20 Forgotten 90s Songs You Used to Know Every Word To | G33Z3R Radio
Published July 2, 2026
20 Forgotten 90s Songs You Used to Know Every Word To
The 90s moved fast. Grunge replaced pop, hip-hop replaced grunge, boy bands replaced hip-hop, and by the time Napster showed up in 1999, nobody was paying for any of it. Songs came and went faster than ever — and some of the best ones got left behind.
These are the ones that were everywhere for a few months and then vanished into the "I know this song but have no idea who sings it" pile. You know all of them. You just forgot.
1. "No Rain" — Blind Melon (1993)
The Bee Girl video. That's what you remember. A little girl in a bee costume dancing through a field. The song peaked at #20 on the Hot 100 — a jangly, happy-sounding track that hid the fact that lead singer Shannon Hoon was struggling. He died of a cocaine overdose in 1995 at 28.
2. "What's Up?" — 4 Non Blondes (1993)
"And I said hey-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah." It peaked at #14 on the Hot 100 and became an alt-rock radio staple. Linda Perry went on to write hits for Christina Aguilera ("Beautiful") and Pink ("Get the Party Started"), but most people know her from standing on that hill screaming about revolution.
3. "Flagpole Sitta" — Harvey Danger (1997)
"I'm not sick but I'm not well." The Seattle band's only hit never actually cracked the Hot 100, but it was inescapable on alternative radio and became the theme song for the British sitcom "Peep Show." Harvey Danger gave their later albums away for free online before that was a thing anyone did.
4. "Inside Out" — Eve 6 (1998)
"Heart in a blender" — that's the line everyone remembers. It peaked at #28 on the Hot 100. Eve 6's singer Max Collins was 18 when the band got signed. The band's Twitter account became a minor internet sensation in the 2020s for unhinged posts.
5. "How Bizarre" — OMC (1997)
A New Zealand one-hit wonder that peaked at #5 on the Hot 100 with a breezy, genre-defying track that sounded like nothing else on the radio. Singer Pauly Fuemana never matched it. He died in 2010 at age 40.
6. "The Way" — Fastball (1998)
Inspired by an elderly couple who went missing in Texas. The Austin-based band peaked at #5 on the Hot 100 with this sunny, deceptively dark road song. It won a Billboard Music Award and then Fastball joined the long list of 90s bands that quietly kept making music without anyone noticing.
7. "Steal My Sunshine" — Len (1999)
Built around a sample of Andrea True Connection's "More, More, More," this Toronto sibling duo's summer anthem peaked at #9 on the Hot 100. It sounds like the last day of summer in 1999 — cheap sunscreen, a boombox, and zero responsibilities. Len never charted again.
8. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" — Deep Blue Something (1996)
"I think I remember the film." That's the whole song — two people with nothing in common clinging to one shared memory. It peaked at #5 on the Hot 100. Deep Blue Something were from Texas and disbanded shortly after. The song keeps showing up in romantic comedies about mediocre relationships.
9. "You Get What You Give" — New Radicals (1998)
Gregg Alexander wrote, produced, and performed one of the most joyful songs of the decade — then broke up the band after one album. It peaked at #36 on the Hot 100 but was a massive alternative and pop radio hit. The song was later cited by multiple politicians as a personal favorite, keeping it in the public consciousness.
10. "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" — Primitive Radio Gods (1996)
The longest song title on this list. The lo-fi track featured a haunting B.B. King vocal sample and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. It was used in the movie "The Cable Guy" and sounded like loneliness had a radio frequency.
11. "Save Tonight" — Eagle-Eye Cherry (1997)
The Swedish singer's acoustic-driven hit peaked at #5 on the Hot 100 in early 1998. His sister is Neneh Cherry ("Buffalo Stance"). "Save Tonight" is the acoustic campfire song of the late 90s — everyone knew it, nobody knew who sang it.
12. "Torn" — Natalie Imbruglia (1997)
Actually a cover of an Ednaswap song. Imbruglia's version peaked at #42 on the Hot 100 but was one of the most-played songs on worldwide radio. She was previously an actress on the Australian soap "Neighbours." "Torn" is bigger than its chart position suggests — it was everywhere.
13. "In the Meantime" — Spacehog (1996)
That bass line — lifted from a Penguin Cafe Orchestra piece — is one of the most distinctive intros of the decade. The British band's alt-rock single got heavy MTV play but peaked at #32 on the Hot 100. Royston Langdon (lead singer) was briefly married to Liv Tyler.
14. "Lovefool" — The Cardigans (1996)
"Love me, love me, say that you love me." The Swedish band's sugary pop track peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 after being featured in Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet." The Cardigans were actually a far more interesting and darker band than this song suggested.
15. "Bittersweet Symphony" — The Verve (1997)
The soaring orchestral sample was from the Andrew Oldham Orchestra's version of a Rolling Stones song. The Verve lost 100% of the royalties in a lawsuit — for decades, all songwriting royalties went to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. (The rights were eventually returned in 2019.) The song peaked at #12 on the Hot 100.
16. "Sex and Candy" — Marcy Playground (1997)
"I smell sex and candy here." The lazy, mumbled alt-rock track hit #8 on the Hot 100 — a bigger hit than most people realize. John Wozniak's vocals sound like someone waking up from a nap they didn't mean to take. One song, one vibe, then gone.
17. "Tubthumping" — Chumbawamba (1997)
"I get knocked down, but I get up again." Peaked at #6 on the Hot 100 and became one of the most inescapable songs of the decade. What most people don't know: Chumbawamba were a British anarchist collective who'd been making politically charged music since 1982. They donated their royalties to various activist causes.
18. "The Freshman" — The Verve Pipe (1997)
A melancholy college-rock ballad that peaked at #5 on the Hot 100. The song was about songwriter Brian Vander Ark's girlfriend's abortion during college. Despite the heavy subject matter, it got radio play alongside "MMMBop" and "Tubthumping" — the late 90s were weird.
19. "Follow You Down" — Gin Blossoms (1996)
The Tempe, Arizona band's follow-up era after "Hey Jealousy." "Follow You Down" peaked at #9 on the Hot 100 — a perfect mid-tempo jangle-pop song that sounded like it was written for a drive through the desert at sunset. Original guitarist Doug Hopkins, who wrote "Hey Jealousy," had been fired from the band and died in 1993.
20. "Run-Around" — Blues Traveler (1995)
John Popper's harmonica and a chord progression borrowed from Pachelbel's Canon. "Run-Around" peaked at #8 on the Hot 100 and won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Blues Traveler kept touring forever, but this was the song that put them on mainstream radio.
Why These Songs Disappeared
The late 90s killed the mid-90s. Boy bands and pop divas drowned out the alternative bands. Then Napster killed the record industry, and the industry stopped investing in anyone who wasn't a guaranteed hit. Most of these bands released second and third albums to silence.
But the songs are still there — buried in your brain, waiting for someone to hum the first four notes.
Hear Them Again
G33Z3R Radio has full content for every year from 1960 to 1999. Rediscover the 90s one year at a time.
- 1993 on G33Z3R → — Blind Melon, 4 Non Blondes
- 1995 on G33Z3R → — Blues Traveler
- 1996 on G33Z3R → — Spacehog, Deep Blue Something, The Cardigans
- 1997 on G33Z3R → — The Verve, Harvey Danger, Chumbawamba, Marcy Playground
- 1998 on G33Z3R → — Eve 6, Fastball, New Radicals
- 1999 on G33Z3R → — Len
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