Pop Culture | Music | 90s
20 Songs You'll Instantly Recognize Even Though You Haven't Thought About Them Since The '90s
All too often when we're looking back at a period in music, there are plenty of songs that just get lost to the sands of time. Unless it was a #1 hit or a particularly notable one hit wonder, it's so easy for it to just slip from our memory completely, no matter how many times we listened to it back then.
Luckily for you, we've hunted down some of these forgotten classics. Prepare yourself, as soon as you hear these songs, they're going to be stuck in your head all over again.
Sixpence None The Richer - "Kiss Me"
While their other successful single, a cover of The La's "There She Goes" has a way darker meaning than we ever imagined, "Kiss Me" is their most successful song, reaching #2 on the Billboard charts. You probably haven't thought about this song since the last time you watched Dawson's Creek.
Snow - "Informer"
To be honest, this song might actually be better off forgotten, if only because the only lyrics we could ever decipher other than "informer" is "A licky boom-boom down," which is just too damn much, even for the '90s.
Tracy Bonham - "Mother Mother"
The '90s sure did love its angsty alt-rock, and Tracy Bonham's break-out single is a perfect example. Don't even pretend like teenage-you didn't scream right along every time she sang "everything's fine."
Eels - "Novocaine for the Soul"
Another song that was perfect for all of us hitting the angsty peak of our teen years during the '90s. But while "Mother Mother" was all yelling our emotions, Eels' "Novocaine for the Soul" was the opposite, all smooth, chill vibes and philosophical lyrics like "This paint-by-numbers life is f*cking with my head."
Sneaker Pimps - "6 Underground"
Britain has given the music world plenty of gifts over the years, and in the '90s one of those gifts was the trip hop subgenre. While most peope think of bands like Massive Attack or Portishead, the band Sneaker Pimps found mainstream success with their first album, Becoming X, thanks to singles like "6 Underground."
Monster Magnet - "Space Lord"
While they also had success with their 1995 single "Negasonic Teenage Warhead," it's really 1998's "Space Lord" that psychedelic rock band Monster Magnet are known for. The song's music video, a parody of the video for Mase's "Feel So Good," was actually the first music video aired during MTV's Total Request Live.
Donna Lewis - "I Love You Always Forever"
Really the only successful single for Welsh singer Donna Lewis, "I Love You Always Forever" made it to #2 on the charts. It was kept out of the #1 spot by Los Del Rio's "Macarena," which is a shame because I'd much rather that song get forgotten.
The Flys - "Got You (Where I Want You)"
This song is about as well-remembered as the movie it appeared in, 1998's Disturbing Behavior, meaning pretty much no one remembers it. At least they got to make a music video with Katie Holmes.
The Sundays - "Here's Where the Story Ends"
Like other women-fronted indie bands in the '90s (looking at you, Six Pence None The Richer and The Cranberries), The Sundays had a sort of dreamy, mellow rock sound. While you definitely have heard their song "Here's Where The Story Ends," you've probably also heard their cover of The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses."
Fastball - "The Way"
A song that I guarantee you remembered all the lyrics to as soon as you heard it again. While the lyrics make it sound like a nice story about a couple headed off on an adventure, the song's inspiration was actually a whole lot darker. Singer Tony Scalzo got the idea for the song after hearing about an elderly couple who disappeared on their way to a Pioneer festival, and were later found dead at the bottom of a ravine hundreds of miles away. At least the song's catchy.
But being catchy didn't help us remember it. It definitely didn't help us remember the rest of these songs, either...
Billie Myers - "Kiss the Rain"
The perfect song for anyone in a long distance relationship, "Kiss the Rain" is easily Billie Myers's best-known song. Like the first song on this list, you probably remember this one from an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Days of the New - "Touch, Peel, and Stand"
Despite being one of the staples of alt-rock in the late '90s, Days of the New aren't so much remembered for their songs as they are for their contentious break-ups, the seeming revolving door of band members, and singer/only consistent member Travis Meeks's battle with drug addiction. A shame considering they were one of the more talented alt-rock bands of that era.
En Vogue - "Free Your Mind"
En Vogue are probably one of the most underrated pop groups of the '90s. While they had plenty of hit singles, "Free Your Mind" proved how cool fighting prejudice could be.
Our Lady Peace - "Superman's Dead"
Another song that was great to sing/scream along to during our angsty teen years. Maybe us forgetting how much we loved this song is what they meant by that "the world's a subway" line.
Jimmy Ray - "Are You Jimmy Ray?"
I honestly don't know what's weirder, the fact that we legitimately loved this song in the '90s, or the fact that we forgot about it so quickly, especially considering that it's probably the most bizarre song to come out that decade.
Jennifer Paige - "Crush"
She hasn't stopped making music since we all had a crush on her song, "Crush," but sadly Jennifer Paige just hasn't gotten the love her music deserves. She even has a recent single called "Forget Me Not." Oops.
Goldfinger - "Superman"
When it comes to '90s rock the only thing more common than grunge/alt-rock was ska. While we still remember No Doubt and Reel Big Fish, we tend to forget about Goldfinger, even though a bunch of their songs, including "Superman," were in tons of movies in the '90s and early 2000s. I guess Our Lady Peace was right after all, Superman's dead.
EMF - "Unbelievable"
Considering how massive a hit this song was, it's unbelievable that we would end up forgetting it.
Republica - "Ready to Go"
To this day "Ready to Go" gets used in plenty of ads and literally every time we hear it again we can't help but say "oh yeah, this song" before we completely forget it again.
The Presidents of the United States of America - "Peaches"
You would think that a song entirely about one man's love for peaches would be hard to forget, but here we are. Honestly, if we're going to remember just one song from the '90s, it should be this one, because the music video is pretty incredible.