Rewind: Top Songs of 1996

1996 was the year I graduated high school and started college, so this should be a nostalgia-heavy list. And yet it isn’t. I was listening to a lot of 70’s rock then and did not have yet have any interest in (or much access to) the indie music scene. Of the list below, only a handful of songs (2Pac, Sublime, Tom Petty, Optiganally Yours) were songs I listened to extensively at the time. The rest are tracks I have learned of or learned to appreciate since.

Top 10 Songs of 1996

1. “Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying” / Belle & Sebastian / If You’re Feeling Sinister
   "At the final moment I cried / I always cry at endings"
2. "Lord Only Knows” / Beck / Odelay
   "There’s nothing dead left to kill"
3. "California Love” / 2Pac (ft. Dr. Dre) / All Eyez on Me
   "The track hits your eardrum like a slug to the chest"
4. "Santeria” / Sublime / Sublime
   "Tell Sanchito that if he knows what is good for him he best go run and hide"
5. "California” / Tom Petty / She’s the One
   "It ain’t like anywhere else"
6. "One Day” / UGK / Ridin’ Dirty
   "The only thing that’s promised to a player in the penitentiary"
7. "Upfield” / Billy Bragg / William Bloke 
   "That’s where you’ll find me / over the blue horizon"
8. "Midnight in a Perfect World” / DJ Shadow / Entroducing…
   <instrumental>
9. "Waving at You” / The Mountain Goats / Nothing for Juice
   "Die hard / die kicking / old habit of mine"
10. "Wichita Lineman” / Optiganally Yours / Spotlight On…
    <Glen Campbell cover>