Music for everything you could ever feel
A girl’s early 20s are full of ups and downs, new experiences, tragedies, heartbreaks and, most of all, the unexpected.
We’ve complied the best, most essential albums by the greatest women in music — ok, fine, there’s a few boys in here too — that best capture these amazing-crazy-terrible-beautiful time in our lives to help you feel all the feels.
There’s an artist, an album, a song for everything you’re going through — get listening.
Live Through This, Hole
I want to be the girl with the most cake
Version 2.0, Garbage
When I grow up, I’ll be stable
A Seat At The Table, Solange
I ran my credit card bill up, thought a new dress would make it better, I tried to work it away but that just made me sadder
Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth
I can’t stay a candle, gotta change my mind before it burns out
1989, Taylor Swift
Cause baby, I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me
ANTI, Rihanna
Didn’t they tell you that I was a savage, fuck your white horse and a carriage
Blue, Joni Mitchell
Crown and anchor me or let me sail away
Emotion, Carly Rae Jepsen
Let your feelings be revealing that you can’t forget me
Lemonade, Beyonce
I am the dragon breathing fire, beautiful mane, I am the lion
Crazy For You, Best Coast
I don’t even know why I care as much as I do, I just wish that you would tell me is this real or are we through
Days Are Gone, Haim
And if it gets rough, it’s time to get rough
Begin, Lion Babe
They can’t catch me ‘cause I’m too strong, they all want what I got, never leaving me alone
Cannibal, Ke$ha
I have a heart I swear I do, but just not baby when it comes to you
Bury Me at Makeout Creek, Mitski
I am not gonna be what my daddy wants me to be
Ultraviolence, Lana Del Rey
They judge me like a picture book, by the colors, like they forgot to read
The Dutchess, Fergie
Boys just come and go like seasons
Tidal, Fiona Apple
It that why they call me a sullen girl, they don’t know I used to sail the deep and tranquil sea
The Hot Rock, Sleater-Kinney
And when the body finally starts to let go, let it all go at once, not piece by piece but like a whole bucket of stars dumped into the universe
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, David Bowie
Oh, don’t lean on me, man, ‘cause you can’t afford the ticket
The Cookbook, Missy Elliott
My style can’t be duplicated or recycled, this chick is a sick individual
Lungs, Florence and the Machine
I belong to the hurricane
Let Go, Avril Lavigne
If you’re trying to turn me into someone else it’s easy to see I’m not down with that, I’m not nobody’s fool
Taking the Long Way, Dixie Chicks
I hit the highway in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling, living like a gypsy, six strong hands on the steering wheel
Every Open Eye, Chvrches
Anything you ever did was strictly by design, but you got it wrong
Purple Rain, Prince
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life
Survivor, Destiny’s Child
Now that you’re out of my life, I’m so much better, you thought I’d be weak without you, but I’m stronger
Lights Out, Ingrid Michaelson
If I had a time machine, and if life was a movie scene, I’d rewind and I’d tell me run
Night Time, My Time, Sky Ferreira
You’re not the one
Dangerous Woman, Ariana Grande
Don’t need permission, made my decision to test my limits
Born This Way, Lady Gaga
I’m gonna marry the night, I’m not gonna cry anymore, I’m gonna marry the night, leave nothing on these streets to explore
Rumors, Fleetwood Mac
Have you any dreams you’d like to sell?
Electra Heart, Marina and the Diamonds
Got you wrapped around my finger babe, you can count on me to misbehave
Pure Heroine, Lorde
Explosions on TV and all the girls with heads inside a dream so now we live beside the pool where everything is good
The Pinkprint, Nicki Minaj
When I walk in, sit up straight, I don’t give a fuck if I was late
Santigold, Santigold
Tell him don’t hold his breath for me, I got some money I was saving, got some hearts that I’ll be breaking
Riot, Paramore
I don’t wanna be the blame, not anymore. It’s your turn, so take a seat we’re settling the final score
This Is Acting, Sia
I wanna dance in the open breeze, feel the wine in my hair, hear the ocean sing, I got good things to feel in my life
Back To Black, Amy Winehouse
He floods me with dread, soaked in soul, he swims in my eyes by the bed, pour myself over him, moon spilling in and I wake up alone
It’s Not Me, It’s You, Lily Allen
Believe me when I tell you that I never wanna’ see you again, and please can you stop calling cause it’s getting really boring
Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt
Oh I’m just a girl, what’s my destiny? What I’ve succumbed to is making me numb.
Spice, Spice Girls
If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends
Fanmail, TLC
No, I don’t want your number, no, I don’t want to give you mine
Bangerz, Miley Cyrus
It’s our party we can love who we want, we can kiss who we want, we can sing what we want
So Jealous, Tegan and Sara
Bright just like the stars above me, proud just like my mother planned it
Stripped, Christina Aguilera
After all you put me through, you’d think I’d despise you, but in the end I wanna thank you, ‘cause you’ve made me that much stronger
Speak For Yourself, Imogen Heap
Speak no feeling, no, I don’t believe you, you don’t care a bit