I’ve been on a 90’s kick here recently. Not sure why. Maybe because I almost died and the 90’s remind me of a time in my life when I was a young adult and very much alive! A lot of good things happened to me back then. A lot of bad things happened too. When I package it all up and look at it as a whole, it comes off as a Bitter Sweet memory. For some reason every time I tried to tell Alexa, or Spotify, or whatever streaming music service flavor of the year to play a 90’s Pop list, it stuck a bunch of rap and hip-hop in there also. If you like that kind of music, more power to you. Other than a few novelty songs of that genre, it’s not my bag, baby. So I made my own Spotify play list of 90’s songs. I listed them below with what memory (if any) they trigger in me. They are listed in no particular order other than how I entered them in the playlist. What better one to start with than this one…

Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve

This song evokes a memory of a movie. Cruel Intentions. It’s played at the end of the movie when Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character is outed for all the shit things she did. Honestly, I probably never would have even watched this chick flick if it hadn’t been for one thing. I heard SMG interviewed on the Howard Stern show and she said there was a moment in the film where she kissed Selma Blair. Well, hell, I wasn’t missing that! The rest of the movie turned out to be pretty good too.

Wonderwall – Oasis

I remember this one floating around the charts in the late 90’s. The memory this one brings back is of me changing one of the lyrics. And after all, you’re my wonderwall to And after all, you’re wearing my wonder-bra. It got the occasional laugh when I sang it out loud, but most of the time it got me a weird look.

Losing My Religion – R.E.M.

I don’t really get a memory hit from this one. I do remember it playing all the time in the early 90’s. Ironically, (Not Ironic from Alanis, we’ll get to that one) only years early I lost the religion I had been immersed in my whole life.

Ironic – Alanis Morissette

Cross my heart, swear to die, I did not know this was the next song in my playlist when I wrote the above parenthal. Alanis Morissette is the Ambassador of the 90’s. Another one of her songs is the official anthem of the 90’s (wouldn’t that be ironic if it was next?) but this one makes me think of the video. Her multiple selfs riding in that car just singing her bitter little heart out.

Mr. Jones – Counting Crows

Nope it wasn’t next. This one was. This one brings back a memory of one of my girlfriends in the 90’s. She loved this song and always cranked the volume when it came on.

Two Princes – Spin Doctors

No specific memory other than hearing it on the radio all the time in the 90’s.

Torn – Natalie Imbruglia

This one invokes a memory of another lyric change but I won’t be writing them here because it was a bit dirty and made women wince when I sang them. My first wife particularly did not like it when I sang my version.

Iris – The Goo Goo Dolls

This one makes me think of Los Angeles. It was being played all the time in the late 90’s when I moved out to the west coast. Did you know that the word “Iris” is nowhere to be found in the lyrics?

She’s So High – Tal Bachman

For some reason this one always makes me think of San Diego. I think it’s because the first time I heard it was on the radio in my rental car when I was driving from Ventura to San Diego for a work trip.

Zombie – The Cranberries

This one doesn’t evoke a memory of a place or time but just a recollection of how unique I thought Dolores O’Riordan’s voice was. I didn’t know until years later that the song was actually about the death of two children during an IRA terrorist attack. The world lost Dolores in 2018 when she got drunk and drowned.

All That She Wants – Ace of Base

Ace of Base seemed to usher in the 90’s and this song makes me think of the early years when I was still a young father with one kid and one on the way.

Closing Time – Semisonics

This one hit wonder reminds me of exactly what the Semisonics were singing about. I was a newly single man and had just moved to the west coast near the LA area. I definitely heard this song played in several of the bars and clubs I closed down while exploring the area. Also, another dirty lyric change for this one.

Tubthumping – Chumbawumba

This song evokes a very specific memory of the bedroom I rented from an older lady when I first moved to the west coast because I couldn’t afford anything else. It was a good set up with the room being the only one on the second floor with its own bathroom. There was a big oversized padded chair in that room that was on wheels and rotated. I sat it in a lot while I was listening to the radio, watching TV, or in front of my desktop computer.

Kiss from a Rose – Seal

This one summons VERY STRONG memories of when I became single after my first divorce and ended up living in a one bedroom apartment in Jacksonville, FL. This song played constantly on the radio when a future girlfriend and I would eat San Francisco sour dough burgers from Hardee’s, drink beer, and geek all night on a dial-up BBS called First Coast Chat.

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) – Greenday

Greenday was all over the 90’s and just makes me generally think of the decade. They were a band full of whiners that sang about how shitty the world was, but damn if the tunes weren’t catchy and I found myself humming this one quite a bit.

