My Favorite Songs "That White People Get Turnt Up To"

I've expressed in the past that I like looking at music-compilation videos and writing posts about the songs in those videos. The Kpop Crash Course I'm doing now literally gets its song selection from a video on iconic kpop songs! So with all that being said, I saw a video with a very interesting title: songs that get white people turnt, uploaded by a channel I really like watching sometimes called younger days. This should be pretty obvious from reading a few posts, but I'm white. I live in a small Midwestern town where there really isn't much as far as diversity goes. Despite my race, I don't discriminate and I think the world will be a better place once we become accepting of everyone's differences. There are some actions made by white people that absolutely make me embarrased to be a white person, such as, well, everything any white supremacist has done ever, but despite the embarrassment, I still can't change the fact that I am white. And apparently, I'm pretty stereotypically white, too, because I have grown up with and loved a ton of the songs in that video! The concept for this video is just songs that white people always seem to like to hear at parties or when they come on the radio. It's not a deep commentary of racism, and occasionally, these songs can get pretty cringey, but I still would consider some of them to be among my all-time favorites. We're not gonna look at every single song in there, I just hand-picked 26 that I would consider personal favorites. 

1. "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield
I think this song is on here because of the famous Vine where a ginger kid sings it obnoxiously in the car. That's a classic Vine, and this song is great. It's so blissful and uplifting. This song is popular as a graduation song, with lyrics like "I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned" and "Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten", and since I'm graduating this year, it's definitely going to be a relevant song to listen to. When I was younger, I had this Disney movie called Ice Princess on DVD, and this song featured at the end, so I get nostalgic when I hear it. Funnily enough, I think that movie also featured "Toxic" by Britney Spears, another all-time favorite.
2. "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi
This song is widely considered to be Bon Jovi's signature song, and I think it's one of the best songs from the 80s. I vaguely remember first hearing it in first grade gym class and always pointing that out to my parents. Mostly I just think it's fun to scream along to and it has one of the best choruses of all time. A few years ago, there was a meme where you'd replace "livin' on a prayer" with a picture of something that rhymes with the phrase. For example:

Lipstick on a pear...

Kitten on the stairs...

Lizard on a chair...

This is a really dumb meme but I love it. 

