Music Gives Me Feels

Do you have any songs that make you sing so powerfully the experience brings a tear to your eye?

... I may have a few of those. In fact, a fair few are from my middle and high school years, and I still listen to them on occasion for the nostalgia factor.

I was born early 1994, meaning my teenage years range from 2007 to 2013, to give you some context ... but it doesn't mean there are only songs from these years. (I have one from the 1980s on this list!)

Note: I won't got through EVERY song, but I hope you take a listen through the playlist and explore what feelings come up for YOU from each song -- enter into it with curiousity.

"Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven

I don't know what it was about this song, but I remember clearly being obsessed with it at age 14! (This one didn't actually make me tear up, but I always belted it at the top of my lungs.) If I had to take a wild guess, considering the lyrics, I'd say this was one of the horniest points of my life and, well ... the song is basically about someone who's awkward (like me!) and trying to talk to the opposite sex and wanting to go to a "dark lit place, or your place or my place".

"Haunted" by Evanescence

My brother's ex-fiancée bought me the Evanescence album with this song (Fallen, I believe), and it was the first album where I loved EVERY SINGLE SONG. It is STILL rare for me to find a whole album where every song is great. The reason I put "Haunted" on the playlist over the others is because of Amy's "Ohhhhh, ohhhhh" (x2) towards the end -- so powerful!

"Stupid MF" by Mindless Self Indulgence

... I'm not proud that this is on my list. But the list wouldn't be authentic if I included it. I loved the F word far too much as a teen ... and a 20-something ... I think it's because I've always been seeing as the goody-two-shoes/prude, and dropping F bombs makes me feel edgy and cool (even now, still -- but usually only when context calls for it, not too many unnecessarily).

(However, the R word is also in this song, and I DO NOT condone that!)

"Hit the Floor" by Linkin Park

Linkin Park, and the Meteora album, have new meaning to me now as an adult ... but I don't think there's angstier lyrics than the chorus talking about being on top one minute and dropping the next, and again, I would be belting this chorus (how could anyone not?).

Also: Honourable mentions to "Numb (Encore)" and "Breaking the Habit"

"Lonely No More" by Rob Thomas

I was single for quite a few years -- from 16 onward, to be exact. (Until I met the love of my life at 25!) I know there's more complexities to this song, but the main part I focused on was "I don't wanna be lonely no more!" Some days, it hurt more than others ... and I sang louder, and cried harder.

"I'm Free" by Kenny Loggins

Growing up, my Dad introduced me to movies from the 1980s (which I am so grateful for!) -- like Footloose. Kenny Loggins is probably more well-known for singing the title track, "Footloose". However, "I'm Free" is also on the Footloose soundtrack and I love it 100 TIMES MORE! Singing about how love's the only thing keeping him here, and someone special is the reason he's hanging on ... Kenny has a big heart when it comes to love, just like me!

"Everytime" by Britney Spears

'Angsty' is typically seen as being under the rock or metal genres ... and Britney is definitely not those. Despite this coming from a pop sensation, tell me you didn't cry listening to/singing along with this song? Especially when it gets to the "I may have made it rain" part -- EVERY TIME! (No pun intended ...)

*****

As you can see from the songs I've shared, my music taste has always been ecclectic -- 80s, pop, rock, country ... I think I've got a decent representation here. And it has expanded much more now in my 20s. But I love reflecting on my teenage years; I love looking back and remembering what I used to listen to on my iPod Shuffle. It wasn't ALL angsty and emotional, but that IS what being a teenager is about -- the big feelings, the big changes, the big confusions in our lives ... and I'm so grateful there were (and are) songs in my life to help bring clarity to the confusion, and to provide me with an outlet for tears on occasion -- like a permission slip.