(8)Cos these are the best days of my life (8)

Before we start... who remembers that (8) on MSN was the musical note? Just me? No? Good, Let's go!

2004- 2012 was the time when music really supported and guided me through what can be quite a tumultuous time for teenagers. This was a time when everyone had an iPod or a Sony Walkman phone and break times at school were filled with 'bluetooth me that song' or 'send it to me over messenger tonight' or for others, music was an opportunity to just be able to take a moment to lose yourself and break up the constant cacophany, that is secondary school and teenage life.

Before we get started, if you like any of these angsty tunes and want to find them in one handy spot, you can find all of them (and more) on my 'Throwbacks' playlist on Spotify which can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dBpmzZFvpJY4OqtjKJsYA?si=xprbJxl0RLm_DAuXIwWSPg

1) Eminem: Encore (album 2004)

I'm cheating slightly here as this whole album defines most of my teenage years, but it was the first time I'd really steered away from the innocent songs of Steps and S Club 7 and understood more than just a catchy beat. It was the first time I truly connected with lyrics that were fuelled with such raw emotion.

Especially tracks such as Mosh, Like Toy Soldiers and Encore/Curtains Down (that I'm proud I still know all the words to) were just such a world away from what I was used to. For the first time, songs were angry, angsty, full of swear words that were discussing and describing topics I had no experience in, and yet here I was, rapping away as best I could to every word.

Time's up, game's over, you lose, I win

'Bout to show these knuckleheads how to do this here

Ooh yeah, new year, next phase begin

Look who's got you goin' crazy again,

I'm a trend, I set one every time I'm in,

I go out and just come back, full circle again,

You a fad, that means you somethin' that we already had

But once you're gone, you don't come back

Still gives me goosebumps.

2) I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic! At the Disco (2005)

A classic that never fails to bring people of a certain age to the dancefloor. I remember going into HMV with my Dad to buy the single on CD and it was completely sold out! Having to resort to listening to it on the music channels until I could finally buy the CD, copy it over onto my iTunes account and play it 'til my heart's content.

Oh, well imagine,

As I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor,

And I can't help but to hear,

No, I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words.

"What a beautiful wedding,

What a beautiful wedding", says a bridesmaid to a waiter

"And, yes, but what a shame,

What a shame the poor groom's bride is a wh*re"

Name a more iconic opener to a song?

3) All the Small Things - Blink-182 (2000)

It took me

Late night come home

Work sucks, I know

She left me roses by the stairs

Surprises let me know she cares

Say it ain't so

I will not go

Turn the lights off

Carry me home

Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na

Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na

The irony being of course I had no idea at this point how much a day at work does suck, but I sure belted it out like I did. It took me years to realise they were actually taking the mick out of bands like N*Sync and Backstreet Boys in their videos!

4) Savior - Rise Against (2008)

It kills me not to know this,

But I've all but just forgotten,

What the colour of her eyes were,

And her scars or how she got them.

I was first introduced to Rise Against in the days of playing Guitar Hero on my Nintendo Wii. Those first couple of riffs followed by the opening verse before the drums kick in, instantly cheered me up and made me want to dance and hit all of the correct notes for a new high score! After this introduction to Rise Against, I found more songs (also on Guitar Hero) such as Satellite and Hero of War that even now, I try and remember the right notes to play on my imaginary air guitar.

5) Girl all the Bad Guys Want - Bowling for Soup (2002)

I remember hearing this one during my teenage years, but it wasn't until I actually worked a Bowling for Soup gig that it really hit home what a fantastic tune this really is. Full of that feeling of will that person want to go out with me? They're out of my league but I'll just try anyway, I don't actually know anything about them, but they're cool and I want to be cool too!

