90s Anthems

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On “Doll Parts,” singer, guitarist, and songwriter Courtney Love dissects herself into slivers. Fake eyes, legs, and arms all fall at odd angles, their connective elastic snapped. When some men want women, they divide them in this way: reduce them to anatomical segments, seize upon a part, and throw away the rest. The chart success of Sublime’s “What I Got” (and its parent album) was without a doubt bittersweet for the band and its fans, as frontman Bradley Nowell died of a heroin overdose just months before the single was released. But it would be reductive to tie that success to Nowell’s passing, as the tune’s loping guitar melody and warm synthesizers would’ve almost certainly made “What I Got” a hit – think of it as a Grateful Dead mantra for skate-punks and frat boys. The Sundays – Here’s Where the Story Ends (1990) Neneh Cherry’s feminist credentials were never in doubt – quaint as it seems now, her performance on Top of the Pops while seven months pregnant raised some eyebrows – and “Woman” was her sharpest statement of female empowerment. “Woman” flips James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” on its head, boasting “This is a woman’s world… / There ain’t a woman in this world, not a woman or a little girl / That can’t deliver love in a man’s world.” New Radicals – You Get What You Give (1998) Despite his renown as one of the first gangsta rappers, Ice-T was adamant when he formed Body Count that the group be seen as a metal band. But “Body Count’s in the House,” the first proper song on the band’s eponymous album, functions like a hip-hop posse cut, featuring Ice-T introducing his bandmates – guitarists Ernie C and D-Roc, drummer Beatmaster V, and bassist Mooseman. The Breeders – Cannonball (1993)

When “Mo Money Mo Problems” arrived in the summer of 1997, Diana Ross’ hiccupping sample and Kelly Price’s sashaying lamentation as ubiquitous as a heat wave, Biggie Smalls had been dead for four months. Mase and Puff Daddy—then nearing the release of their respective debuts—took the lead, playfully plodding through opening verses and goofing on Tiger Woods and Bryant Gumbel in a paradoxically ostentatious video. In that life-after-death context, it was impossible not to hear the song’s tragic irony, like a warning by and for B.I.G. about the fate that may await such a contentious and ostentatious superstar. But the anthem’s enduring power stems from its moral simplicity, epitomized by Biggie’s monstrous minute-long verse, buried in the second half: Stay true to your roots and crew, even as you aspire for the cover of Fortune. This was never a song about dying or problems, really; it was a song about living through a moment’s madness, of making it out intact and sane. –Grayson Haver Currin The music video features a police helicopter flying around Los Angeles, catching people, gay and straight, kissing or having sex in public. George Michael is dressed as a police officer and dances in a public toilet that looks more like a nightclub. Played during the closing credits of The Lion King, the song was originally to be performed by characters from the movie , but John objected to its comical nature. He wanted it to follow “Disney’s tradition of great love songs” and said it had the potential to be used to “express the lions’ feelings for each other far better than dialogue could”. If you started playing bass in the 90s, there’s a good chance you were inspired to do so after listening to Les Claypool, who can coax more sounds out of four strings than most guitarists can get out of six. It’s those crazy bass skills that broke Primus into the mainstream with “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” – and if you can’t remember what the song is about, it’s probably because you were too busy frantically trying to play air bass along with it. Los Prisioneros – Tren al sur (1990) Originally a song by The Village People from their 1979 album Go West, Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys chose it for the duo to perform at an AIDS benefit at the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester in 1992. The duo then decided to record it, and it appeared on their highly regarded 1993 album, Very. The album was called their “coming-out” album due to its content, including this bizarrely moving cover, and Neil Tennant discussing his long-rumoured homosexuality.Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett briefly collaborated with Cyndi Lauper in 1989, which almost certainly inspired her to write “I Touch Myself,” an ode to self-pleasure in the same vein as Lauper’s “She Bop,” the following year. After Amphlett died of breast cancer in 2013, the song returned to prominence once more, this time to raise awareness of the disease and promote breast health. Eels – Novocaine for the Soul (1996) Let’s clear up a common misconception: Despite the apparent lustfulness of its opening verse (“You let me violate you / You let me desecrate you”) and the chorus, Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” is not a sexy song. Its lyrics are not about desire, but an all-consuming self-hatred that makes you want to use someone else as a means to your own annihilation. That being said, “Closer” has a groove that’s as unsettling as it is undeniable – it’s “I Want Your Sex” for nihilists. Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991) Joey” sounds like a holdover from the 80s in the best way possible, with its booming drums and gothic guitar that inexplicably gives way to a hair metal-worthy solo. (Right up until that solo, it could pass as a Jesus and Mary Chain song.) It’s a catchy song with darkness at its core, as Concrete Blonde frontwoman Johnette Napolitano wrote the lyrics about a romantic partner and their losing battle with alcoholism. Cornershop – Brimful of Asha (1997) Another of my favourite queer songs from the ’90s is this single from Tracy Chapman’s fourth album, A New Beginning (1995), and her first single since 1992. The music video shows Chapman playing the song in a bar with her band. An underrated song; I just love its simplicity about looking for a reason to stay with someone. Chapman did a duet version of the song with Eric Clapton, which was released on a compilation album in 1999.