I’d Do Anything For Love – Meatloaf

Here’s another one with a very specific memory recall. This song played a lot on the radio when I would spend time with my friend Chip in his garage playing darts and drinking Busch Light Beer because I could get it for $9 a case at the Navy Package Store in Mayport, FL.

Learn to Fly – Foo Fighters

No real specific memory for this one. It just reminds of the late 90’s. Funny video! Is that Jack Black?

I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fred

This was one of my guilty pleasure songs of the early 90’s. It’s a silly song but I found myself bopping along with it as he made fun of models.

Fly Away – Lenny Kravitz

Another song that came out right after I moved to the west coast and makes me remember all the times I flew away doing my new job. I may have been living on the west coast but the nature of my job kept me constantly flying to the east coast, the pacific northwest, Florida, Mississippi gulf coast, Hawaii, and Japan.

Shiny Happy People – R.E.M.

Another one with no specific memory recall but R.E.M. ruled in the 90’s.

What’s Up? – 4 Non Blondes

For some reason this song makes me think of a very specific moment when my first wife and I were driving near the intersection of I-95 and I-295 in Jacksonville. This song was on the radio and she commented on how she didn’t like it. I did like it and in the back of my head I realized we didn’t like a lot of the same things. Less than a year later we were divorced.

Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden

Hearing this song now reminds me of the mid-90’s when I was close to being single again and getting a bit into the grunge scene that all the guys and gals I was chatting with on BBS’s seemed to be into. I didn’t go full grunge but I did listen to a lot of that type of music.

3AM – Matchbox Twenty

Another mid-90’s song that reminds me of my then new single life. Hearing this often at 3AM when I was either geeking online or just getting back from a club for the night.

Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers

This song evokes memories of the early 90’s when I was serving aboard the USS Monterey (CG-61) in the Navy. I remember thinking how the RHCPs usually sang hard hitting music and this one was a bit out of the ordinary for them because of the more relaxed ballad like tone.

You Oughta Know – Alanis Morrisette

THIS is the Alanis song that is the official anthem of the 90’s. How could you hear this song and not think of the year 1995 when this feisty little Canadian burst on the scene with her jagged little pill of a song. Did she really just say that? Was the thought that went through my head when I first heard this song on the radio. They beeped out a couple words in those lyrics on the radio but it wasn’t hard to figure out what she said from the context. I got to hear the real words not long after because I went right out and bought the Jagged Little Pill album on CD. That got a lot of play time in my three-disk CD player I had at the time. I also remember thinking how I would never want to get on Alanis’ bad side and I kind of felt sorry for the guy she was singing about. Turns out that guy was Dave Coulier, the goofy friend on Full House. Who would have thunk it?

Life Is A Highway – Tom Cochrane

This song evokes no memory of time or place. What it does evoke is another of my lyric altered originals. Yes, dirty, did you really think it wouldn’t be? Guess I’ll let you in on this one. Life is a highway, I want to ride it all night long to Your ass is a highway, I want to ride it all night long. There were other changes but I think you get the gist.

Don’t Speak – No Doubt

As soon as this song comes on I’m transported back to 1996. I’d just moved out of my one-bedroom apartment in Jacksonville to a trailer with my girlfriend and future wife #2. This new band on the scene had a unique sound and it also began my love affair with Gwen Stefani. It wasn’t a physical love (although she’s hot enough), it was a love of her music. I’d never listened to Ska and this started my immersion in it.

Crash Into Me – Dave Matthews Band

I had a fellow shipmate in the Navy and his name was Dave Matthews. For the short time we served together, he and his family used to spend a lot of time with us in the early 90’s. Whenever this song comes on I think of him and his family.

Something To Talk About – Bonnie Raitt

Even though this song came out in 1991, it reminds me of my BBS days in 1995. I met my girlfriend online in a time when that was unusual. We were both coming off divorces and didn’t want to be serious, so we played off our relationship as casual. Of course, all our online friends kept talking about us and we’d catch a snippet or two every now and then. After almost a year of trying to keep things on the downlow, we decided to make it official and give them something to talk about.

Only Wanna Be with You – Hootie and the Blowfish

This song was all over the radio in the 90’s. The actual memory it awakens in me is from a TV show. You might have heard of it, Friends. In one of the early seasons some of the group went to a Hootie and the Blowfish concert and got invited backstage where they met the band. The other part of the group that didn’t get to go asked Monica what that mark on her neck was. Turns out it was a hickey that was the work of one of the blowfish. I don’t know why, but I see that scene in my head every time I hear the song.