3. "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey
This is one of the big ones. I live in a really...um, Caucasian-dominated community...and this song is extremely popular there. I assume that's also the case in other predominantly white towns and cities. It's always the last song to get played whenever I go to school dances, and when it gets played at sporting events, everyone goes crazy. I do think this song is pretty overrated and overplayed, but I still like it. My parents have always really loved Journey, so I grew up listening to their music. Because of that, there are a ton of Journey songs I like more than "Don't Stop Believin'", but it still makes me nostalgic.
4. "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the Backstreet Boys
My main favorite Backstreet Boys jam is "I Want It That Way", which totally fits on this playlist we have going on and is one of my favorite songs, but this will suffice. I don't know a ton about the Backstreet Boys, but they're pretty much the perfect archetype of what a boy band should be. They have the highly choreographed routines, the cheesy ballads, the tight harmonies, and the bops. This song is a 90s banger and I love it. It's a ton of fun, memorable, and just makes you want to dance!
5. "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton
I've never seen the movie White Chicks, but from what I know, there's something in that movie about how this song is "the quintessential white girl song". So yeah, call me basic, but I think this song is fantastic. It's a piano-based song, but it isn't boring at all. The piano work is really nice and the "making my way downtown" opening is iconic. This song is extremely memorable and beloved because it's just so wonderstruck and dreamlike. Terry Crews (who actually played a character obsessed with this song in White Chicks), lip-synced to this song on Lip Sync Battle, and his performance is pretty much exactly what I imagine when I listen to this song. The string section! The ballerinas! The ribbon twirling! It's so over-the-top and I love it.
6. "All Star" by Smash Mouth
It's the Shrek song. Enough said! This song is really popular for being at the center of the many Shrek memes, as it is the song that opens up the movie. Because of its usage in so many memes, I love this song and it makes me happy. I just think this song is really fun to sing along with. That's a trend with a lot of these "white people songs", they're good to sing along to. Also fun fact: we watched Shrek in that leadership class I talked about in the Into the Spider-Verse post I did a few weeks ago. (No, I don't know how Shrek is supposed to make me a good leader.) Unfortunately, I had somewhere I needed to be so I missed the first twenty minutes of the movie, including "All Star" and the "Duloc Is A Perfect Place" song. I was genuinely heartbroken.
7. "Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC
NSYNC is the band known for giving Justin Timberlake to the world, and although he has had many hits since he left NSYNC, this is still probably my favorite. (Although "Cry Me A River" is really great too.) This song is extremely aggressive and hard-hitting, which is why I like it so much. It's also really catchy and the choreography is iconic. There's a lot of early 2000s music I don't know, and I'd definitely like to learn more about this era in music, but this is one of the highlights as far as I know.
8. "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire
A lot of these songs are all-time favorites, and this is certainly one of them. This is probably in my all-time top 10. Although these songs are supposedly "ones that white people get turnt up to", I think this song is universal. No matter what your background is, you're instantly in a better mood and feel like dancing when you hear it. The opening lyric of "do you remember the 21st night of September?" is something of a meme. This song is just one of the most joyful and upbeat I can think of. It's impossible to be sad when you hear it. Even though this is an all-time favorite, I don't really have much to say about it, and that's fine. It's not really a song you need to analyze or look at in-depth. I just put it on when I'm not feeling great and it makes me smile.
9. "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley
Yes, I like the Rickroll song. This song is fine as an actual song, but mostly I just like it because of the memes. Is there a more iconic meme than the Rickroll? I genuinely don't think there is. I remember in seventh grade, I went through this period where I would Rickroll my friends every day to the point where they had memorized the URL and whenever I'd try sending it to them, they'd just be like, "this isn't funny anymore!" Maybe it wasn't funny, but I enjoyed it.
10. "All The Small Things" by Blink-182
I don't remember when I first heard this song, but I didn't really think much of it until we started playing it during pep band during freshman year. Blink-182 are one of the most iconic pop-punk bands, and this is their signature song. It's very simple but still really good. I love screaming "say it ain't so, I will not go, turn the lights off, carry me home" and singing along with the "na na na"'s. It has a bunch of different hooks, all really catchy. I feel like this is the stereotypical pop-punk song, and when I think about the genre, this is the first song to come to mind. My favorite Blink-182 song is "I Miss You", but this is a close second. In other words, I really don't have much knowledge about this band, seeing as my two favorite songs by them are two of their most well-known. But I like this song, so that's gotta count for something!
11. "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
