it (I find the Phil Spector mix found on "Let It Be" overly hazy). I know John probably intended something closer to the "naked" version (guitar only) but I really believe the strings make the song soar.
27. Loser - Beck (1994)
Hey, it's a song about me! He's even singing the chorus in Spanish ("soooooy, un perdedooor!" (I'm a loser)!
I love healthy doses of absurdity. I think it's a healthy part of a balanced diet. Beck's nonsense lyrics in this grimy slacker song, a song I've loved essentially my entire life, somehow exude a most excellent confidence, a scrappy "this is who I am, but whatever, I'm owning it" attitude. It's weird, it's funny, it's trashy, it's best listened to in a banged up car with a broken stereo, and it comes out as this effortlessly cool anthem for, well, "losers" everywhere. Get crazy with the Cheez Whiz!
28. Drive - The Cars (1984)
This is it, this is my favorite 80s song, hands down. This track, from The Cars's masterpiece of an album, "Heartbeat City", a song not sung by frontman Ric Ocasek but instead by Benjamin Orr, makes me feel like I'm floating, a sensation I first mentioned that I seek in this era's music when I discussed "Space Age Love Song".
The synths are just, immensely beautiful to me here. They form a knot in my throat, and whereas the majority of the songs on my playlist give me nostalgia because I lived the time period in which those songs came out, "Drive" has the magical effect of making me feel nostalgic for a decade I never experienced. Through it, I am placed in a car, and I drive alone on a highway towards a big city, on a lonely night in 1984.
29. Voices- Saosin (2006)
Now back to MySpace. As everyone knows by now, 2006 was a big year for me, and the music that came out during it has preserved my memories forever within each note and lyric.
"Voices" hooked me from the very first listen, and it became probably the most heavily played track on my iPod. It found its home on the background of my MySpace profile just like "Until The Day I Die" before it, and it has inspired a great deal of imagery in the development of my upcoming comic, Rock & Roar 2.
It is an emo anthem, with all the raw vulnerability and emotion we've come to expect and love of the genre. The song gives me such a rush, like I'm right there in a small venue show, feeling all the huge feelings with all my fellow emo kin.
30. Sailin' On - Bad Brains (1982)
Blown-out, furious, and overall sounding like a (perfect) hot mess, "Sailin' On" is my pick for favorite hardcore song, and the self-titled album as a whole is one of my favorites in the whole punk sphere. Called "the mother of all black hard-rock bands" these guys were seriously influential in their time and to this day. They aren't just a punk band, there's reggae, funk, soul, and hip-hop elements throughout their work too. They're freaking cool is what I'm saying, and I think "Sailin' On" is the coolest track on the album.
31. Don't Change - INXS (1982)
Another 80s song that has captivated me with its synths, especially at the very start of the song, "Don't Change" rides that line between new wave and straight-up rock. The song charges forward with high energy, feeling like an invigorating anthem, and indeed, INXS had made a tradition of closing out their live shows with this song on the regular.
If I may talk about Rock & Roar for a little bit, it's this song that gave me the perfect point of reference for how I imagine Fearless Minds would sound. So now, I can't hear this song without also thinking about Rock & Roar, and the lyrics about being authentic to yourself happen to fit pretty well too.
32. 23 - Jimmy Eat World (2004)
Goodness, "23" is a beautiful, tear-jerking song. I don't even feel the over 7 minute runtime of this song, I'm that captivated by it. It builds up slowly, gradually adding more and more layers of glimmering sound until it reaches its climax with the speaker seeming to realize that he's ready now - to grow up, to take on what comes next. Now, this is my interpretation, but the music picks us up off the ground and gets the speaker and the listener moving on, even running, as if telling us that we have to get our life and ourself through this thing, else "you'll sit alone forever if you wait for the right time". Chills.
33. Waiting Room - Fugazi (1989)
To any of us who have ever felt like we're waiting for our turn while everyone else seems to be in motion, this song hits hard. "Please don't leave me to remain" is a powerful line.
The fantastic bassline perfectly captures this anxious waiting for me, and I love the long pause at the beginning of the song. It's like "Oh! Is it my turn? ...No? Ok. Back to waiting".
