Youthquake Time Warp: 2004
TGIF content includes: Olivia Rodrigo, Retro Fixation: 2004 with The Ashlee Simpson Show, & more
Every girl in their current 20s remembered the first time they popped their Fearless (2008) CD into their disc player. She heard the drumbeat in the first few seconds, kicking off Taylor swift’s sophomore album about high school love and heartbreak, realizing it was the start of their teen years and how soon it would all be gone.
I’m currently the age Taylor Swift was when she wrote her third album, Speak Now (2010), and a lot has changed over the years for both Taylor and me. I’ll spare you the details of the heartache I’ve experienced, friendship breakups, and other petty things. Still, there’s one thing I’ve known for sure: Taylor’s always had my back, seemingly always knowing what to sing when I couldn’t turn my feelings into words–the craft of songwriting that Taylor’s mastered throughout her career.
I’ve often wondered recently and reflected on the new generation of young girls experiencing heartache and going through these same changes: who will they have? More recent generations have entire discographies to discover, but they won’t have that established connection. However, this new generation has Olivia Rodrigo, an emerging artist with a deep-rooted fanbase.
At first, it was hard for me to relate to her song Driver’s License. After giving the single a chance, I realized the song is everything I felt nostalgic about with Taylor’s music; this shows in Olivia’s craft. By writing the song herself, it’s no wonder that she, too, grew up on Taylor’s music.
Olivia’s latest single, Deja Vu, is more upbeat and reflects on a lost relationship, evoking a similar perspective in which Taylor excels. The sentiment for me is that this new generation may have hit the jackpot with Rodrigo’s raw talent and skillful songwriting. She may be Taylor Swift’s protegée, but her storytelling prowess is all her.
⏳ Retro Fixation is a new series dedicated to our infatuation with the past, which is undeniably resurging now, so step back in time with us on this journey below.
My retro fixation is a continuous trip of unlocking hidden away folders of past forgotten nostalgia archives in my brain. Rewatching past favorites such as The O.C. and Gossip Girl (I apologize profusely for the belated pushback, but it’s coming) is fun, especially when certain scenes still seem familiar. Then there’s the style, the cell phones, and the melodrama, which keeps me going back.
As a teenager of the noughties, MTV was a daily source of entertainment. Everyone watched entertaining mesmeric shows like TRL, Laguna Beach, NEXT, and one of my favorites, The Ashlee Simpson Show.
Although there were only two seasons, MTV played it regularly, and the series is somewhat imprinted. Despite not watching The Ashlee Simpson Show since my senior year of high school (2005), the episodes were instantly recognizable. My then hormonal and moody teenage years related to Ashlee’s celebreality series on trying to achieve her dream while experiencing the growing pains of young adulthood.
As I watched all two seasons, my memories were unlocking. Like Ashlee, I come from a conservative and religious Texas family who seemed like angsty, dark sheep at one time or more.
Rewatching the series now as an adult, and it’s still just as captivating as it was then. Watching Ashlee navigate the challenges of landing a record contract with Geffen while being nineteen and living in LA. She also gets anticlimactic, albeit rudely dumped by actor Josh Henderson, that’s still memorable. Even more so for Ashlee, penning her heartache into her hit song Unreachable from her debut smash hit (and theme song) Autobiography.
The Ashlee Simpson Show’s second and final season is also its best. With Ashlee’s album release, the show also features her twentieth birthday, SNL performance debut (and unfortunate blunder), filming the La music video with director Joseph Kahn, and her Orange Bowl performance. Along with relationship and familial ups and downs. Seeing and reliving the intense media reaction to something ubiquitous in the entertainment industry is still wildly sensationalized. Countless artists are famous for relying on lip-synching, whether we like it or not. The lip-synching fiasco is still astonishing years later. Did it deserve such harsh scrutiny? Absolutely not. Like her sister, Ashlee Simpson is also deserving of her flowers. With so much retro fixation, newer generations hopefully can get enchanted, like in 2004.
Since we’re discussing 2004, I wanted to feature Pieces of Me, but it’s too obvious, although a banger no less. Instead, I went with the Linda Perry co-written Gwen Stefani track, What You Waiting For, because of the John Galliano gowns and Alice in Wonderland mashup. As much as I love this song and Francis Lawrence’s directorial, this is where Gwen confesses that the Harajuku girls inspired her so much, causing her to go full Madonna and become a culture vulture which sucks because the songs in this era are still so good. Two things can be true: cultural appropriation and the fact that both Miss Appropriate gave us trailblazing music. Gwen’s a musical problematic yt woman with hits of my youth and while she hasn’t acknowledged any of this, catch me listening to this banger.
Britney Spears branched out onto the world of beauty by releasing her first perfume, Curious, by Elizabeth Arden in 2004. I’ve been using Curious since I was sixteen, and I still love it; it smells yummy and playful. Ultimately it’s a familiar and memory-inducing scent; it’s one I’ll continue to use. I haven’t had any complaints yet.
“I’m so excited about doing my new fragrance with all of you. It smells amazing, and it is in department stores, so I seriously suggest to be sexy and go out and get it. Seriously,” she said while chewing her signature bubble gum. She’s not wrong! ✨
⏳ Time Warp is where I’ll feature moments in pop culture for the day.
Here’s what happened on this day, April 30th:
HBD Cloris Leachman, American film/tv legend.
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood back in 1927.
The # 1 Hit in 1966: Young Rascals Good Lovin’.
Silly Little Love Songs by Wings is released.
HBD Kirsten Dunst, American film actress (my forever goddess).
The # 1 Hit in 1983: Michael Jackson Beat It.
The 1985 French documentary Shoah, about the Holocaust, premieres in Paris.
A then-unknown Celine Dion won Eurovision in 1988 for Switzerland.
Mean Girls and Laws of Attraction hit theaters in 2004.
The # 1 Hit in 2011: Rihanna feat. Britney Spears S&M.
A new species of water beetle from Malaysian Borneo’s Maliau Basin gets named after actor Leonardo DiCaprio in 2018.
With love, your noughties girls, Naomi and Sam. 💘
Love it! Oh my goodness that Gwen song could come out today and sound so fresh!