Entertainment

What's Your Favorite Spice Girls Song To Sing?

by Mary Grace Garis

Do you remember the first time a friend urged you to sing a Spice Girls song at karaoke night? I do. Back then my friend Ashley insisted it would make us the coolest kids at the barbecue, and so many years later, it still kind of has that effect. Even today, megastars Ariana Grande and Lea Michele can't help belting out a classic Spice Girls ditty, and how can they not? The Spice Girls were the definitive soundtrack to our childhood.

In fact, Spice Girls work for the most part because of the sheer nostalgia factor. It takes us back to a simpler time, so we forgive that it's not really great music. Being significantly tied to our years in grade school makes it impossible to hate. And undoubtedly the song that you picked out then tells a story about the of-the-moment drama of your youth. So let's backpedal and revisit what your fav Spice Girls karaoke song says about your childhood.

I did not, for the record, join Ashley in karaoke because it wasn't something I had the stomach for at 7-years-old. I did, however, scream-sing "Wannabe" out the window of a Philadelphia apartment with a bunch of plastered friends in college. But that's a whole other story...

"Say You'll Be There"

Your best friend went away to summer camp and meets some horrible bitch named Samantha who she's suddenly buddy-buddy with. She's keeps sending you letters about how they have the same favorite beanie baby and traded fortune bracelets and are totally going to win the scavenger hunt, like you give a shit. It was one of the loneliest times in your life, and you spend many days brooding in your mini-pool, feeling introspective.

"2 Become 1"

You were a pre-teen drama queen who was...90 percent certain that this was about sex. And also 85 percent certain that sex was when a man rubs his penis into a girl's thigh for 15 minutes while saying "Oh, yes!" over and over. Maybe. You sang this at the West Shore Swim Club hoping that Jamie Daly would know it was for him. Thing is, it wasn't even a bad performance, but your slightly matured baby-boobs were popping out of your tankini. Not your favorite memory.

"Wannabe"

Things were better between you and your best friend after Samantha from Camp Whatever-It-Was left the picture. This song was the ultimate stamp on your undying friendship, and nothing was ever going to get between the two of you ever again.

You later made out with her 8th grade boyfriend during the class trip to Washington D.C.

OR you pretty much feigned interest throughout the whole Spice Girls fad (you were always Sporty Spice during recess) and this was the only song you could kind of fake knowing.

"Spice Up Your Life"

You thought with the purest conviction that the Spice Girls were going to last forever, which is why you invested all your allowance money on the dolls, copies of Tiger Beat, and those gross little lollipops with the stickers. Despite never pronouncing the end of the chorus properly ("Hi-C Ya, Hotel!") you were absolutely devastated when Ginger quit. Only the healing effects of time, and a steady regimen of Lexapro, has helped you move past it.

"Who Do You Think You Are"

You had no shortage of obnoxious guys pulling your bra strap during class, and you wanted the world to know that those snaps wouldn't break your feminist spirit. Girl power!

"Never Give Up On The Good Times"

Honestly, you went into second grade thinking it was going to be YOUR YEAR. You were so confident that you'd be able to find a holographic Charizard and marry Leonardo DiCaprio all before the tender age of eight. The Charizard thing never worked out, but your acting career led you to be an extra in The Wolf of Wall Street, as Bikini Girl #5. So...