Fugazi were part of the Washington D.C. post-hardcore movement of the late 80s - the very same scene that birthed emo! Frontman Ian MacKaye in general was an irrefutable influence on early emo, and when we look at these open and confessional lyrics, we can totally see that throughline.
34. Pork And Beans (2008) - Weezer
I adore Weezer for the humor that touches so much of their work, keeping things from getting too serious and yet preserving the heart in their music. "Pork And Beans" has the song's protagonist standing up to everyone who tells him he's gotta do this or that to be who they want him to be. He's at a point in his life where he's "fine and dandy with the me inside", and he doesn't give a HOOT what you think. I feel that, and I love that, especially at this point in my life.
Add an irresistibly catchy beat so we can dance and sing along, as he says, and I think this is my favorite Weezer track.
35. I Miss You (2003) - blink-182
Yup, a cousin burned this album for me and gifted me the CD. It wasn't my introduction to blink-182 -that honor goes to Enema of the State - but it is my favorite album, filled to the brim with nostalgia from that year.
"I Miss You" became my favorite track off the album right after the first listen. The quieter, percussion-led track almost felt emo in the grand scheme of blink's work, and considering the zeitgeist of the time, it fit right in. There's a great sense of bitter-sweet nostalgia forever encased in this song for me, and the melancholy tone of the song reinforces that.
36. Spellbound - Siouxsie and the Banshees (1981)
"Spellbinding" is the perfect word to describe this witchy song that tumbles and spins you within its spooky narrative. I got into Siouxsie and the Banshees during my high school goth phase (spoiler: it wasn't a phase) and this song lingered with me the most. I love, love, love that guitar work, and the swirly magic of the whole track. As if that wasn't enough, the scary-story lyrics are just my jam. No matter how many years go by, I'll forever be entranced, "following the footsteps of a rag doll dance" with this one.
37. Goodbye Horses - Q Lazzarus (1988)
I am fascinated by this haunting track and its speaker, who refuses to accept that this material world - these "horses" - is all there is. Oh no sir, there is so much more beyond this mortal plane.
It's a dark wave classic made famous for its inclusion in The Silence of the Lambs, forever causing the song to be associated with the horror genre as a whole, which just makes me love it even more.
38. Bug Eyes - Dredg (2005)
Dredg's 2005 album, "Catch Without Arms", came to me - you guessed it - via burned CD from my cousin, who's musician older brother knew some of the members in the band, because their bands played in the same San Jose-area scene.
The entirety of the album immediately became one of my favorites, and remains so to this day. The tracks range from wonderfully weird and experimental to entirely relatable, like "Bug Eyes", which will hit close to home for anyone who's ever lost their way in life and realized they need to make a change. "Bug Eyes" is the most well-known song by Dredg, having even gotten its music video on MTV back in the day. I find everything about it, from the open-diary lyrics, to the vocals, to the soaring, down-pouring sound of the lap steel guitar, beautiful.
39. Rock Lobster - The B-52s (1979)
I love The B-52s. They will really write the stupidest lyrics, and perform them with all their heart and humor. Needless to say, their concert was one of the most fun parties I've ever attended. I love that this band lives for the absurd. Their unbound creativity shines through on every wonderfully weird track, and in their even weirder hair and looks.
That's not to say Rock Lobster is total nonsense, there's clearly a beach theme holding the song together, and that memorable surf guitar riff (one of my favorite guitar riffs of all time) anchors that theme perfectly. Decorated with ridiculous "sea animal sounds" (just listen to it. It's impossible to describe in words.), the song gets a laugh out of me no matter how many times I've heard it, and I've been hearing it for a long time; this song was my favorite as a little kid, and I played it over and over and over (and over and over and over...) again so I could dance to it. I'm sure my parents just loved that.
40. 1901 - Phoenix (2009)
This exhilarating song bounces off the walls and lifts my spirits whenever I hear it. It's another college-era favorite, and it was my ringtone from the time I got my first smart phone until I graduated.
It glimmers with all the charisma of that charming French alt rock band, who I had the enjoyment of dancing to in person when they headlined Coachella in 2013. "Euphoric" is the best word to describe that experience.