One of the most unforgettable videos of the decade, Keith Sweat’s “Twisted” was a three-minute murder-mystery-romance that helped to launch the second wave of the R&B impresario’s career. A runaway hit, “Twisted” is infectious and danceable, and Sweat’s distinctive vocal style makes it a song only he could have pulled off. 36: Erykah Badu – On & On There are a few songs on this list that mean a lot to me on a personal level – read on to find out my top queer hits of the ’90s. The single was released in October 1991 as promotion for the band’s Greatest Hits II album, just six weeks before Freddie Mercury died. A heartbreakingly beautiful song, it reached number 17 in the Irish charts. R&B meets bubblegum pop in Soul IV Real’s bouncy debut single “Candy Rain.” Powered by the youthful voice of the youngest brother Jason “Jase” Dalyrimple of their family band, the single still slapped thanks to production by their mentor and Uptown labelmate Heavy D. 25: Usher – You Make Me Wanna Coming at the end of a decade marred by cynicism and consumerism, New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give” was a ray of sunshine of a pop song, warm, bright, and life-affirming. Though New Radicals are remembered only as a one-hit-wonder (and disbanded after just one album), it’s a hit that left an impressive legacy. Nine Inch Nails – Closer (1994)

It was his first single since his arrest by undercover police officers for performing a lewd act in public, which prompted him to come out as gay. The lyrics to the song disparage the incident and include the lines “I’d service the community, but I already have, you see” (he was given community service for the incident). Michael has said he wanted to lighten the stigma around cruising, and, for me, it lightened the stigma around being gay in general. Art Alexakis got personal on Everclear’s sophomore record, Sparkle and Fade, channeling his traumatic upbringing into tunes that were either explicitly autobiographical (“Heroin Girl”) or fictionalized versions that were detailed enough to be someone else’s truth (“Pale Green Stars”). Even “Santa Monica” can’t fully escape the drugs and death that haunt the album, but it at least offers the possibility of a life beyond them. Fastball – The Way (1998) There’s one more thing that makes ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ the song of the decade, and that’s Samuel Bayer’s now iconic video. His lo-fi, sepia-saturated take on a school concert that descends into madness – complete with slo-mo cheerleaders, smashed up guitars and smoke and fire in a sports hall full of sweaty headbanging teens – was as disturbing and anarchic as the song itself. Everyone watched it. Everyone knew they would never forget it. Tim Arthur This heavy soul song is a response to James Brown’s 1966 hit “This Is a Man’s World”. Neneh Cherry discusses the strength, resilience, and power that transcends and remains despite everything this woman has been put through. By the end of the song, it is clear that this is a woman’s world. 68: Paula Abdul: Rush Rush

More than 20 years after its initial release, “It’s Friday night and the weekend’s here, I need to unwind” remain some of the most resonant words in R&B history. With a swinging beat and soft, lush production, Zhané’s “Hey Mr. DJ,” from the duo’s debut album, Pronounced Jah-Nay, is the perfect representation of R&B’s prime objective: to be the sonic expression of the soul of the everyman and everywoman. 4: Montell Jordan: This Is How We Do It While it was a hit in the US, her biggest ever, it did poorly in the UK and I actually couldn’t find how it placed on the Irish charts.Given the crowded field, we’ve been ultra-selective in compiling this all-bangers, no-clangers playlist and limited it to one song per artist. Whether the ‘90s was the greatest decade for music is mostly a generational debate, but as you’ll hear, one thing’s for sure: it was never boring.