PLETHORA OF POP PROMPT

Sixteen Songs For Scary Teens

I was a scary, scary 16-year-old

I’ve been a bit busy lately, attempting to juggle a new job with being a stay at home parent who writes occasionally. So I was delighted when Paul Combs tagged me in this writing prompt because how else am I meant to procrastinate and be distracted from all the things I should be doing?

Sixteen songs from the year I turned 16. I turned 16 in 2006. Yikes.

Challenge accepted.

I was a bit of an emo kid in my teen years, but I still had a broad taste in music, most of which was a lot older than me. When I first looked at this prompt, I wondered if I’d even find 16 songs to add to this list because obviously, I was way too alternative and cool to be listening to popular music.

Spoiler alert: I was neither alternative nor cool, and my email address contained the words’ rock chick’, so, yeah… Turns out I liked plenty of music that was released in 2006.

Let’s kick off with the song that inspired the name for this article.

1. Teenagers — My Chemical Romance

I don’t love MCR; most of their songs just didn’t land with me. But this song is a banger. I just read the lyrics for the first time, which is weird because I’m a lyrics gal, and I was clearly only there for the catchy beat and chorus that gets stuck in your head because this song is surprisingly dark.

I can’t help but wonder what it was doing to me on a subliminal level.

Because the drugs never work They’re gonna give you a smirk ’Cause they got methods of keeping you clean They’re gonna rip up your heads Your aspirations to shreds Another cog in the murder machine

2. Supermassive Black Hole—Muse

Before this song was used for that awful baseball scene in Twilight, it was a staple on mine and all my friends’ mixed CDs (I almost wrote playlist, but we weren’t doing those yet unless it was to split it up and burn it to several blank CDs).

This song reminds me of car rides with boys and McDonald’s drive-thru, which is basically the age of 16 in a nutshell.

3. The Pot—Tool

I started listening to Tool because a boy I had an enormous crush on told me to. Fortunately, I didn’t have to pretend to be into them to make him fall head over heels in love with me. I was actually into Tool, but he didn’t fall head over heels in love with me. Still, I view it as a win because at least I didn’t waste precious listening time on a band I hated in the name of love.

The Pot also provided me with some great lyrics I could send via text to my frienemies when I was feeling extra dramatic.

Who are you to wave your finger? So full of it Eye balls deep in muddy waters hypocrite Liar, lawyer; mirror show me, what’s the difference? Kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent

4. Dig—Incubus

I could write an entire article dedicated to my love of Incubus. In my humble opinion, Brandon Boyd has the voice of a deity and is a lyrical genius.

As well as being the backing track for several romantic highs and lows during my teenage years, this song actually ended up being the soundtrack to my first dance at my wedding many years later.

If I turn into another Dig me up from under what is covering The better part of me Sing this song Remind me that we’ll always have each other When everything else is gone

5. Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)—Lostprophets

I challenge anyone to listen to this song without feeling the uncontrollable urge to SCREAM YOUR HEART OUT.

This was the teenage anthem of rebellion and the best years of our lives. We knew, and we didn’t, that these years would be looked back on with a nostalgic haze, and even the bad parts would tug on the parts of us that now yearn for less complicated times.

When our time is up When our lives are done Will we say we’ve had our fun

Will we make a mark This time Will we always say we tried

Standing on the rooftops Everybody scream your heart out

6. Ready to Fall—Rise Against

This song reminds me of one thing— Taste of Chaos, aka the first emo festival I ever attended. At the now decommissioned Sydney Entertainment Centre, there were way too many side fringes and black eyeliner clad teenagers in one venue, and my friend got bicycle kicked in the chest by one of the many hardcore dancers in the crowd. It was a proper initiation.

I grew out of many bands I liked back then, but I still enjoy Rise Against. They were the least emo of the bands on the lineup and fell more into the hardcore category with a political message to their songs that gave them a punk edge, and their set outshone every other band. When I saw them years later as the support band for the Foo Fighters, they were even better.

7. Smile—Lily Allen

Was there a teen girl with a guitar who didn’t learn a Lily Allen song to play in front of the whole class as an act of revenge against an ex? Asking for a friend.

This is a true break-up banger, though. Best played loudly, on repeat and somewhere where you can sing along until you’ve successfully convinced yourself that boy is trash and you’re better off without him.

Now you’re calling me up on the phone So you can have a little whine and a moan And it’s only because you’re feeling alone

8. MakeDamnSure—Taking Back Sunday

Oh, my blackened teenage heart.

Taking Back Sunday were on my lonely heart playlist of depressing, borderline obsessive emo bands. I remember thinking it was so romantic when my boyfriend sent me the lyrics to this song on MSN messenger one night.

It was not romantic. It was scary, so was he and the relationship. Still, I had to include this song and this band because it creates a snapshot of the themes impressionable teens listened to, romanticised and carried into their formative years… Yikes.

