“90s Throwback Jamz”
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It is pretty much essential that everyone in our generation have a 90’s playlist somewhere. It helps us connect with a time that has long since passed, and that many of us probably don’t have a complete memory of, (I’m looking at you, freshmen. I feel as though you can’t be lumped into the “only 90’s kids…” category by being born in 1997. Who really remembers when they were two years old?)

The 90’s were an interesting decade musically, the grunge music was in full swing, boy bands were big, and alternative music was just starting to come out of the woodwork.

The first song that needs attention is “Send Me On My Way” by Rusted Root. The best description of the song that I’ve heard thus far was provided by one of my coworkers: “If you hate this song, you hate fun.”

The instrumentation on this song only adds to its jubilant nature. The guitars give the song a certain sparkle, while the penny whistle plays these melodies that just exude happiness. Pair all of this with the multitude of percussion instruments, and overall, it just induces dancing with the greatest of ease. The lyrics of the song are full of nonsense “words” such as “oombayseeyou” and “seemoobadeeyah,” but his voice is full of such joy that that scarcely matters.

Another important song on this list is “My Name is Jonas” by Weezer. Weezer is a band that seldom gets the recognition they deserve.

The Blue Album, which this piece is on, in and of itself is pure gold. Half of the songs on it were hits on the radio and all of the songs are infectious, with the right mix of punk, angst, and just catchiness. “Jonas,” in particular, is interesting mostly because of the frequent dynamic alternations between quiet acoustic guitar arpeggios and loud, distorted, electric, punk power chords.

This, coupled with the triple meter, puts the song in this interesting space that is not often found in other early alternative hits. Not to mention that this song has a harmonica solo in it, which is pretty indicative of the 90’s all by itself.

Finally, I would like to speak of the anthem of the 2000s “All Star” (it was released in 1999 so it still counts, don’t worry.) Now, everyone always makes fun of this song and plays it off as a joke, but it’s actually a pretty interesting piece if you listen closely. The chord progression is incredibly odd (it incorporates a chord built upon the tritone, the most dissonant note in any given key and was called the devil’s interval in olden times.) Not to mention the fact that just about everyone I have ever met knows every single lyric to the song. When you’re with your friends having a good time, a song like that cannot be beaten.