Core memories playlist

The other day I listened to a song that caused me to pause.

Not just pause; it was an other-worldly experience. I dropped whatever I was doing, my mouth opened, and like god herself was giving the ultimate puppeteering performance, each lyric came out in a perfect and unhindered string. I knew the intro, I knew the melody, and you better damn believe I knew the chorus.

The song? I wasn’t even sure of the name off-hand. But a swift glance at the Spotify album art shook me to the core with memories that bubbled to the surface: me, a redheaded third grader, freckled and shy and freshly moved from Iowa to Colorado, rereading the accompanying CD pamphlet to Hilary Duff‘s Metamorphosis until the paper was worn soft and the colors bled. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure I brought that iconic album in as my show and tell item, maybe more than once.

Funny how music can do that sometimes.

If you, like me, have core memories associated with pop music from the nineties and early aughts, let me treat you to a playlist that might awaken a long-lost side.

Enjoy.

Core Mems Playlist

You can listen here:

Here’s the track list:

• Come Clean, Hilary Duff
• Sunday Morning, Maroon 5
• Through Glass, Stone Sour
• Can’t Fight the Moonlight, LeAnn Rimes
• Let Me Love You, Mario
• Breathless, The Corrs
• I’m Like a Bird, Nelly Furtado
• Lovefool, The Cardigans
• Always Be My Baby, Mariah Carey
• You Oughta Know, Alanis Morissette
• This Kiss, Faith Hill
• Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
• A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton
• All the Small Things, Blink 182
• Everywhere, Michelle Branch
• One Thing, Finger Eleven
• The Way You Love Me, Faith Hill
• You Gotta Be, Des’ree
• More Than Words, Extreme
• Leave (Get Out), JoJo
• Heaven, Los Lonely Boys
• All for You, Sister Hazel
• Waterfalls, TLC
• The Reason, Hoobastank
• I Don’t Want to Be, Gavin Degraw