Songs To Dramatically Stare Out Of A Rainy Window And Cry To

I was a teenager during the prime (and decline) of MySpace. If you never used MySpace back in its' glory days well firstly I would like to apologize because you truly missed out on something special. Arguably the most important part of your MySpace page besides your top 8 was the profile song you chose, and if you were like me then you changed it frequently to send passive-aggressive messages to whoever had wronged you.

I went to a private school in Louisiana where you weren't popular unless you had the newest Dooney & Bourke purse. Spoiler Alert: I didn't. My school went from Kindergarten to Senior year. I grew up with these same people from age 5 to 18. In Elementary school all of us were best friends but, that quickly changed when we reached middle school, and name-brand labels started to matter more than loyalty.

Luckily during middle school, I found a few lifelong best friends who valued character over Coach bags. I was stuck between wanting to look like an Abercrombie & Fitch model and one of those popular scene girls from MySpace (you know the ones). But, unfortunately for me, my mom wouldn't go for the scene girl's haircut. So on the outside, I was the preppy girl she wanted me to be, and was only able to express my teenage angst - and boy, was there a lot of it, through my music choices.

The following list is in no particular order.

Three Days Grace - "Pain"

I mean honestly, would any 2000's era angsty playlist be complete without one Three Days Grace song? This was one of my go-to's when my crush of the week didn't text me back or danced with another girl at one of the school dance parties. I know, how dare he? The lyrics really spoke to teenage me who had yet to learn anything about love or heartbreak.

Pain without love

Pain, I can't get enough

Pain, I like it rough

'Cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all

Simple Plan - "I'm Just A Kid"

Is there anything worse than being a teenager? I certainly didn't think so. Boy was I was in for a rude awakening once it came to adulthood. This was my jam when any minor inconvenience would occur. Friends made plans without you? Simple Plan has got you covered with this timeless bop.

I'm just a kid

And life is a nightmare

I'm just a kid

I know that it's not fair

Nobody cares

Blue October - "Into The Ocean"

I'll admit, I had never heard of Blue October or this song until the "love of my life" in middle school, who never dated me, put this as his MySpace song or into his AIM profile. It's been so long now I can't remember which. At first, I liked it because I liked him. Back then I was convinced if I could show a boy I had the same taste in music as him, then he would magically fall in love with me. Future me has thankfully learned that is not how things work at all. I still enjoy this song and haven't spoken to the aforementioned "love of my life" in over ten years.

I want to swim away but don't know how

Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean

Let the waves up and take me down

Let the hurricane set in motion

Let the rain of what I feel right now come down

Brand New - "Seventy Times 7"

I still listen to Brand New and especially this song when I'm feeling particularly angry. The lyrics and insults in this song are things I've for sure thought in my head during my worst moments but would never actually say aloud. It perfectly expresses how I've felt after betrayal and heartbreak. You know, like when your best friend would take you off her top 8 without warning, or when you catch your "boyfriend" holding hands with another girl.

So is that what you call a getaway?

Tell me what you got away with

Cause I've seen more spine in jellyfish

I've seen more guts in eleven-year-old kids

Seether - "Broken ft. Amy Lee"

A classic, and another one of my go-to jams when anything shattered my fairytale life that I had imagined in my head. I hadn't heard it in years until I went back to my "Mood Swings of 08" playlist, but it sure brings back some memories of boys I can't even remember the names of now.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you've gone away

You've gone away

You don't feel me here anymore

Skillet - "Comatose"

When I tell you I was an angsty dramatic teenager, I mean it. I had never even kissed anyone until the age of 14, and it was my best friend as "practice". But teenager me just KNEW that Skillet was speaking to me with these lyrics. Little old me knew all about heart break even though I had never even had a boyfriend.

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe

'Less I feel you next to me

You take the pain I feel

Waking up to you never felt so real

Papa Roach - "Scars"

Everything about this song from the music video to the lyrics was so powerful to teenaged me. As I've mentioned before, I had no experience in love until much later into my teenage years but did that matter? Nope. I knew exactly how Papa Roach felt, like when my crush would put up an away message instead of responding to my IM. Now that was heartbreak.

I tear my heart open

I sew myself shut

And my weakness is

That I care too much

And our scars remind us

That the past is real

I tear my heart open

Just to feel

Sick Puppies - "All The Same"

There are so many more songs I would blast on my iPod to make it through those angsty teen years. But, I'll round it off with one of my all time favorites that I still jam to sometimes. That music video - playing their hearts out in the pouring rain? It was just perfection to the younger me. Topped off with those lyrics, this song is just *chef's kiss*.

Go ahead, tell me you'll leave again

You'll just come back running

Holding your scarred heart in hand

It's all the same

And I'll take you for who you are

If you take me for everything

Do it all over again

It's all the same

I could go on forever about the teenage angsty songs that shaped me and got me through every seemingingly life-altering dilemma. Music helped me cope back then and still does to this day. Would I want to relive my teenage years? Absolutely not. I've learned so much about myself, real love, heartbreak, and real problems that I thought I knew so well back then. My issues were all very trivial in my younger years, but as a teenager all of your emotions are so amplified that any minor inconvenience feels like your world is ending. Don't misunderstand me, adulting sucks too. But, as you grow you realize what matters and what doesn't.

"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive" - Elbert Hubbard