And we lay, we lay together just not Too close, too close (How close is close enough?) We lay, we lay together just not Too close, too close

I just wanna break you down so badly Well I trip over everything you say I just wanna break you down so badly In the worst way

9. SOS—Rihanna

Wow, I turned a corner here. But things were getting a little dark.

This song reminds me of 2016 because my teachers insisted on using it as the “modern” track at the end of those awful progressive barn dance PE sessions—I’m sure you remember the ones I’m talking about, where all the boys would stand in a circle as the girls moved around from partner to partner doing the same awful dance, to the same horrendous brass instrument music.

I remember a lot of bad breath, body odour, puppy dog eyes and wandering hands. And weirdly, in amongst it all, this Rihanna song that kicked it all up a notch.

I definitely shared the sentiments to the song, at least in part, by the end of the 50 minute PE period.

SOS, please, someone help me….

10. Who Knew—P!nk

I wasn’t really into P!nk before this song, and then I played it for one of my music assessments because of the feels. Before this, I would’ve heard the name P!nk and thought of ‘Get this party started’, which, although a bop, definitely wouldn’t be considered deep.

‘Who Knew’ is an absolute banger of a heartbreak anthem. I’d probably still belt it if I had a broken heart to nurse and some raw feelings to express.

If someone said three years from now You’d be long gone I’d stand up and punch them out ’Cause they’re all wrong I know better ’Cause you said forever And ever Who knew

11. How To Save a Life—The Fray

Would Grey’s Anatomy have had half the dramatic impact in the early seasons if The Fray had never appeared with their horde of tear-jerking backing tracks?

Lead singer, Isaac Slade’s voice has a relatively perfect combination of soul/folk/rock with a grunge edge. Although the themes were equally depressing, bands like The Fray can be credited for pulling me out of the depths of my emo cave and into the broader musical scope on offer at the time.

Let him know that you know best ’Cause after all, you do know best Try to slip past his defense Without granting innocence

12. Face Down—Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

In fairness, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus used their influential emo powers for good with this song. It tells a graphic story of domestic violence which was a confronting and vital message to hear as a teenage girl (and would be equally important for a teenage boy).

At 16, it’s easy to believe that all those bad boys are really good guys who need saving or fixing.

This song was a harsh reminder that some of those boys you think you can save are far beyond your reach. The story is told alongside a catchy melody with a hardcore edge. Well played, RJA.

Cover up with make up in the mirror Tell yourself it’s never gonna happen again You cry alone and then he swears he loves you

13. Meds—Placebo

I had a few friends that got into drugs early. I never touched them, but I wanted to understand it. This song reminds me of navigating a complicated time—figuring out who I was, what I wanted, what I believed in while trying to accept and support my friends who were going through the same process, even when we found ourselves misaligned.

Unlike many songs on this list that ignites nostalgia, this one triggers something darker and more uncomfortable. While I still rate it as a great track, I’d be more likely to skip it if my playlist threw it at me at the wrong moment.

How it mattered to us How it mattered to me And the consequences I was confused by the birds and the bees Forgetting if I meant it

14. Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off—Panic! at The Disco

There’s no denying Brandon Urie is a mega-talent. Back in 2006, he was getting teen hearts everywhere beating faster with Panic! at The Disco’s unique pop/punk/emo blend.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still here for every delicious note of these early Panic! songs.

They were the ultimate indulgence in vicarious living for a sheltered teen who liked to make believe she was all kinds of hardcore.

Let’s get these teen hearts beating Faster, faster

So testosterone boys and harlequin girls Will you dance to this beat And hold a lover close?

15. Buttons— The Pussycat Dolls

What do I say about this um… ballad, other than “I was 16, okay?”

I can only imagine what my poor Dad must have thought when he heard this blaring from my room after school. Probably similar to the thoughts he would’ve had when I went through my S & M by Rihanna phase.

I think he would’ve opted for the emo music any day if only he knew I’d barely kissed a boy at this point. Bless my horny little teenage heart.

I’m telling you to loosen up my buttons, babe (Uh-huh!) But you keep fronting, uh Sayin’ what you gon’ to do to me (Uh-huh!) But I ain’t seen nothing

16. Call Me When You’re Sober—Evanescence

Last but not least, this banger from Evanescence. It’s apt for the age period because it was around 16. I started getting drunk dialled at 1 am by boys shooting their shot.

I still remember when an awful boy who broke my heart too many times called me and slurred, “A drunk mind speaks a sober heart,” and I believed the drivel that followed.

PSA teenage girls, a drunk mind speaks a drunk mind, and possibly a half pitched tent. That is all.

Don’t cry to me, if you loved me You would be here with me You want me, come find me Make up your mind

You never call me when you’re sober You only want it ’cause it’s over, it’s over

This prompt was especially challenging but a lot of fun! If you want to join in, check out the original prompt by Pierce McIntyre and be sure to tag me so I can read it.