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Everyone knows that feeling when you come across something that had been lost or put away for so long, you had completely forgotten it existed. For example: an old set of VHS tapes packed away in a box in your parent’s attic, or a $5 bill in the pocket of that suit coat you hadn’t worn since last summer. Well the other day I stumbled across an old mp3 player. With today’s cell phones and the advancement of music streaming services, it is becoming uncommon to use a traditional mp3 player for music as was the status quo throughout middle school and high school. This gem I found had not been used in a solid 8 years, but was still in good shape so I plugged it in to discover that it was also still functional. Much to my pleasure, I have rediscovered the magic of my touch screen, 16MB Zune. Even back then I wasn’t down with Apple products.
As I cycled through the playlists that I had made for different events, I couldn’t help but laugh at how truly terrible the playlists were. Thankfully I have a useful college degree because I never would have made it as a DJ. Frozen in time, this mp3 player paints a very lucid picture of the musical taste of a much younger. Here are some highlights in a few of the playlists.
Playlist: Country
Big Green Tractor: Jason Aldean
I definitely only had this in there because it was my ex-girlfriend’s favorite song at the time. I didn’t even so much as get my dick touched in the 6 months we dated and Jason Aldean sucks so this was a disappointing song to find in the queue.
Pickup Man: Joe Diffie
Not a terrible song, but I didn’t, and still haven’t, owned a pickup truck so it is kind of ironic.
Rain is A Good Thing: Luke Bryan
Okay, so maybe Jason Aldean being in there wasn’t a mistake. Something was clearly wrong with me back then. Was it in there for all the women I was hoping would come prance around our front yard in bikini tops? I sure hope so.
Playlist: Hip Hop
Let My Beat Pound: T.I.
Is he still in jail? I feel like his career has really been short-changed as a result of him being hard AF.
I’ll Still Kill: 50 Cent ft. Akon
Okay, this had to be included this one because this song is an all-time banger IMO. Plus, in case you didn’t know, Akon is a fucking good dude who recently started his own organization Akon Lighting Africa which is aimed to provide electricity to 14 different countries in Africa utilizing solar energy. Wish he’d come back to music part time though.
Get Silly: Soulja Boy
A much lesser known song by the one-hit-wonder, this song is fucking terrible. I just tried listening to it and had to stop it 64 seconds into it.
Playlist: Basement
Caribou Lou: Tech N9ne
Are you really in college if you don’t have this on your playlist for the basement of your fraternity house? “Make baby girl come…out of her shell and raise hell don’t stop till the cops come.”
Toxicity: System of a Down
Alright, so it’s a different approach than the first song. Must be a playlist to appeal to every crowd.
God Bless The U.S.A.: Lee Greenwood
So the playlist doesn’t jive whatsoever. I don’t give a shit though because this is patriotic as fuck!
Playlist: Pumped Up
Lose Yourself: Eminem
Because of course this song is in a workout playlist. Back when I could still bench more than my body weight and thought muscles got all the ladies, my boy (and every other white kid’s boy) Marshall Mathers got it done for me at the rec.
Let The Bodies Hit The Floor: Drowning Pool
I couldn’t be more stereotypical if I tried.
The Entire Rocky 3 and Rocky 4 Sound Track
Let’s be honest – if you don’t have at least one song from a Rocky movie on your workout playlist than you are fundamentally wrong. I just happened to have every single song from his montages on the playlist. It still works though, because I happen to be training for a 10k. After mile 1, “Eye of The Tiger” came on and I kicked it into higher gear. After mile 2, “Burning Heart” queued in and I felt getting off the treadmill to go chop a cord or run up a snow covered mountain. Unfortunately, after mile 4 “There’s No Easy Way Out” began playing and I saw the symbolism but chose to challenge that title’s logic by calling it quits.
Whatever you do, don’t give me the aux cord. I’m clearly not capable.
What’s the best thing you’ve found sorting through old junk or came across doing some thorough cleaning?.
Image via Shutterstock
Respond
@207Cush
The first time I listened to “Rain is a Good Thing” I laughed so hard at the “RAIN MAKES CORN” line I almost crashed my car.
Luke Bryan played the Houston Rodeo last night. That line’s only gotten worse with time, but for some reason people still love it. As my wife stated on the way to NRG, “There’s going to be a lot of drunk moms in ugly jeans from Katy out tonight.”
Woah don’t hate. That is such a fun song.
Calling my mom to have her find my minidisc collection this weekend.
Please post what you find Will, the people need to know
It’s all Kid Rock.
Had a minidesk player installed in the head unit of my car stereo. True story.
Basically the millennial beta vs. VHS debate
Luke Bryan is a cuck.
Has anyone ever told you that you look like a red headed Pam
I get that all the time actually
My names Jim, want to play a prank?
Seriously? Please do not associate me with that poser.
Bought a new car so I was cleaning out the old one that I’d had since I was 16. Found a bunch of mix cds and albums…I had the worst taste in music damn. Gwen stefani was my jam in high school apparently haha
That’s bananas…
No shame in that, she was a boss in No Doubt. Not sure what this says about my tastes, but Tragic Kingdoms is still one of my favorite albums.
Not too long ago found a cd I had made for my high school cheering squad’s annual car wash fundraiser. On it? “My Goodies”, “Baby One More Time”, “Milkshake” and “In Da Club”, among other classics. I am cringing with embarrassment at my 16 year old self.
Two of those 4 are on my iPhone 7 right now.
Damn man, warn a guy before you drop this much nostalgia on a Friday.
My friends and I pulled out the high school playlist on the way to the reunion and it’s amazing how quickly the nostalgia for those songs wears off
Found my old external hard drive from 2010 and plugged that bitch in and uploaded all my old iTunes playlists. I will never admit this out loud, but now I’ve been listening to Gym Class Heroes and Cobra Starship on repeat.
Your material control deficiency is showing
MP3 players not being super common until I was in college… PGP
I got the iPod Mini from my grandma in 2004. As a graduation present. From college. Christ I’m old.
I got one that same year, for my 14th birthday
Mine was a high school graduation gift.
i def have an ipod from 2004. i usually just listen to pandora now, but i’ll have to find it and see if it still works!
I didn’t get my first iPod until summer 2005, then left it on a plane 6 months later. I still have all my old CDs in a binder though. Now that’s an interesting look into 16yo DrunkCartographer’s world.
To think some on this site never knew the joy of flipping through a CD book, and the difficult decision of which CDs went in the small one that strapped to your sun visor so you could make a quick change on the fly. Ahhhh, memories.
My zune from high school is in my desk drawer to keep me humble