Category Archives: 1990s songs

The best 500 songs from the 1990s. Lyrics, meanings and interpretations from your favorite musicians. Radiohead, REM, Weezer, No Doubt, Alanis, Jewel, and Guns and Roses. See which of your favorite 90s bands and artists rank highest on the greatest songs of all-time lists.

1990s songs, no love song

#369 Do What You Have To Do- Sarah Mclachlan

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And I have the sense to recognize that
I don’t know how to let you go.

Sarah Mclachlan’s “Do What You Have To Do” is similar to The Police’s Every Breath You Take, in that it sounds like a love song, but it is really a song about something else entirely. In the case of the Police, the song is about a stalker. “Do What You Have To Do” is about a codependent relationship.

The narrator has a deep desire for her lover but she recognizes that there are aspects of it that appear unhealthy. Where there once was love, now she feels like she cannot exist without him/her. She feels like she exists only for this love. In her mind she knows this love is not healthy but she cannot physically separate. To “do what you have to do” could mean anything from leaving to enduring to committing suicide.

Do What You Have To Do Meaning
Sarah McLachlan

Mclachlan has a voice that sounds beautiful—so that if you accompany that with a slow piano almost any song might sound like a love song. Plus, she does those so well. The piano, plus the strings plus Sara’s voice creates a very moody environment. Vocally she is restrained. This is a good thing. Sometimes she can go a bit overboard on other songs with the runs, but here she delivers a great performance.

Do What You Have To Do Lyrics

What ravages of spirit
Conjured this tempestuous rage
Created you a monster
Broken by the rule of love
And fate has led you through it
You do what you have to do
And fate has led you through it
You do what you have to do

And I have the sense to recognize that
I don’t know how to let you go

Every moment marked
With apparitions of your soul
I’m ever swiftly moving
Trying to escape this desire
The yearning to be near you
I do what I have to do
The yearning to be near you
I do what I have to do

And I have the sense to recognize that
I don’t know how to let you go
I don’t know how to let you go

A glowing ember
Burning hot
And burning slow
Deep within I’m shaken by the violence
Of existing for only you

I know I can’t be with you
I do what I have to do
I know I can’t be with you
I do what I have to do

And I have a sense to recognize but
I don’t know how to let you go
I don’t know how to let you go
(I don’t know how to let you go)

Songwriters: Sarah Mclachlan / Colleen Wolstenholme

1990s songs, relationship problems

#356 China- Tori Amos

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Sometimes I think you want me to touch you/
How can I when you build a great wall around you.

“China” is about how we build up barriers between ourselves and our loved ones. Tori Amos uses figurative language to describe the distance between her and her lover: even though she’s right next to him and can feel him breathing it feels like he’s in China while she’s in New York.

Amos also uses “China”–as in, expensive porcelain dinnerware. Usually our China is set aside, and never used except in special occasions. Amos asks her lover to pour a glass of wine in the expensive China. In other words, “put some effort into this relationship” you who builds a great wall around yourself. She also notes how it is interesting that her China seems to hide its cracks so well–just like her relationship looks good on the outside but is flailing. It is a good extended metaphor.

China Meaning
Tori Amos

Amos is extremely prolific, has a beautiful voice and is the best piano player in rocknroll. The only one comparable is Nina Simone, though Nina isn’t really rock. Amos is also the best cover artist in rocknroll too. Just as Jimi Hendrix took All Along the Watchtower from Dylan and made it something better, Amos has done the same with many songs on this list. I feel there are two songs in the top 100 that she may have produced the definitive version of. Many will feel this is sacrilegious!

China is an original that shows she is truly one of the best songwriters too. It is melodic and poignant and well written. Her voice conveys the emotion of the song, and this is one of the aspects that truly elevates a song. She sounds tired, exacerbated but hopeful; and she communicates that all through the tone of her voice.

China Lyrics

China all the way to New York
I can feel the distance getting close
You’re right next to me
But I need an airplane
I can feel the distance as you breathe

Sometimes I think you want me to touch you
How can I when you build a great wall around you
In your eyes I saw a future together
You just look away in the distance

China decorates our table
Funny how the cracks don’t seem to show
Pour the wine dear
You say we’ll take a holiday
But we never can agree on where to go

Sometimes I think you want me to touch you
How can I when you build a great wall around you
In your eyes I saw a future together
You just look away in the distance

China all the way to New York
Maybe you got lost in Mexico
You’re right next to me
I think that you can hear me
Funny how the distance learns to grow

Sometimes I think you want me to touch you
How can I when you build a great wall around you
I can feel the distance
I can feel the distance
I can feel the distance getting close

Songwriters: Tori Ellen Amos

1990s songs, authenticity

#342 Come As You Are- Nirvana

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Come as you are, as you were/
As I want you to be.

Nirvana’s “Come As Your Are” expresses a simple idea: the author is hoping you will be authentic with him. There is nothing to fear about just being yourself. Whether you are friend or foe, early or late, he doesn’t care, just be as you are and as you were. Be authentic. Around the time this was written one of the worst things you could call someone was a “poser”. This song had a lot to do with the emphasis on authenticity that was so big in the music scene in Seattle in the 90s.

Come As You Are Meaning
Nirvana

The bass guitar riff that the song opens with is one of the more recognizable ones in rock music. It sounds awesome. It establishes the tone for the song. It also acts kind of like lead guitar, in that we don’t hear much other guitar until the solo. It is such an interesting bass-line that it creates a great sound. Like all Nirvana songs, the vibe is depressing, but the message is actually light-hearted. However, Cobain may be fretting about the fact that it is difficult to find people who will be genuine with him.

Lyrics Come As You Are

Come as you are, as you were
As I want you to be
As a friend, as a friend
As an old enemy

Take your time, hurry up
Choice is yours, don’t be late
Take a rest as a friend
As an old

Memoria, memoria
Memoria, memoria

Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach
As I want you to be
As a trend, as a friend
As an old

Memoria, memoria
Memoria, memoria

And I swear that I don’t have a gun
No, I don’t have a gun
No, I don’t have a gun

Memoria, memoria
Memoria, memoria
(No I don’t have a gun)

And I swear that I don’t have a gun
No I don’t have a gun
No I don’t have a gun
No I don’t have a gun
No I don’t have a gun

Songwriters: Kurt Cobain