After hours of painstaking research and reflection this is where I landed. 50 songs pulled from decades past, each a perpetual favorite. As a proud member of the streaming generation, it seems only right that my list is a melting pot of one-hit wonders and Pitchfork-approved perfect 10s. Common themes include: big guitars, big emotions and big drums.

—>Spotify playlist<—

1. "Give Yourself A Try" – The 1975 (2018)
2. "Purple Rain" – Prince (1984)
3. "We Found Love" – Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris (2011)
4. "Sugar We're Going Down" – Fall Out Boy (2005)
5. "All Falls Down" – Kanye West (2004)

6. "You Know You're Right" – Nirvana (2002)
7. "End of the Road" – Boyz II Men (1992)
8. "LOVE FEAT. ZACARI" – Kendrick Lamar (2017)
9. "Gigantic" – Pixies (1988)
10. "Straight in at 101" – Los Campesinos (2010)
11. "March Madness" – Future (2015)
12. "Slide feat. Frank Ocean & Migos" – Calvin Harris (2017)
13. "The King of Wishful Thinking" – Go West (1990)
14. "Mr. Brightside" – The Killers (2003)
15. "Friday I'm in Love" – The Cure (1992)
16. "Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)" Backstreet Boys (1997)
17. "The Boys of Summer" – Don Henley (1984)
18. "Never Let You Go" – Third Eye Blind (2000)
19. "Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl" – Broken Social Scene (2002)
20. "Sweet Thing" – Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan (1975)

21. "Spit Fountain" – Algernon Cadwallader (2009)
22. "Bigmouth Strikes Again" – The Smiths (1986)
23. "Shadrach" – Beastie Boys (1989)
24. "Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2" – Neutral Milk Hotel(1998)
25. "Sunflower" – Post Malone & Swae Lee (2018)
26. "Once in a Lifetime" – Talking Heads (1980)
27. "Nightswimming" – R.E.M. (1992)
28. "Everywhere" – Fleetwood Mac (1987)
29. "NEW MAGIC WAND" – Tyler the Creator (2019)
30. "Hyperballad" – Bjork (1995)

31. "Staying Fat" – Bloc Party (2004)
32. "00000 Million" – Bon Iver (2016)
33. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" – Whitney Houston (1987)
34. "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" – Marvin Gaye (1971)
35. "Eighteen" – Joyce Manor (2016)
36. "thank u, next" – Ariana Grande (2019)
37. "Hearts and Bones" – Paul Simon (1983)
38. "The Other Woman" – Nina Simone (1959)
39. "Ms. Jackson" – Outkast (2000)
40. "Hold Up" – Beyonce (2016)
41. "Sprained Ankle" – Julien Baker (2015)
42. "Ex- Factor" – Lauryn Hill (1998)
43. "Fire" – Waxahatchee (2020)

44. "Dancing Queen" – ABBA (1976)
45. "Saturday Night" – The Blue Nile (1989)
46. "cardigan" – Taylor Swift (2020)
47. "Return of the Mack" – Mark Morrison (1996)
48. "Fruits Of My Labor" – Lucinda Williams (2003)
49. "Hide and Seek" – Imogen Heap (2005)
50. "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" – Nelson (1990)

Ethan Sawyer is a writer and journalist from Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Find his work at Human Pursuits (Substack).