25 Songs You'll Immediately Recognize If You Listened To Alternative Radio In 2003

From garage rock to emo, these were the anthems you were rocking out to 15 years ago.

1. The White Stripes, "Seven Nation Army"

XL Recordings/ youtube.com

Fact this song reminds you of: That The White Stripes remain Jack White's best band.

2. AFI, "Girl's Not Grey"

AFIVEVO/ youtube.com

What this song reminds you of: Guys who wore all-black, eyeliner, pleather cuffs, black nail polish, and said they were straight-edge.

3. Transplants, "Diamonds & Guns"

Epitaph Records / youtube.com

The one thing you associate with this song: That it is was later used in a Garnier Fructis commercial.

4. OutKast, "Hey Ya!"

OutKastVevo/ youtube.com

What was so great about this song: Well it was ubiquitous cross-over hit, but it was a song that you didn't get tired of and it instantly put you in a good mood.

5. No Doubt, "It's My Life"

NoDoubtVevo/ youtube.com

Fact you might not know about this song: No Doubt did this cover of the Talk Talk song because they wanted to include a new song on their greatest hits album, but didn't want to get together to write a new song, as the band was on a break (Gwen was working on her solo album at the time).

6. Fountains of Wayne, "Stacy's Mom"

FountainsOfWayneVEVO/ youtube.com

Where you heard this song the most: Aside from every radio station, the video was also played on heavy rotation on MTV and VH1. Basically, there was no escaping this earworm.

7. Hot Hot Heat, "Bandages"

Sub Pop/ youtube.com

Fact this song reminds you of: How awesome and popular neo-new wave bands were in the early 2000s.

8. The Darkness, "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"

RHINO/ youtube.com

Where you most likely heard this song on repeatedly: On VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown — where you always thought it was some throwback ’70s classic rock video.

9. Radiohead, "There, There"

Radiohead/ youtube.com

Thing you probably forgot about this song: The trippy Wes Anderson-esque music video.

10. The Strokes, "12:51"

TheStrokesVEVO/ youtube.com

Things this song brings back: How it sounded just how you wanted a Strokes song to sound...with a dash of The Cars thrown in to give the song a new wave sound.

11. Jet, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"

JET/ youtube.com

What you probably thought the first time you heard this song: Wait, is this The Strokes? This sorta sounds like them.

12. Queens Of The Stone Age, "Go With The Flow"

QueensStoneAgeVEVO/ youtube.com

Thing you probably forgot about this song: The video for it. It looks like a fever dream Jack White would have after drinking too much tequila while watching Mad Max.

13. Evanescence, "Bring Me To Life"

EvanescenceVEVO/ youtube.com

Thing this song brings back: The feeling of "whoa" when you heard Amy Lee's vocals for the first time.

14. Trapt, "Headstrong"

WMG/ youtube.com

What this song reminds you of: How popular angry bro rock was in the early 2000s (like, what were they all mad at?!).

15. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Can't Stop"

Red Hot Chili Peppers/ youtube.com

Most RCHP lyrics in the song: "Distant cousin to the reservation/ Defunkt the pistol that you pay for/ This punk the feeling that you stay for."

16. Foo Fighters, "All My Life"

foofightersVEVO/ youtube.com

What this song reminds you of: That Dave Grohl is the best, a living rock legend, and you can't even argue that, sorry.

17. Linkin Park, "Somewhere I Belong"

Linkin Park/ youtube.com

What this song proved at the time: How good Linkin Park was at creating arena-worthy anthems.

18. The Donnas, "Take It Off"

Atlantic Records/ youtube.com

Place you most likely heard this song for the first time: On MTV’s Spanking New Music Week — which probably then lead you to immediately download it from LimeWire.

19. The Ataris, "Boys Of Summer"

RanGears /youtube.com

What you probably remember about this song: Your mom telling you in the car that this was a Don Henley cover.

20. Chevelle, "Send the Pain Below"

ChevelleVEVO/ youtube.com

Things this song brings back: Just how big nu metal was for a span of about six years.

21. Audioslave, "Like a Stone"

AudioslaveVevo/ youtube.com

Where you probably heard this song the most: On your ~angsty teen feelings~ mix CD.

22. Interpol, "PDA"

7sal7 / youtube.com

Things you remember most about this song: Having that ONE music snob friend tell you they were totally into Interpol before everyone else was, and how everyone said they were just ripping-off Joy Division.

23. Dashboard Confessional, "Hands Down"

Vagrant Records

Where you listened to it: Listening to it on repeat in your bedroom while FEELING the lyrics.

24. Coldplay, "Clocks"

Coldplay/ youtube.com

What you probably remember most about this song: How pretty and ethereal it sounded the first time you heard it.

25. Johnny Cash, "Hurt"

Lost Highway/ youtube.com

Why this song is one of the best songs of 2003: It's rare that an artist can take a cover and completely make it their own, but that's just what Johnny did here. He took Trent Reznor's very personal song about depression and drug addiction, and turned it (along with the spectacular music video) into a song about him reflecting on his life, career, and death.

Re-listen to 2003's alt-rock hits here:

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