Letting go of the ’90s

I always promised myself I would never become one of those people who gets stuck in the music of my high school years. I’ve met dozens of people who not only prefer the music of their angsty days, but wouldn’t know the name of an artist from the past decade if their Pink Floyd collection depended on it.

And as a lover of music in general, I think I have done a decent job, not only adding favorite new artists every year, but learning about musicians that came before my time (please don’t think I was trashing Pink Floyd).

Yet, without fail, it’s the ’90s — when I was in junior high and high school – that make me swoon.

This morning while listening to the radio on my drive into work I was slammed with “Celebrity Skin” by Hole, “Good” by Better Than Ezra and several other songs from that decade.

Now if asked what my favorite songs are, neither of these would come to mind. I’ve never even owned an album by Hole. Yet there was nothing in the world that would have gotten me to change the radio station at that moment.

Is it nostalgia? Is it fond memories and hormones that permanently burn these songs into our brains? What makes me light up like a Christmas tree every time I hear them, even though I know many songs that are far better?