Best Known Song of Your Generation

[Anonymous]

Millennial - A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm GenX and I think most of us would probably know the top songs from the 90s. I could sing (or dance in some cases) along to any of these:

I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
I'll Make Love to You - Boys II Men
I Swear - All-4-One
Jump - Kriss Kross
The Sign - Ace of Base
Macarena - Los Del Rio
Waterfalls - TLC
Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-A-Lot
Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio
MmmBop - Hanson

I don't know if these are necessarily "representative" though.

I am horrified, PP, that any Gen Xer, when thinking about a song entitled Jump, thinks of Kriss Kross. Jump by Van Halen is the correct answer. I am embarrassed for you, PP. Be better.

DP. I was born in ‘77 and feel that Kriss Kris’s’ Jump is more of my time than Van Halen’s Jump.

I don't know what to tell you. I was born in '72, and Van Halen was one of the top bands of my childhood, and the 80s. Kriss Kross was . . . not.

A lot of opinions on this depend on the type of music you listened to. I was hard rock, hair bands, and some pop (Billy Joel, but that was geography based). I have heard all the songs the PP mentioned, obviously, but would have sneered at many of them. And would still sneer at some. (The Sign? Seriously? And Mmmbob? Yikes.)

You don’t have to tell me anything. I was just pointing out that depending on which end of the generational bracket you’re closer to, different songs are going to resonate. And I’m not even talking about songs I liked or listened to—I was never a fan of Kriss Kross or Van Halen, but more of an alternative rock kid—I’m just talking about “best known” songs, which is what this thread is about. As opposed to favorite songs from high school.

Oh, you're one of them. No further explanation required.

I am afraid I am going to need you to elaborate.

Although for the life of me I never understood what “alternative rock” was supposed to be an alternative to? It was normal rock-and-roll. Was it just a counter to the drivel that got played on American Top 40 or some shit like that?

Ironically some “alternative rock” bands now get played on regular rock stations. Bands like U2, REM, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Nirvana etc. All of those are “alternative rock” bands. Whatever the eff that ever meant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of Mr Brightside and I’m 45.

48, me neither.

Yeah you have. Or at least you have HEARD the song.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of Mr Brightside and I’m 45.

48, me neither.

Yeah you have. Or at least you have HEARD the song.

Agree, you have. I thought it was called jealousy or something else. I’m 46 and when my 13 yo said Mr. Bright side is a great song, I had no clue. And then he played it for me and I knew almost every word just from being alive during that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought mine was Cmon Eileen

Yes! Class of '94 and the biggest songs that got everyone on the dance floor in high school were--

-C'mon Eileen
-Paradise by the Dashboard Light
-Personal Jesus
-Jump Kris Kross
-Pump up the Jam

...And Sweet Caroline

And I guess Smells Like Teen Spirit, too

Agree - for ‘94 college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of Mr Brightside and I’m 45.

48, me neither.

Yeah you have. Or at least you have HEARD the song.

Agree, you have. I thought it was called jealousy or something else. I’m 46 and when my 13 yo said Mr. Bright side is a great song, I had no clue. And then he played it for me and I knew almost every word just from being alive during that time.

+1

If you were born before 1995 and you were living in the US (not in some cult ranch somewhere off grid) then you heard it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gen X.

Def Smells Like Teen Spirit and Sweet Child o’ Mine

But also:

Toto Africa
Police Roxanne
The Cure Boys Don’t Cry
Madonna Borderline
Simple Minds Don’t You Forget About Me
Michael Jackson Thriller
A-ha Take on Me


— Born 1971. Class of 1989.

Great songs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of Mr Brightside and I’m 45.

48, me neither.

Yeah you have. Or at least you have HEARD the song.

I looked it up online, and no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of Mr Brightside and I’m 45.

48, me neither.

Yeah you have. Or at least you have HEARD the song.

I looked it up online, and no.

I’m the poster who didn’t know I knew and I am jealous. It is not my favorite at all, but definitely osmosed into my brain.

[Anonymous]

Previous poster - i think you are correct - alternative rock was an alternative to mainstream hard rock/metal/glam metal and pop music/top 40. A lot of the radio stations that played it were weaker stations/less corporate.

I remember the emergence of the alternative rock format. A lot of the artists were either British New Wave/misc. UK artists or US artists who built a fan base in indie/college radio and college campus road trip touring.

Boomers around me were more likely to keep listening to their 60s and 70s music stations while I, as an Xer, was listening to pop and alternative.

It freaks me out to think that when I was a teen, Big Band music was as close to me in terms of decades as my early alternative rock is to today's youth. I think, though, that as rock has gotten older, there's more appreciation for having eclectic, decades spanning taste.

[Anonymous]

GenX

Jump Around by House of Pain

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of Mr Brightside and I’m 45.

48, me neither.

Yeah you have. Or at least you have HEARD the song.

I looked it up online, and no.

How old are you? Were you living in the US in 2004-2007?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boomer here. Hey Jude.

I'm a Gen Xer and Hey Jude was one of my Silent Generation dad's favorite songs. We are not all trapped in our generational cages.

It’s my 6 year old’s favorite. It’s a timeless classic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of Mr Brightside and I’m 45.

48, me neither.

Yeah you have. Or at least you have HEARD the song.

Agree, you have. I thought it was called jealousy or something else. I’m 46 and when my 13 yo said Mr. Bright side is a great song, I had no clue. And then he played it for me and I knew almost every word just from being alive during that time.

+1

If you were born before 1995 and you were living in the US (not in some cult ranch somewhere off grid) then you heard it.

I'm Gen X and don't recognize this song

[Anonymous]

If I had to pick one, it would definitely be Smells Like Teen Spirit. Nirvana perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the decade. They were sloppy musicians, yet somehow more than the sum of their parts; a phenomenon of fast stardom followed quickly by Cobain's death at the prime of his career. It was one of those defining tragedies in my young world, in-between the challenger explosion and Diana's death.

Class of '97