The iPod nano That Started it All

My love of music was kickstarted by this relic of 2008. She was my best friend on bus rides to and from my elementary school. This small hunk of silver, in all 4GB of its glory, could be the catalyst of my teenage angst.

But I would argue it started when Santy Claws slid a brand-spanking new copy of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock under the Christmas tree. Believe it or not, this game, with its early 2000s graphics and crazy pagan plot, was a huge contributor to my emo rock phase as a child.

In between challenging the devil to guitar shredding battles and playing as a repurposed Russian warhead (it’s a really weird game), I’d be lying if I said I still don’t rock out to many of the songs on this playlist to this day.

That, tied with my exposure to Dad Rock, stealing my brothers slightly newer iPod nano to listen to EXPLICIT songs, and junior high mood swings...this, my friends, crafts the playlist you see before you...

1. Barracuda by Heart

Kicking off this list is a song that will be associated with me until the day I die, which is perfectly fine because it’s a banger. This classic rock song by badass lady rockers Ann and Nancy Wilson immediately caught my eye (or my ear, you could say) as an impressionable kid when I heard it during Guitar Hero gameplay. It’s one of maybe five or six songs in the entire game that is sung by a woman, and between the driving backbeat of the drums to the classic, relentless heartbeat of the main guitar riff, I knew as a ten year old that this song was rad.

So much so that it was my first and only pick to sing at my hometown’s version of American Idol, which is a moment my parents will never let me forget. Here I am preparing for the big performance...

Years later, I would learn that this song was about the Wilson’s being displeased with their label and frustrated with the money hungry music industry, but as a kid, this song made me feel powerful. And it still does today. Check out the soundtracks of I, Tonya or Birds of Prey to hear it in action.

2. When You Were Young by The Killers

Past, present and future - this is my favorite song to play on Guitar Hero. It is the only song in the entire game that I have scored 100% accuracy on (YES, it was on easy mode but let me have this one) and despite the endless meme content on The Killers and their music, this song is simply beautiful.

It was this lyric in particular that intrigued me as a kid...

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus, but he

Talks like a gentlemen

Like you imagined when you were young

Maybe it was the biblical reference? Maybe it was the fact that this man looks like a man you imagined in your daydreams who was suddenly right in front of you? It tugged at my heart strings then and now.

And of course, who could forget this ~pure poetry~ from the bridge?

The devil's water it ain't so sweet

You don't have to drink right now.

But you can dip your feet,

Every once and a little while...

Temptation! Love! Decisions! And it's this bridge that swells beautifully into the last repeat of the chorus, now with a sense of celebration and freedom as an undercurrent.

This is the type of song you play on your boombox outside someone's window. This is a song you sing to someone you love. This is a song that makes me feel immense love and nostalgia with each listen.

Also, it's a great karaoke song.

3. I'm Just a Kid by Simple Plan

A break from the Guitar Hero setlist and a homegrown angsty classic! THIS.

This. Is pure angst.

This is laying in bed on a Sunday night dreading another treacherous week of junior high.

This is when your best friend says they can't go to Culver's after school with you because they have homework, but when your mom picks you up and drives past, you see your best friend eating butterburgers with someone else.

This is staring out the bus window with a failed math test burning a hole in your backpack, headphones blaring, because you know your parents will be disappointed!

I once had a discussion with a friend about which Simple Plan song is angstier, I'm Just a Kid or Welcome to My Life (4.), and I held fast that I'm Just a Kid was the epitome of angst, so nothing could be angstier. She disagreed and went with the latter, so I suppose we are blinded by our own angsty bias. Take a listen and decide for yourself!

5. Miss Murder by AFI

BACK TO GUITAR HERO CLASSICS! WOOHOO!

Another banger and a song that I only know because of GH! Go figure!

This song is also one of my best in term of note accuracy (on MEDIUM thank you very much!) and has a cool alternative punk flair that underscores the other classic rock selections. It's has a very nefarious sound and strange lyrics. Going back to it as an adult, it's ripe with bibilical and historical references, and makes statements about the dangers of worship, the inevitability of death and one's obsession with spirtual purity or lack thereof.

But, once again, as a kid, I just thought it sounded ~cOoL~ !!!

Finding this song on iTunes also exposed me to another one of AFI's songs, Prelude 12/24 (6.). This song is haunting and honestly quite creepy, but since it was short and so addicting to listen to, it quickly became one of my top listened to songs on my iPod. Somehow listening to the song elicits the image of snow falling, possibly due to the light tinkering in the beginning. Listen to it on a snowy day or when you're in the dark and you'll definetly get goosebumps.

7. Bring Me to Life by Evanescense

You can NOT claim yourself as an emo kid and not have this on your iPod shuffle and/or nano and/or touch! This is an angsty teen right of passage, and though Prelude 12/24 was close, this held the spot for the most listened to song in my music library from 2008-2010.

I remember hearing this song on the radio when I was ten and thinking it was SO INTENSE. I had never heard anything like it, and I immediately knew I had to have it. I scoured iTunes and the rest was history, headphones were blown out, my little baby speaker system was cranked to eleven, I couldn't get enough of this song.

I know it's low hanging fruit for the Evanescence fans out there, but you can't deny its impact, from emo kid nostalgia to that Vine of that fake baby in the crib. See below.

My love for this song paved the way for TWELVE (12) whole Evanescence songs being downloaded to my iPod. Some of my other favorites were Everybody's Fool (8.), Sweet Sacrifice, Going Under (9.), and Tourniquet for similar reasons. Amy Lee does truly have a unique, beautiful voice and a whole lot of range. Whether you're dipping back in the cool lakes of nostaliga or just wanting to hear those featherlight vocals, check it out!

10. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

I mean, COME ON. C'MON. You knew this was coming. You saw it when you clicked on this article.

It's a given. It's a right. It's a necessity.

Kurt Cobain's vocals? Dave Grohl's drumming?

"I feel stupid and contagious"

Need I say more?

I'm sure this is in Guitar Hero's gameplay somewhere, I'm sure this song is going to be on everyone's angsty playlists, but that doesn't detract from the fact that this song is amazing.

It's the angst from your teenage years, mixed in with the frustration from your 9 to 5, topped off with the dread of getting old.

It's being tired and pissed, today, tomorrow and everyday, but still being able to laugh about it. And rock out.

That's the best part. The rocking out. That's the fun part.

And even with all the memories and the emo angsty music listed above, it's still so much damn fun to listen to.

Whether it's taking a walk down memory lane or rolling your eyes at how ~deep~ you thought you were.

Or jumping around and dancing like a fool when that guitar solo comes through your speakers at a million decibels.

It's a stitch in time for how you were. And it shaped who you became.

So find that dusty old iPod touch or classic. Pick up your old Zune that's hidden between yearbooks in the basement, and indulge yourself in angsty you. Past, present and future... xx

TLDR: my ever present 4 gigabytes of angst, take a listen!