16 Songs from when you were 16
When We Knew Life Sucked — and Creative Geniuses Like TLC and Beck Led The Way
According to a Gen Xian Who Turned 16 in 1994
The Oregon Trail Generation Xers were melancholy, apathetic, and angsty. Other times we were absurdist free spirits with a pragmatist bent. We embraced escapism and felt soothed by musicians who did the same. And, sex. And, love. Like all generations, we were infatuated.
Before The Internet and free-for-all-opinion forums, musicians expressed our gamut of emotions.
I turned 16 in the summer of 1994.
A lot of crap went down in ’94. NAFTA was born. Tonya Harding whacked Nancy Kerrigan at the Olympics. There was a 6.7 earthquake in Northridge, California. Racial inequity and AIDS were an ongoing undercurrent to our,
“What the f*ck, “Grown-Ups?!”
Also, The Bosnian War, Kurt Cobain’s death, and many stellar album releases, including CDs (that was the medium then) by Green Day, Nirvana, TLC, Beck and many more.
1994 was a good year to be a teenager.
Hogan Torah succinctly noted, “We thought our parents had all the fun in the 1960s. But, looking back, being kids in the 1990s was pretty cool.”
In the 1990s, we knew the adults were clueless malevolent bastards.
FYI: The following list is worth setting aside an hour and twenty to watch.
Random fact 1: I am a Gen Xer who grew up without MTV except for my two years in Oakland, California.
Random fact 2: My first boombox was gifted to me in Oakland, California. I was 13. I played Boyz II Men, En Vogue, and Garth Brooks all the time. My music consumption was through the radio, friends, and purchased CDs.
16 Songs From When I Was 16–1994 Edition
“Another body laying cold in the the gutter
Listen to me
Don’t go chasing waterfalls”
-Crazysexycool
Black “Girl Groups” were a big part of my growing up in the 1990s. Specifically TLC, Salt N’ Peppa and En Vogue.
I was clueless TLC’s “Waterfalls” is about the AIDS epidemic. I belted it out with the badass women of TLC, feeling empowered AF.
It’s a peppy song with a sad story.
When I worked at a Women’s Resource Center in High School, I blasted this on a boombox — for us kids.
For all of us.
Decades later, it brings to light my obsessive fear of the AIDS epidemic as a 90s kid.
The pervasive sadness and confusion that some people didn’t believe in human rights for all people.
TLC dished pragmatic, compassionate advice. If you are engaging in risky behavior, STOP.
“Like a nervous magician waiting in the wings
Of a bad play where the heroes are right
And nobody thinks or expects too much
And Hollywood’s calling for the movie rights”
-four
Sticking with the peppy theme, this Blues Traveler song is upbeat. The story is about a distressed friendship. At 16, I loved belting this out.
Now, it feels a little, um, passé. Sorry, Blues Traveler.
“My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to God”
-The Downward Spiral
Caution: There’s nudity in the MTV video.
Artists were trying to make sense of SEX as a beautiful, powerful thing to sing about. Not a puritanical thing to repress. As a teen, it was confusing.
This concept of holding seemingly contradictory thoughts (I’m flawed and unworthy + I love how sublime I feel when I’m with you) was ingrained in some of us Gen Xers.
SEX: That sounds like fun!
SEX: That could lead to AIDS and DEATH.
SEX: Nevermind.
“You may find out that your
self-doubt means nothing
was ever there
You can’t go forcing something”
-Dookie
As a Gen Xian who mostly didn’t have MTV growing up, it’s been a hoot (yeah, I talk like I’m 80 sometimes) watching these for what seems like the first time. Surely I caught some of them at friends’ homes or the years I lived with my parents in Oakland, California.
I do remember catching this on MTV one time at one of my best friend’s homes in Norman, Oklahoma. She was obsessed with one of the band members. I don’t remember which one. She’d play the CD when we cruised Lindsay Street.
So, yeah, nostalgia.
“Lightning crashes
An old mother dies
Her intentions fall to the floor”
-Throwing Copper
I felt reincarnation and hope along with sadness when I listened to this song at 16. It still evokes these emotions in me at age 43.
It may be an overplayed earworm of a song now, but I still love it.