Full disclosure - I had no idea what a 'two-way' was, but during this research I found out BFS were talking about a pager! Also, as this came out in 2002, Bowling for Soup actually reimagined their lyrics for 2019 at Reading and Leeds festival. Check out them singing the updated version here, well worth a watch!: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=454706475115974

8 o'clock, Monday night and I'm waitin'

To finally talk to a girl a little cooler than me

Her name is Nona, she's a rocker with a nose ring

She wears a two way, but I'm not quite sure what that means

And when she walks

All the wind blows and the angels sing

She doesn't notice me

Cause she is watchin' wrestling

Creamin' over tough guys

Listenin' to rap metal

Turntables in her eyes

It's like a bad movie

She is lookin' through me

If you were me, then you'd be

Screamin' someone shoot me

As I fail miserably,

Tryin' to get the girl all the bad guys want

6) Numb/ Encore - Jay -Z and Linkin Park

To this day I still get goosebumps when I listen to the opening bars of this song, it's filled with so much emotion and was really the first time I'd listened to a band anything like Linkin Park. I'm embarrassed to say I jumped on this bandwagon when it first came out and I didn't realise Numb was a stand alone song by Linkin Park itself! However, because I liked it so much, I discovered their other classics such as In the End, What I've Done and Bleed it Out and they're still heavily featured on my Throwbacks playlist to this day.

I'm tired of being what you want me to be

Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface

Don't know what you're expecting of me

Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes

Every step that I take is another mistake to you

(Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)

And every second I waste is more than I can take!

I've become so numb, I can't feel you there

Become so tired, so much more aware

I'm becoming this, all I want to do

Is be more like me and be less like you!

7) Bring me to Life - Evanescence

I'm not afraid to admit that this song was probably my first taste of hard rock and it's a favourite genre that has only evolved over time. I can still remember seeing Amy Lee standing on the window of the building in the video for the first time and being truly captivated thinking, who is this and where can I listen to more of their music? I remember listening to the way the first verse starts so operatic and calm, before leading into the heavy guitar riffs and thinking, yes, this is the music for me. I then got to see Evanescence in concert while I was at university and it made my little teenage self very happy!

How can you see into my eyes, like open doors

Leading you down into my core

Where I've become so numb

Without a soul

My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold

Until you find it there and lead it back home

8) Pressure - Paramore

Now... the first time I heard this song it wasn't in English.

It was in Simlish! If you've ever played The Sims 2, you'll know that when your Sim interacts with the CD player, the Simlish version of Pressure comes on for you to dance to! I was completely over the moon when I realised it was an actual song, in English, and by one of my new favourite bands! Although, I still often sing the Simlish version whenever I hear it. Again, it was the angsty lyrics, the heavy guitars and the catchy beat that held me captivated, no wonder The Sims wanted in on it!

Check out the Simlish version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxQGE9y3xkQ

I can feel the pressure, it's getting closer now

We're better off without you

I can feel the pressure, it's getting closer now

We're better off without you

9) Hum Hallelujah - Fall Out Boy (2007)

Let me set the scene. I was in year 9, we were all sitting in the sun at lunchtime, ipods out with one headphone in (so we could still chat while listening to our music). One of the other girls, who was into more alternative, Indie music said, "here, you might like this." So I shared her headphones and within seconds, I'd asked her to send it to me on MSN that night! I'd heard other Fall Out Boy songs before and liked them, but there was something about this particular song, whether it was because it wasn't as well known as the others or what I'm note sure, but I loved it and from there I discovered the rest of the 'Infinity on High' album which includes classics such as 'Thnks fr th mmrs' and 'I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off'. What a great decision for Tori to share her headphones with me that day.

The road outside my house,

Is paved with good intentions,

Hired a construction crew,

'Cause it's hell on the engine.

And you are the dreamer and we are the dream,

I could write it better than you ever felt it,

So hum hallelujah,

Just off the key of reason,

I thought I loved you, it was just how you looked in the light.

A teenage vow in a parking lot,

'Til tonight do us part,

I sing the blues and you swallow them too.

10) Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (2006)

What angsty teenage playlist would be complete without the one and only Welcome to the Black Parade? I could go on and on about the drama, the emotion, the pure angst when the first verse repeats and it's Gerard Way's vocals near enough shouting, "WHEN I WAS... A YOUNG BOY... MY FATHER..." and you're suddenly there, in the moment, standing alongside the zombie-esque parade of people in black and white, ready for the drums and guitars to kick in.

This is the ultimate teenage angst song and I'm so glad it was my generation that got the gift of growing up with this song to release every ounce of frustration and confusion and turn it into something positive and feel good.

Now for good measure, let's sing it out and loud one more time!

When I was a young boy

My father took me into the city

To see a marching band

He said, "Son, when you grow up

Would you be the savior of the broken

The beaten and the damned?"

He said, "Will you defeat them?

Your demons, and all the non-believers

The plans that they have made?"

"Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom

To lead you in the summer

To join the black parade"