Okay, for those of you who don’t know: this song is about a tormented, psychotic kid who wants to shoot up his school. And yet you’d never be able to tell because it sounds so jovial! Despite the juxtaposition of dark, grim lyrics with a happy sound, I like this song. I think it’s clever how because of the song’s catchiness, it takes you a few listens to realize that it’s from the point of view of a homicidal maniac. The sound is very stereotypical hipster-sounding, but I like it, especially the part with the whistling. Plus, I can even get on board with the lyrical content because the band have stated that it wasn’t written to condone violence and it should be used to start a conversation about mass shootings. Any song that can subliminally start a conversation about a big issue while still being catchy and fun-sounding gets some points from me.
12. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver
I don't like country music at all. It's very commonly played where I'm from, and I just think most of it is garbage. However, even those who say they hate country music, such as myself, have to admit that "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is one of the best songs of all time. Okay, maybe that's a little hyperbolic, but I have noticed that even people who don't like country music seem to enjoy this one. If you read the comments, it's filled with people saying that "everyone is gangsta until country roads starts playing", "America thought this song was so good they named a state after it" and "For everyone who doesn't know the lyrics...u should know better, i'm disappointed".
13. "Mr. Brightside" by the Killers
Fun fact, this song stayed in the Top 100 most popular songs in the UK for over 200 weeks. That's almost four years! But I am absolutely not going to argue with that. I wholeheartedly love this song with every fiber of my being. I don't know if I ever will make a list of my favorite songs of all time, but this would probably be somewhere in there. It's about a guy who thinks his girlfriend is cheating on him, and all the lyrics are iconic and have been memed to death. But more than that, it's just really fun to sing along to! It's emotional yet anthemic, just a perfect song all around. I haven't gone too in-depth into the Killers' other work, but I like what I've heard. And at the end of the day, "Mr. Brightside" is a modern classic and I love it to death.
14. "Take on Me" by a-ha
I love this song so much, my god. I love so many 80s songs, but after "Africa" by Toto, this is probably my favorite. Everybody knows this song, which is a classic in pop culture. The main synth line is embedded in pop culture and the chorus is soaring. It's also incredibly hard to sing along to with some impressive high notes, but damn if we don't sing along anyway. It's just a song you can listen to a thousand times and not get sick of. I also really love "Mine Diamonds", a Minecraft-themed parody that is literally some kid with a horrible microphone screaming about Minecraft in his room. It's very loud and obnoxious so I wouldn't recommend it if you get headaches easily but it makes me laugh. Especially when his brother or somebody tells him to shut up and close the door.
15. "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence
This song is so cheesy yet legitimately chilling. I love the contrast between the haunting female vocals and the aggressive rapping. It's a song I grew up with and have always loved. This is a song you play when you want to feel gothic and emotional...or if you want to enjoy some memes. That's right, like so many of the other songs on this list, this song has been made into some pretty dank memes. There's a cover performed by Goofy, as well as mashups with songs like "Uptown Funk" and the aforementioned "All Star". I've also gotten plenty of joy out of scaring my brothers in the car by creeping up on them and screaming "WAKE ME UP" at them.
16. "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners
If "Africa" is my number one 80s song and "Take on Me" is number two, this would be number three. When you think of 80s music, you think of synthesizers, guitar solos, and flashy performers. This song is the opposite of that, being more fiddle and banjo-based. It's really hard to tell what the actual words are, but it's fun to sing along using the method my best friend uses when singing along to kpop: just make sounds that sound similar to what you hear. And even if you don't know the words in the verses, you have to sing along to the chorus. It's so full of joy!
17. "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi
The second Bon Jovi song we have here. I guess white people really like Bon Jovi. This song makes me think of pep band, where we have been playing it for four years straight. I won't lie, I've gotten sick of playing it in pep band, but I still really love the Bon Jovi original. My pep band friends and I have taken to referring to this song as its acronym title "YGLABN", pronounced "ya-glabbin". We'll ask the director what song we're playing next, to get a response of "ya-glabbin!"
18. "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne
I'm sorry, this song is just really fun. The main premise is that the main character has the hots for his friend Stacy's mom. He talks about how he spends a lot of time at her house not because he likes Stacy, but because he wants to see Stacy's mom. I especially think it's funny when he says "But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me." But mostly I just think this song has one of the best choruses ever written. It just puts a smile on your face whenever you hear it. Plus there's a key change! Yay!
19. "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" by Panic! At The Disco
I've grown out of my Panic! At The Disco phase circa 2016 for the most part, but damnit if I don't love a lot of their older stuff. No matter how popular some of their new stuff, like "High Hopes" or "Hey Look Ma, I Made It", gets, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" will always be their signature song to me and many others. It is one of my personal life goals to go to karaoke and sing this song. I just think that would be really fun. There are also a ton of really great song mashups of this song on the Internet, mashing it up with songs like "iSpy" by Kyle, "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry, and weirdest and best of all, the Thomas the Tank Engine theme. Although I do have to say that their follow-up single to this song, "But It's Better If You Do" is, well, better. I think that's ultimately my favorite Panic! At The Disco song today.
20. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
According to TheTopTens, this song was voted to be the greatest song of all time by music fans, and, well, there are certainly worse songs that could get that title. This song is so brilliant because it has so many different segments and parts, ranging from a ballad and guitar solo to the operatic part everybody loves to sing along to to the hard rock part to a nice coda to tie things up. I don't even know that many of their songs, but I would feel pretty comfortable in saying that Queen are one of the greatest bands of all time. My personal favorite of theirs is "Don't Stop Me Now", but "Bohemian Rhapsody" is still a masterpiece that deserves all the acclaim. Also, this song appeared in one of my family's recent favorite shows, The Goldbergs. The scene in question is probably the single funniest thing I have seen on that show, which is not an easy thing to be, because that show is hilarious. Just watch it here.
21. "Fireflies" by Owl City
If I were to describe this song in one word, it would be "whimsical". It's about how Adam Young, the guy behind Owl City, imagines a visit from magical fireflies to help him cope with his insomnia. This song is magical and beautiful, I would say. It just makes me feel really imaginative. And it has a meme attached to it, because of course it does. One thing I am learning from writing this post is that white people really love their memes. People like taking this song and playing it at garish volumes or making puns on the opening lyric, "You would not believe your eyes if ten million fireflies..."
22. "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes
A lot of these songs are ones I'm attached to from playing them for pep band, and this is certainly one of them. It's always a fun song to play because everybody knows it. I genuinely would not believe you if you told me you had never heard this song. Like, have you seriously never been to a sporting event and heard everybody chanting the riff to this song? I really like how this song is really simple with just a powerful drum beat, vocals, and The Riff. This is one of the best and most iconic guitar riffs in history. There isn't even a real chorus, there's just the riff, but that's more than enough. But yet, despite its simplicity, the song still manages to sound larger than life. It's a pep band classic.
23. "Africa" by Toto
My love of this song is pretty much a meme to those who know me. I can be in a really awful mood, but as soon as I hear "it's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you", my spirits are lifted. My dad once told me that Toto were a terrible band other than a few songs, including this one, but I don't care enough to look into their other work, because I would be content listening to just this one song for all of eternity. I just love everything about it, from the iconic synth line to the marimba to that chorus! Is this the best chorus of all time? I don't know, there are a lot of choruses in the world, but my gut tells me yes. This song actually got a resurgence in popularity in 2018 due to some memes, and also because the band Weezer did a cover of it. I will always prefer the Toto original to any cover, but the fact that the Weezer cover exists entirely because a 14-year-old girl on Twitter begged them to cover it is absolutely amazing. Also fun fact: Pitbull made a song called "Ocean to Ocean" for the movie Aquaman in 2018. It's basically a cover of "Africa" with your standard "Mr. 305, Mr. Worldwide, dale!" Pitbull stuff thrown in there. It's so terrible but I'm so happy it exists.
24. "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band
Another country song, one that I like more than I probably should. I can't even think of a logical reason as to why I like this song so much, but oh, I do. This song is an anthem for what life is like in the South, with a surprising amount of overlap between the Southern lifestyle and the Midwest. That's probably because I have many people who self-identify as hicks in my small town.
25. "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond
I think this may be the epitome of "songs that white people get turnt up to." White people absolutely love this song. They love singing "touching me, touching you" as obnoxiously as possible. They love yelling "so good, so good, so good" after Neil Diamond sings "Good times never seemed so good". And most of all, they love going "BA BA BA" during the chorus. I love this song too. Singing it just puts you in a good mood. One time, my mom was taking my brother and his friend to football practice and this song came on. Once it got to the "touching me, touching you" part, his friend said, completely seriously, "Don't you think this song is kind of...sexual?" I think about that story and laugh whenever I hear this song.
26. "Drops of Jupiter" by Train
From what I've heard of their music, I don't like Train at all. I haven't even heard that many of their songs, but something about the guy's voice just drives me up the wall. But "Drops of Jupiter" is an exception. This song just sounds nice to me and I love the combination of the melody with the wistful background music. The lyrics are weird but oddly poetic. I'm not sure what "Now she's back in the atmosphere with drops of Jupiter in her hair" means, but it sounds nice.

So, those are 26 songs that I love that therefore establish me as a white person. This is kind of a random post but I needed something less lengthy because I'm having a very busy week! Today, I'm going to a dance, where I'll actually be serving on the court, so I'm excited for that but a little overwhelmed. Next week we'll either be doing another Movie Talk on one of my favorite 80s movies, or we'll be talking about Pokemon. I haven't decided yet, but either way, it will be up next Saturday. This is Stellar in Neverland, signing off.

Stellar