Burned In

I made a list of ten songs that stuck with me, burned themselves into my head at some point and never left. Not because they’re the best or because everyone’s supposed to care—just songs that at the right moment meant something specific to how I think and feel.

t.A.T.u., All The Things She Said. Phantom Planet, California. Avril Lavigne, I’m With You. Silbermond, Durch die Nacht—a German band that somehow ended up here. Sum 41, Fat Lip. The brilliant green, Rainy Days Never Stay. Johnny Cash’s version of Hurt, which is so definitive it erases everything else. Imogen Heap, Hide And Seek. Green Day, Time Of Your Life. Evanescence, My Immortal.

There’s something about how most of these songs slow down. They understand that the important stuff happens when you stop moving and actually sit with something. The ones that don’t slow down still have that quality—something genuine being said instead of performed. A lot of them are ballads. The best rock songs usually are.

I have no idea if anyone else would build this list the same way, and that’s sort of the point. These were just the ones there when I needed them to be.