“All I wanna do is have some fun
Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard”
-Tuesday Night Music Club
Like, really! We’re 16. Can we just smoke, drink, make love, and be merry?
NO. Not so much.
Escapism?
Hell, yes, please.
Sheryll Crow, Thank you.
“Feeling uninspired
Think I’ll start a fire”
-Thank You
Stone Temple Pilot’s “Creep” encapsulates the impotence I felt at 16 to fix the world.
I knew STP’s “Creep” was about the world wearing you down.
At 16, I already felt pretty worn down by the world stage.
“I know a girl who thinks of ghosts
She’ll make you breakfast
She’ll make you toast”
-Transmissions From the Sattelite Heart
I’ve never been a huge Flaming Lips fan despite having grown up south of Oklahoma City — their stomping grounds.
“She Don’t Use Jelly” was a familiar, silly, absurd song I enjoyed listening to. Still do.
“Love is in the water
Love is in the air
Show me where to look
Well me, will love be there?”
-Hints, Allegations & Things Left Unsaid
At 16, I was obsessed with love. I had major crushes and was painfully shy. My crushes were on guys, and I was so afraid of them judging me, that I didn’t take a chance on them until college.
Ironically, love is still a huge theme in my life. It’s more of a universal mode of healing know that I’m in my 40s: self-love, compassion, empathy.
At 22, I found love with my now-husband, David. So, 16-year-old Aimée, no worries, you found that elusive love Collective Soul sang about in the 1990s.
“The shades go down
It’s in her head
Painted room
Can’t deny there’s something wrong”
-Vitology
From about ages 14–to 18, I estranged myself from my dad and step-mom, Lil. There’s been major healing since then. I didn’t necessarily get this song, but I got the emotion in Eddie Vedder’s voice, and that was all I needed for a cathartic moment.
“Stuttering, cold and damp
Steal the warm wind, tired friend
Times are gone for honest men”
-Superunknown
Hello, exhaustion and apathy.
“Don’t let the days go by
Glycerine, glycerine”
-sixteen stone
Different impact when you’re in your 40s: Nostalgia for days gone by. At 16, it was more of nostalgia for days to come. Is that melancholy?
Smart, Bush. Very smart.
“You can’t write if you can’t relate
Trade the cash for the beef for
the body for the hate”
-Mellow Gold
Remember the L on your forehead insult? It came from this. I think.
Beck helped an entire generation of lost kids reclaim our self-esteem by belting out “Loser.”
Confusing? Yes.
True? Also, yes.
The same friend who played Weezer and Green Day on repeat invited me to tons of cool concerts. One was Beck. We drove down to Dallas and caught his show. I don’t remember what year, but it was likely the late 1990s.
“All alone is all we are
All alone is all we are”
-In Utero
Talk about channeling personal despair.
I didn’t realize how much Nirvana I listened to until years later. I loved this song, but I’m not sure I even knew Nirvana sang it. The obsession with Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love felt weird to me.
“If you want to destroy my sweater (Woah, woah, woah, woah)
Hold this thread as I walk away (As I walk away)
Watch me unravel, I’ll soon be naked
Lying on the floor, lying on the floor, I’ve come undone”
-Weezer
The same friend who had Green Day on repeat loved this song as well. We listened to it. A lot.
“From 7–7
He’s got me open like 7–11”
-Very Necessary, Salt-N-Peppa, ft En Vogue
My 1990s love song. Salt-N-Peppa and En Vogue delivered wisdom on the dating front.
At 16, I was there for it, taking notes for when I’d finally date in college.
Narrowly missing the cut: Tom Petty’s “Last Dance With Mary Jane,” Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice,” and “Better Man” by Pearl Jam.
Songs that grabbed my attention from 1994, but as a grownup, include “Freedom of ’76” by Ween, “Cornflake Girl” by Tori Amos, and Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah.”
Random fact 3: I felt I *should* love Tori Amos and Liz Phair, but they weren't really my thing.
Tagging writers I think will rock this challenge, if you’d like to participate: Gentry Bronson Nia Simone McLeod Laquesha Bailey Sarah Paris Danielle Loewen Hogan Torah Lindsay Rae Brown 
