Headphone Time Travel - November 23rd, 2002

Myself (oh boy) and Alyson (RIP), circa 2002

I kind of had a hard time in high school. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't bullied or anything, but I did feel a tad detached from the rest of my peers. There's no denying that I was sort of different. Maybe not obviously different, but perhaps more obviously than I originally thought. I'm not sure. What I do know, however, was how hard pressed I was to find those with similar musical interests as me. In a time where pop music was king, it was tough to find someone else who had "Veni Vidi Vicious" on heavy rotation. Oh sure, I had friends. Lots of whom I'm still close with today. But my real companions were Jack White, Chris Carrabba, Jim Adkins, and Julian Casablancas. So for this post, I'm going to step back in time a little bit and invite you to slip on my headphones. Here's what a day in the listening life of 17 year old Heather sounds like...

Jimmy Eat World - Your House

My sad, angsty, teenage self would ride the bus downtown to my co-op placement every day. I would listen to this on my diskman, pine over my ex boyfriend (who had a new girlfriend), and sigh while looking longingly out the bus window. This was the fuel for my sad, romantic daydreams. This is what unrequited love sounds like.

The White Stripes - Hotel Yorba

I thought the White Stripes were SO COOL (let's be real, I still do), and I thought I was so cool for being into them (I don't think that anymore). Fell In Love With A Girl was so different than what I was used to hearing at the time. It was so edgy and raw. My favourite track on White Blood Cells however, was Hotel Yorba (still is).

 The Used - The Taste of Ink

Another band I felt was edgy and angsty and loud. I would listen to The Taste of Ink every morning while flipping my hair out in the mirror. "Is it worth it? Can you even hear me?" seemed like a question worth asking every morning before school, and for me at the time, the answer was always a resounding "NO!" This song was also the song that was playing the first time I ever crowd surfed.

The Vines - Get Free

One of the bands to gain popularity during the "THE" band revolution, they were one of the bands tasked with "saving rock and roll". The Vines were another band that served it up loud and fast, and that energy and adrenaline reminded me of the punk bands I so loved. If I had to get up and face another day of hell (read: high school), this was certainly going to be my motivation to do so.

Dashboard Confessional - Saints and Sailors

I had two moods in high school - sad and angry. When I wasn't listening to the rock albums I adored, I chose to celebrate my sadness by listening to the love of my life - Chris Carrabba (He's a beautiful man.). With his pompadour hairdo, puppy dog eyes, and acoustic guitar, he had me wanting desperately to be the girl he was singing about. And when I didn't want that, it was because I was too busy trying to feel that exact same way about a certain someone else in my life. Either way, we used to listen to this song while driving around town, singing loudly and talking about our ex's.

The Strokes - Last Night

This list would not be complete without my favourite song (at that time) from my favourite album (at that time). This song was always on repeat, was always turned up way too loud, and always got me dancing and bopping around my room. I couldn't believe that more of my friends weren't as in love with this album as I was. As I got a little older, I did meet a lot of friends who had similar tastes as I did, and you know what? They all loved this album too. Who knew?

So there you have it. The songs that 17 year old me was most guilty of overplaying. It will take all of my strength not to fall into that trap again now. I wish you luck!