Skip to content

Home
About
Contact

The Mixtape is Still Spinning

On a Little Hiatus

Vintage radio and mug

Neon Dream sign

Music, memories, and the occasional mixtape, straight to your inbox when I have something worth sharing.

Email*

Menu

About
Contact
Privacy Policy
Affiliate Disclosure

Categories

@neonsongstress

Day 100: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 Clean

Day 100: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 Clean — Depeche Mode

One hundred days. I honestly wasn’t sure I could do it.

Clean wasn’t performed during my stop on the Devotional Tour in 1993, but it has lived with me ever since. Dave’s lower register, that ceremonial drum beat throughout, and Martin’s lyrics. . . Amazing!

This song will be woven deeply into the playlist for my debut mystery novel, Dead Air. It belongs in that world completely.

I’m proud of myself for keeping up with this challenge for 100 days. But honestly, the only way I could have done it is through music. It always has been.

“Clean, the cleanest I’ve been”

#the100dayproject #songsthatshapedme #genxmusic #90smusic #depechemode

Day 99: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 The Fre

Day 99: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 The Freshmen — The Verve Pipe

This one almost didn’t make the list, I’d forgotten about it until recently. And then it came back and I couldn’t leave it out.

The Freshmen is one of those songs about youth and regret that hits differently as you get older. The weight of it and the sadness underneath it. It takes me straight back to college and all the feelings that come with that time.

One day away from the end of this challenge. This felt like exactly the right song for tonight.

“We were merely freshmen”

#the100dayproject #songsthatshapedme #genxmusic #90smusic #thevervepipe

Day 98: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 How You

Day 98: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 How You’ve Grown — 10,000 Maniacs

From Our Time in Eden, another amazing early ‘90s album that never gets the recognition it deserves.

This one always makes me a little sad about growing older. There’s something about the way Natalie Merchant sings it, like looking at old photographs.

Two days away from the end of this challenge, it feels like exactly the right song for this moment.

“Because we can’t make up for the time that we’ve lost, I must let these memories provide.”

#the100dayproject #songsthatshapedme #genxmusic #nataliemerchant #10000maniacs

Day 97: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 Cold Pa

Day 97: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 Cold Part of Town — Concrete Blonde

My third and final Concrete Blonde post, and this one I found not on the radio but on the album itself.

I love their faster songs like Still in Hollywood, but Cold Part of Town is a nice change of pace. What I love about this one is the storytelling. Johnette Napolitano puts you right inside a scene. It feels less like a song and more like a short story.

“Dear darling, Haven’t seen you in a while, Found some change in my pocket, Thought I’d take a chance and dial”

#the100dayproject #songsthatshapedme #genxmusic #alternativemusic #concretblonde

Day 96: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 Tapes —

Day 96: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 Tapes — Alanis Morissette

I’ve always loved Alanis, and I tend to gravitate toward the less commercial side of artists I love. Flavors of Entanglement is my second favorite album of hers after Jagged Little Pill, and it is so deeply underrated.

Tapes is everything I love about this album, raw, introspective, and completely unfiltered. I just love it!

“I am someone easy to leave, even easier to forget, a voice, if inaccurate”

#the100dayproject #songsthatshapedme #genxmusic #alternativemusic #alanismorissette

Day 95: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 St. Ter

Day 95: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 St. Teresa — Joan Osborne

Most people know Joan Osborne from One of Us, but St. Teresa has always been my favorite. Pensacola is another one of my faves, but St. Teresa just hits differently.

Relish is one of my favorite ‘90s albums from start to finish. And Joan’s voice is so soulful and genuine. There’s a quality to it that feels completely raw, like she’s giving you everything she has.

“Way down in the hollow, leavin’ so soon. Oh, St. Teresa, higher than the moon”

#the100dayproject #songsthatshapedme #genxmusic #90smusic #joanosborne

Day 94: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 This Is

Day 94: 100 Days of Songs That Shaped Me 🎶 This Is The Day — The The

The The were the opening act for Depeche Mode’s Devotional Tour in 1993, one of the most formative concert experiences of my life. And this has always been my favorite of their songs.

This Is The Day has that rare quality of feeling melancholy and hopeful at the same time. And Matt Johnson’s voice on this one is completely distinctive. It stays with you.

“This is the day your life will surely change”

#the100dayproject #songsthatshapedme #genxmusic #80smusic #thethe

Let's be friends

Copyright © 2026 · Neon Songstress: Every song has a story · Theme by HM

Home
About
Contact

Search for: