I was a pretty boring teenager growing up in Middle Class America in Salt Lake City. I was not a rebelious teen – instead focusing my energies on earning a college scholarship to play baseball (which ended up happening). I did not go to parties, nor did I partake in any drug or alcohol usage. I spent a lot of time at home on the weekends, and only really left home once I started dating my lone high school girlfriend in my senior year.
But if you looked at the music I was listening to at that time, you would get an entirely different picture of me. I would appear angst-ridden, depressed, and genuinely unhappy – all of which could not have been further from the truth. I know grunge died before my highschool years, but the bands I listened to were sort of the off-shoots from mid-90’s bands of Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Jane’s Addiction.
All of the bands on this playlist are from my 10th-12th grade years of 2000-2002. As I was making this playlist, I found I could literally sing 90%+ of all the words in these songs even though it has been 10+ years since I have listened to some of these. They are not the best songs in the world (some are downright bad), but they do hold a special spot in my heart – a link to youthfulness as I now tredge through my 30th year of life and listen to MUCH better music.