Walking in Memphis – Mark Cohn

Even though this song came out in the early 90’s it evokes a memory from the early 2000’s. Actually, it evokes two separate memories a year a part from each other. At the time, I was newly divorced from my second wife and was almost exclusively spending all my free time online chatting on the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) system. The channel I chatted in the most was named #30-40something. Just for any millennial or Gen Z’er that might be reading, we did use hashtags before Twitter. The channel had people in it from all over the country and even some outside. In early 2001 the people that ran the channel decided to have a get together in Memphis. I went to that get together that was held at a hotel there where they had rented out a party room. I had an absolute blast! I also met an Australian woman that I had been chatting with on IRC and we really hit it off. After the get together we began a long distance relationship that was mostly conducted online, although she did come and spend a month with me at my place in California. A year later in 2002, I was one of the people that ran the channel thanks to being recruited by another what they called Super Operator. Her nick was Caddy but her real name was Michelle. See where this is going? The relationship with my Aussie GF had gone down under and having met Michelle IRL on a Vegas Trip that several of the chatters had went on together, I commiserated with her a lot online. We got real close but I had sworn off women for a while after being burned by my recent breakup. Michelle pushed for a closer relationship and it was real hard not to give her what she wanted. We finally agreed that our first “date” would be at the second annual channel get together in Memphis. We would see how it went and go from there. It went great and 21 years later the rest is history as I am sure you have figured out by now that she is my wife.

Everyday Is A Winding Road – Sheryl Crow

Just general memories of the 90’s from this one.

Into The Great Wide Open – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

This one just kind of reminds me of moving out to the west coast like the band in the song does. I, on the other hand, didn’t make it big. Unless you count big in the radar technician business. Is that Johnny Depp? Oh boy, 90’s Johnny Depp, if I could only warn you about Amber Heard.

If It Makes You Happy – Cheryl Crow

Sorry Cheryl, this one evokes no specific memory either but you are definitely an ambassador of the 90’s.

To Be With You- Mr. Big

This one brings back memories of a specific time for me. Sometime around 93-94 the Navy sent me to a three week dBase course. Remember that database program? Not many do, but I was put in charge of a project to organize my shore commands trip report system. As of that time, all the technical representatives, both military and civilian, were just writing up reports in Word Star or Word Perfect (more ancient programs) for the jobs they did. There was no way to track them or a central database to look them up for historical data. It was going to be my job to build a database to input all that data. During the three week course which went from basic, to intermediate, to advanced training, there was a woman I met whose computer workstation was right next to mine. We hit it off pretty well and she had a great sense of humor. We kind of paled around together for the whole three weeks. One day we went to lunch together and To Be With You came on the radio in the car on the drive there. As I am sure you would be shocked to know, I had previously made up some very dirty lyrics to the song and not even thinking about it, I sang them out loud like I normally would when driving alone. After just a few of those lyrics I realized what I did and turned red with embarrassment. This woman actually laughed at them and made me sing the rest of the lurid lyrics which she thought was hilarious. In return, she taught me a bunch of dirty jokes she knew. I came very close to having an affair with this lady. The unspoken invitation was hanging right there, but in the end I was a married man and was trying to be a good boy. When the course ended we both went our separate ways and I never saw or talked to her again. Those were the days before smart phones and e-mail addresses that so easily keeps you in contact with casual encounters these days. It was probably a good thing they didn’t exist then I guess. Whenever I hear this song and knowing now all that would come after in that marriage, it makes me wonder if I actually dodged a bullet or missed out on an opportunity. BTW, just months after finishing that course and completing 50% of the database, the Navy officially switched over to all Microsoft products which rendered everything I had done useless.

Man On The Moon – R.E.M.

OK, R.E.M., let me see if I can come up with a memory from this one since I have dissed you twice already. It kind of reminds me of that movie, Man on the Moon about Andy Kaufman. I guess because it is a song about him. Sorry, best I could do.

One Week – Barenakedladies

This song makes me think about one specific line from the tune. “I’m the kind of guy that laughs at a funeral.” That’s me! Not because I am insensitive or I want to laugh, it’s because I DON’T want to laugh. Ever been in church and tried not to laugh at something that was funny during a sermon? I’m a preacher’s kid and I got swatted more than once from doing just that.

Linger – The Cranberries

This is another one that has Dolores O’Riordan’s voice mesmerizing me. I was in a car with a friend one time when this song came on. I commented on how I loved the lead singer’s voice and she called me dumb. We are no longer friends. Not because of that. Because of something much more sinister, but that is a story for another time.

