Cranberries "Linger"

Every emotion during those formidable teenage years gets magnified because those feelings (mixed with out of control hormones) are new. Having never dealt with them before, we find ourselves wrapped up in things that later in life would seem to be no big deal. In turn, music from those teenage years become a part of us. They become as much a part of our identity as our names and become locked into our memories so much so that decades later we can hear a song from our youth and immediately get transported back in time.

The Cranberries - "Dreams"

My brain will always associate "Dreams" from The Cranberries with My So-Called Life.  An episode of the short-lived teen drama that starred a young (and seemingly always depressed) Clare Danes featured this song.

Electric Light Orchestra - "Can't Get It Out of My Head"

During the 1990s, guys used to make mixtapes for girls -- this practice usually was a result of guys having a crush on the recipient of the mixtape.  In my case, a somewhat annoying girl (who reminded me of Jan Brady) in one of my classes knew that I owned a huge CD collection and asked if I could make her a mixtape.  I told her I'd be happy to...provided she picked out her own songs and bought her own cassette tape.  Looking back, I admit that wasn't very nice of me, but I didn't want the girl to think that I liked her (because I didn't...and because I was 17 years old and acted like a stereotypical 17-year-old).  Her mixtape contained the usual mix of popular songs from 1994 (Bryan Adams, The Cranberries, Michael Bolton), but I remember she chose the song "Can't Get It Out of My Head" by Electric Light Orchestra.  I had never heard of the song and this girl was a couple years younger than me yet she somehow knew a song released in 1974.  Much like the song title implies, this memory is firmly etched in my brain.

The Cranberries - "When You're Gone"

Twenty years ago, there were stores that would (gasp!) sell music and would even allow you listen to compact discs before purchasing them.  One such store was called Blockbuster Music.  I recall sitting down at the Merrillville, Indiana Blockbuster Music and listening Dolores O'Riordan's soft vocals compliment the perfectly airy ballad "When You're Gone" in what is one of my favorite forgotten songs from the 1990s.  My friend, John, was also seated near me listening to music.  John was fooled by the volume of the music pumping through his headphones when he decided to lean over and let one rip.  The sound of his farting soon captivated quite a few people at that Blockbuster Music store.