A Typical Cliché

Music saved my life. I bet you read that, rolled your eyes and thought “what a cliché” but it is true. Growing up, I didn’t have the best home life and through my teenage years I ended up getting into drugs and drinking to try to cope with it. The only constant my life had with a sense of normality was music. They say that your life reflects in the music you listen to and I’m living proof of that. Every song I listened to always spoke to me in ways I couldn’t understand. With Billie Eilish becoming popular in recent years, I’d like to talk about the “sad girl” music before her that will always be iconic.

You Me at Six. A modern rock band that will always hold a special place in my heart. With all the songs they have, you’ll find it hard not to connect with at least one that’ll resonate with whatever teenage angst you got going on in your soul. With songs like “underdog” and “Room to Breathe” to match your anger and “stay with me” and “No one does it better” to help you in your sadness, I’ll be surprised if you don’t find at least one song you like. This can also be said about the great bands Panic! At the disco, Fall out boy and My Chemical Romance. From 2010 and onwards, they’ll forever be known as the Kings of Teenage Angst.

Underdog- You Me At Six

Room To Breathe- You Me At Six

Stay With Me- You Me At Six

No One Does It Better- You Me At Six

With the rise of Billie Eilish in the music scene, I couldn’t write an article on music from my teenage years and not mention the real queen of teenage angst that came before her. Melanie Martinez. She only had one real mainstream song, Dollhouse. With 305 million views on YouTube, she broke into the minds of all teenage girls from 2014 and 2015. Lyrics like “Everyone thinks that we’re perfect, please don’t let them look through the curtains” she resonated with every teenage girl who tried their best to show everyone they had a good home life when really things behind the door may not be everything it was made out to be. Once finding her song “Dollhouse” I became officially obsessed with her. With every song of hers I came across it felt like she was singing about my life and songs like “Mrs Potato Head”, “Pity Party” and “Soap” became an everyday anthem.

Dollhouse- Melanie Martinez

Mrs Potato Head- Melanie Martinez

Pacify Her- Melanie Martinez

Soap- Melanie Martinez

Here is another newer Melanie Martinez song which I had to include in here.

Show And Tell- Melanie Martinez

After singing to You Me at Six and Melanie Martinez at the top of my lungs for a couple years, I found an artist which spoke to me on a different level, a level I didn’t even understand at the time. Eden or The Eden Project was introduced to me by an old friend who was going through very similar things to me. Instead of just being angry or sad when listening to his songs, my emotions, instead, became more complicated. I’d always go into a trance like state and end up thinking of how to better my life. Maybe it was the hypnotising music or the lyrics he sang or a combination of the both but I couldn’t stop listening to him. No matter what mood I found myself in, I would always be able to find a song that what elevate that mood or change it into the mood I wanted to be in. When I was sad, I would listen to songs like “Drowning” and “Gravity.” When I was happy, songs like “XO” and “Sex” would always keep me in a really good mood. When I was angry and wanted to calm down, I’d always find myself listening to “end credits” and “drugs.” Eden has become the artist that will follow me throughout my whole life and the only teenage angst I’d want to keep.

Here is a list of his bangers:

Some newer ones:

After listening to all these songs, I'm sure you are in the mind of a 16 year old girl who doesn't know where she is going in life.