Sex and Candy – Marcy Playground

I believe this was a one hit wonder also but it was all over the radio in 1997. It brings back memories of one of my first work trips after taking a civilian technical representative job for the Navy. I was working on a ship on the coast of Mississippi. During that job another high priority assignment came up in Jacksonville which I immediately volunteered for since I was within driving distance. I got to go do that job in Jax, visit with my kids, and my girlfriend, who wasn’t able to join me yet in California because of reasons. Between the two assignments I spend about a month on the road which was my longest trip at that point.

Breakfast At Tiffany’s – Deep Blue Playground

Surprise, surprise! I made up some dirty lyrics to this one too, but what it reminds me of is the shit I would get from my girlfriend when I sang them. You see, her daughter from a former marriage is named Tiffany. The Tiffany in my lyrics did not come off looking too good. To be fair, I did make up the lyrics before I met her.

Friday I’m in Love – The Cure

This was simply a ballad for the weekend which I was all too happy to raise a beer (when I could drink back then) to whenever it came on the radio on Friday; or pretty much any other day of the week too.

Loser – Beck

This just reminds me of my exploration into Grunge.

Runaway Train – Soul Asylum

Nothing specific. Just like the song.

Semi-Charmed Life – Third Eye Blind

This song reminds me of the 90’s movie Contact with Jodi Foster. In the opening sequence of the movie they play this song as they show the earth receding into the solar system to the galaxy and eventually into the universe while playing different radio transmissions from history that demonstrates how far the signals have traveled. Many years later I learned this song was all about doing crystal meth! I shit you not, have you ever really listened to the lyrics? I wonder if the producers of that film did, because I sure don’t remember Ellie doing that shit!

Steal My Sunshine – LEN

OK, this one was/is cheesy, but it was a guilty listening pleasure. I didn’t advertise back then that I liked this song, but I did. It just seemed to pep me up.

I Touch Myself – Divinyls

Oh boy, what do I say about this one? It was the 90’s national anthem for masturbation. Oh, that video. Oh, that furry tail. I have to admit, I might have touched myself a few times while watching it. And of course I made up even better lyrics for how she touched herself!

Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover – Sophie B. Hawkins

I had a thing for Sophie Bee in the 90’s. She was one of the first openly gay singers. I probably had a thing for her because she was unattainable, not because she was a lesbian, but because she was Sophie Bee and I was just me.

You Get What You Give – New Radicals

Another 90’s catchy tune, but no specific memory.

Bitch – Meredith Brooks

This song came out in 1997 but it actually reminds me of the year 2000. That was the year I split from my second wife and I really got into chatting on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). That’s where I met my third (and hopefully final) wife. I chatted online almost every night. I hardly watched TV other than football and a few of the sitcoms on NBC’s must see TV on Thursday night. In the chat channels you could run a music program that would let you listen to songs of your choice and would also put that info out into the channel. If you had the same program and the same song it would automatically start playing it on your computer if you allowed it. A lot of women liked to play that song. One in particular, her nick was Dee, played it all the time! She claimed she was most definitely a Goddess on her knees! In 2001 I attended her wedding in Las Vegas to another guy she met in that channel. I never did ask him if she backed up that claim. Also, this was the first time I met Michelle, my wife, in real life. We weren’t together then but we were not too long after. (See Walking in Memphis above)

Smooth – Santana/Rob Thomas

This one reminds me of a specific bar I hung out in when I lived in California. It was called Pirates and they served what they called galleons of beer. It might has well been called gallons of beer, that’s how big they were. And yes, I’ve sampled my fair share of them. I first started patronizing that bar when it was just a little hole in the wall in a small upstairs room in an area called Channel Islands Harbor. This song always seemed to be playing on the jukebox. A couple of years later it expanded to another spot in the harbor and I faithfully followed. Even more years later they lost the lease at the harbor and moved out to a place near the airport. I followed and I tried to stay loyal, but they retooled the place to make it more like a restaurant than a bar. I was a dart player of the highest order and the previous versions of the bar had a gaming area with boards and pool tables. This one tossed a few dart boards in a corner but you could hardly play because they were so close to tables. Some of the patrons did not like it when one of our darts would end up sticking in one of their Long John Silver burgers. I eventually drifted (see what I did there?) away from Pirates and started hanging out at a place called O’Leary’s where my love for shuffleboard (not geriatric cruise ship kind) began. There is some stories from that bar, but another time.

OK, if you are still reading and have been counting, that’s fifty songs so far and I have over 100 in my playlist. I am going to break this into two parts. Not for you, for me. I’m tired of writing this thing. Catch you for part two down the road.

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