’90s music equates to dance party in my household. My daughter and I are constantly bopping around to alternative, hip hop, punk, rock… basically all things ’90s and wonderful. After having a child of my own, I have come to really contemplate some of the song lyrics that I sung along with 15-25 years ago. Yes, 1990 was 25 years ago.
1. “Ask those trees for all their wisdom
They tell me my ears are so young (home)
Go back to from whence you came (home)
My family tree my family name (home)
For some strange reason it had to be (home)”
~Tennessee, Arrested Development
Racial diversity is one of the reasons I really wanted to live in a city. This song from 1993 is thought provoking, then, and now. As a parent, I’m on a constant search for wisdom. There are so many deep seeded issues in America. I feel like this song, while dark in many ways, also proffers a strange mood of hope.
2. If I had my little way,
I’d eat peaches every day
Sun-soakin’ bulges in the shade
~Peaches, Presidents of the United States of America
While I always figured this song was in some way, shape, or form about female anatomy, now all I think about is baby food. Copious amounts of baby food. And it’s so lighthearted and catchy.
3. “I don’t believe that anybody
Feels the way I do, about you now”
~Wonderwall, Oasis
While I really don’t appreciate the arrogance of the lead singer, this song truly does make me feel. And now when I look at my daughter, I’m pretty sure these particular lyrics are 100% true.
4. “Must have been mid after noon.
I could tell by how far the child’s shadow stretched out.
And he walked with a purpose in his sneakers down the street.
He had many questions like children often do.
He said, “Tell me all your thoughts on God.
And tell me, am I very far?”
~Counting Blue Cars, Dishwalla
I love the innocence of children. The joy, the trust, the inquisitiveness. I love the directness of their questions. As someone who thinks of the concept of God in philosophical terms, I would totally enjoy asking someone to tell me all of their thoughts on God.
5. “Tag Team back again
Check its records let’s begin
Party on party people let me hear some noise
DC’s in the house jump jump rejoice
There’s a party over here
A party over there
Wave your hands in the air
Shake your deriere”
Whoomp! (There It Is), Tag Team
This is just pure instructional dancing. Baby girl and I crank it, wave our hands like we just don’t care, and relish in some upbeat vibes. It’s a lot more fun watching a baby dance than it is watching me dance. But sometimes you just can’t take yourself so seriously and you need to cut loose!
6. “I saw the decade in, when it seemed
The world could change at the blink of an eye
And if anything then there’s your sign
Of the times
I was alive and I waited, waited
I was alive and I waited for this
Right here, right now
I was alive and I waited, waited
I was alive and I waited for this
Right here, right now, there is no other place I wanna be”
~Right Here, Right Now, Jesus Jones
Birth story of my daughter. Plain and simple.
7. “So I walk up on high
And I step to the edge
To see my world below
And I laugh at myself
While the tears roll down
‘Cause it’s the world I know
Oh it’s the world I know”
~The World I Know, Collective Soul
I’ll be honest. I never thought I’d have a child. So this song resonates with me in the fact that, if I take a step back and look at where I am now, I laugh at my old self, and I cry happy tears, because this is the world that I knew was possible, and this is the world that I currently live in. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
8. “Girlfriend, let me break it down for you again
You know I only say it cause I’m truly genuine
Don’t be a hard rock when you really are a gem
Baby girl, respect is just a minimum”
~Doo Wop That Thing, Lauryn Hill
When it comes time to have the sex talk, I seriously might just play this song. Beauty of it is it works for both boys and girls, sons and daughters.
9. “Society, No one here can get along ’cause our history’s too long
Sincerity, Think you’re going with the flow but you never really know
Society, To all the leaders it’s a game and it’s making you insane
Society, Data patterns are supplied proof to back up all the lies
We’re hardly alive”
~Society, Pennywise
Some things don’t change. Unfortunately. I want my daughter to question everything and formulate her own thoughts and opinions. I want her to look deeper than surface level. I want her to ask questions, but more importantly, I want her to seek solutions. I want her to truly live, and live with purpose.
10. “Time is never time at all
You can never ever leave without leaving a piece of youth
And our lives are forever changed
We will never be the same
The more you change the less you feel
Believe, believe in me, believe
That life can change, that you’re not stuck in vain
We’re not the same, we’re different tonight
Tonight, so bright
Tonight
And you know you’re never sure
But you’re sure you could be right
If you held yourself up to the light
And the embers never fade in your city by the lake
The place where you were born
Believe, believe in me, believe
In the resolute urgency of now
And if you believe there’s not a chance tonight
Tonight, so bright
Tonight
We’ll crucify the insincere tonight
We’ll make things right, we’ll feel it all tonight
We’ll find a way to offer up the night tonight
The indescribable moments of your life tonight
The impossible is possible tonight
Believe in me as I believe in you, tonight”
~Tonight, Tonight, Smashing Pumpkins
Ok, I used the entire song here. It’s nostalgia. It’s zen. It’s hope. It’s uniqueness. It’s support. It’s honesty. It’s life, all wrapped up in one song. I want my daughter to live in the moment. To see the beauty of every precious second. To know that I believe in her. To never waste time on the small things. To be her own person. To live and to love and to feel.
