Being a teenager is weird. As the years go by, it gets harder and harder to remember how things felt and how thoughts were processed during that oh-so-moody and hormonal era. Music is one thing that brings me back to the mindset I had back then.

My view on the world was extremely limited and I, like most teens, went through a rough phase (I had to be home schooled for a year due to extreme anxiety). Yet listening to the tunes that rocked my world back then doesn’t make me sad, nor does it activate some sort of blinded nostalgia and feeling of longing for a simpler time (it sure wasn’t).

In many ways, my life is so much better than it was back then. Still, there’s something about going back to those years through the power of song,i f only for a few minutes. I wanted so bad to be a rebel back then. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very good at it: I once bought a Marilyn Manson cassette (the one where he is naked and has the body of an androgynous doll on the cover) and proceeded to throw it away after a few hours because it freaked me out too much. A true revolutionary I was…

Attending the Vans Warped Tour in 2002-2003 and wearing a Vulgaires Machins sweatshirt was probably as close as I came to being a punk (and that says a lot).

I graduated high school in 2004. This means that my teenage years occurred at the peak of boy bands, nu-metal, christian rock and pop-punk. Musically speaking, those were confusing times and although I’m glad some of the genres didn’t survive past the first half of the decade, I can still appreciate their small contribution to the history of music.

Although there are many duds, some really good music was being made. Therefore, as an ode to the track listings of north american alternative rock radios of the late nineties/early two thousands (99.9 THE BUZZ forever!), I prepared a playlist that showcases some of my favourite songs back then. I am not ashamed to say that I still enjoy each and every one of these songs, for many different reasons.

I have always listened to a broad variety of musical genres, including during my teenage years, but these are the songs that most remind me of my teenage years:

Cover photo credit: Flickr creative commons- Ted Van Pelt

This is the list of artists and songs if you don’t feel like going through the whole playlist but are curious to know what is on it:

Stone Temple Pilots: Interstate Love Song
A Perfect Circle: Judith
Deftones: Be quiet and drive (far away)
Jane’s Addiction: Stop
Our Lady Peace: Superman’s dead
Bad Religion: Kyoto Now
Green Day: Long view
Pearl Jam: Better man
The Offspring: The kids are alright
Nirvana: Heart shaped box
Indochine: Juste toi et moi
Noir Désir: Lost
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Otherside
Blur: Song 2
Korn: Falling away from me
Hatebreed: I will be heard
Pantera: Walk
Nine inch nails: Closer
The Smashing Pumpkins: Bullet with butterfly wings
Papa Roach: Last Resort
Marilyn Manson: Disposable teens
System of a down: Fuck the system
Sex Pistols: Anarchy in the UK
Limp Bizkit: Break stuff
P.O.D.: Boom
Rage against the machine: Sleep now in the fire
Grimskunk: Gros Tas
Groovy Aardvark: Dérangeant
Vulgaires Machins: La chasse est ouverte
Silverchair: Anthem for the year 2000
AFI: Silver and cold
Caféine: Tu ne peux pas partir
The Distillers: Drain the blood
Rancid: Time Bomb
MXPX: Punk rawk show
Anti-flag: Die for your government
Pennywise: Bro hymn
Blink 182: Dammit
NOFX: Champs Élysées
Flogging Molly: What’s left of the flag
Millencolin: Fox
Sum 41: Fat Lip
Goldfinger: Open your eyes
Lit: My own worst enemy
New Found Glory: Something I call personality
Something Corporate: I woke up in a car
Barenaked ladies: It’s all been done
Cake: I will survive
311: Come original
Beck: Mixed Bizness
Gorillaz: Feel Good Inc
Bloodhound Gang: The bad touch
Sublime: Wrong way
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones: The impression that I get
Everclear: Volvo driving soccer mom
Gob: I hear you calling
Harvey Danger: Flagpole Sitta
Violent Femmes: Gone daddy gone
Beastie Boys: No sleep till Brooklyn
Veruca Salt: Seether
No Doubt: Just a girl
Eve 6: Inside out
Third Eye Blind: Semi-charmed life
Oasis: Don’t look back in anger
Iggy Pop: Lust for life
Radiohead: Paranoid Android
Placebo: Every you every me
The Breeders: Cannonball
Weezer: My name is Jonas
Alanis Morissette: All I really want
Fiona Apple: Criminal
Garbage: Stupid Girl
Incubus: Drive
Foo Fighters: Learn to fly
Pixies: Where is my mind
Air: Sexy boy
The Verve: Bitter sweet symphony
Bjork: Cvalda
Tori Amos: Crucify