I still listen to old-school 'N Sync

That's right. I was a big fan of the late-'90s/early-'00s bubble-gum pop music explosion, and I still am. I still somehow know the lyrics to so many songs from back in the day that it's not even funny. The list of artists include, but is not limited to, the following: 'N Sync, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, 98 Degrees, LFO, and BBMak. For the past three hours, I have been youtubing various songs from this era and singing them. Passionately. Right now, Sugar Ray's "Every Morning" is on.

A decade ago (holy shit! a fucking decade!), I remember actually hiding my fondness for pop songs from my peers and fellow classmates for fear of ridicule and humiliation. If I share such affinities now? A flood of reminiscing stories flows forth from childhood memories. It's bizarre and intensely interesting how/why this occurs. Maybe I just didn't have the right social circles.

Pop music that captures pre-teen and teenage attention is incredibly influential, I think. It may not appear like it at the time since top music critics and other adults will scoff at the over-commercialization and shallowness of much of the more-successful pop music. But the important thing to keep in mind is that the sector of the population that such pop music caters to will become the said adults themselves in a matter of time. Not only that, but the young population is being captivated at a highly-impressionable time in their lives. As such, it would be interesting (though probably impossible) to see if a generation would be grow up differently had it grown up listening to the pop music of a previous or later generation.

Furthermore, pop music, I think, really does unite people to a certain extent. If I (as a native Texan who grew up in Texas) meet someone who grew up on the west or east coast, we may not share very similar backgrounds due to slightly or vastly different school systems, neighborhoods, and local culture, but we sure as hell will have common ground as far as national pop music/culture of yester-decade goes.

I feel like I'm rambling around a lot. What I'm trying to say is that while pop music can easily be scorned critically musically, pop music (and culture) actually have far-reaching implications for the people affected/listening to it and for society and culture at large. I want to elaborate further, but I might try to legitimize my ideas at a later point in time with some sort of research or evidence, so I'm going to spare you, my dear reader(s).

In the meantime, here is a list of other essentially one-hit-wonder songs from the late-'90s/early-'00s that I also found/find enjoyable:

• Dream - "He Loves U Not" and "This is Me"
• 3LW - "Playas Gon' Play"
• O-Town - "Liquid Dreams," "All or Nothing," and "We Fit Together"
  
• Soul Decision - "Faded" and "Ooh, It's Kinda Crazy"
  
• Len - "Steal My Sunshine"
• Crazy Town - "Butterfly"
• Hoku - "Another Dumb Blonde"
• Samantha Mumba - "Gotta Tell You" and "Baby, Come on Over"
• S Club 7 - "Never Had a Dream Come True"

Mostly-unrelated: Here is the song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" by She & Him, an indie folk duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. I'm not necessarily digging the song, but the video is amazingly cute ... as is Zooey Deschanel.