The lyrics supposedly reference Paris at the turn of the 20th century, a time that is perceived as its cultural peak, at least in the romanticized retelling of the so-called Belle Époque. And there's something about a relationship in there. But let's be real, we're not here for the lyrics. We're here for the vibes, and "1901" delivers the most danceable vibes we could ask for.
41. The Sanity Assassin - Bauhaus (1983)
I got super into goth in high school as I said, and Bauhaus are goth royalty. Gothic rock is, of course, nebulous and dark with spooky imagery, and "The Sanity Assassin" is a fantastic example of it, a horror story in audible form. It illustrates a villainous character who "spikes your dreams with madness", and "keeps your fat paranoia well-fed". The song's a goldmine of my favorite lyrics, delivered in an increasingly startled and startling tone by goth legend Peter Murphy.
42. The Taste of Ink - The Used (2002)
"The Taste of Ink" isn't exactly a happy emo song, but it's triumphant in the face of a hard struggle and a stifling environment. Bert McCracken and his band The Used have "made it"; they escaped the clutches of their home, addiction, and everyone who held them down. From his beginnings in Utah, to now arriving at "my chance to break out", there stands Bert "top the bright lit city", as he sings "here I am, it's in my hands, and I'll savor every moment of this".
It's worth noting how upbeat the song sounds in general too when compared to the rest of The Used's work, and I would love for you all to see how much this beloved track gets a crowd grinning and dancing at a live concert.
43. American Idiot - Green Day (2004)
This song struck me like a lightning bolt when I heard it in public while I was visiting family in Mexico in 2004, and I couldn't believe how much I loved it right from the start. The music changed my brain chemistry right in that moment of my 12-year-old life, and I passionately pursued the album immediately, knowing that I had to hear more. It got me before "Helena" by MCR did, so it was like my first skim of the surface of what would become my full deep dive into my alternative punky self by the time MCR came into my life. "American Idiot" somehow felt like the first song that was truly mine, not influenced by what my friends or parents were listening to, as if I was the first person in the world to discover Green Day. A thought that cracks me up, but again, I was 12. The "American Idiot" CD in its entirety would go on to be my greatest treasure, and I resonated with the lyrics that expressed what I was feeling about current events at the time, but didn't have the words to articulate.
44. My Immortal - Evanescence (2003)
Another hugely influential song for me in my budding adolescence was this beautiful, somber masterpiece that makes everyone the main character, laying dramatically in their own music video as they listen to it. Or is that just me?
It played on my MySpace page, its lyrics decorated my LiveJournal blog, I wrote them cryptically on my notebooks and in my AIM away message, and it probably became part of my personality at that point.
The piano sure is pretty on this song, but I've chosen my favorite version with the whole band at the end for my playlist.
45. Only The Ocean - Jack Johnson (2017)
Jack Johnson, a surfer himself, knows and loves the ocean like a best friend who is always there, and he sings to the ocean itself in this serene love letter. First released in 2010, it was re-recorded for the surfing-themed film The Tribes of Palos Verdes, and it's this quiet version that really moved me to tears.
Everyone who knows me knows how much I love the ocean. To walk by it, to surf in it, to admire its vastness and beauty. Jack Johnson sings a sentiment I share with him; when the world feels too overwhelming, the ocean will always welcome me home.
46. Saturn - Sleeping At Last (2014)
I conclude my playlist with a song about death, and "how rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist". I am filled with wonder whenever I look up at the night sky, right into our universe and its infinite stars. I have seen Saturn with my own eyes through my telescope, and my eyes flooded with tears as I beheld it, just like they did when I heard this song for the first time.
When writing it, Sleeping At Last imagined the children of astronomer Galileo Galilei mourning their father, finding comfort in his legacy and in that sense of wonder that he instilled in them through his teachings about the night sky, such as the way "light carries on endlessly" even after a star dies. Earth has a transparent atmosphere which allows us to see the night sky, as though it had been "made just to be seen by my eyes", for us to be inspired by it, to be filled with awe at the majesty of it all.
It's a magnificent song that I cannot adequately describe in words. It must be experienced. It is a gift to the world, and I am so thankful to Sleeping At Last for it.