12 Songs We All Put On A Mixtape To Tell Our Crush How We Felt

What do you do when that guy or girl you see all the time in the high school cafeteria just doesn't seem to know that you exist? Express your feelings in song, of course! But don't sing them yourself, oh no. Let's face it, you don't exactly have a voice meant for topping the charts.

Instead, we used to rely on the old tradition of the mix tape (and later the mix CD) to let the one that our heart yearned for know just how we felt about them. If you ever did this, one of these 12 songs was almost definitely on there.

Garbage - "#1 Crush"

Shirley Manson has a hell of a voice, and there was nothing like a badass lady telling you just how she (IE the one who sent you the song) felt about you.

Peter Gabriel - "In Your Eyes"

We blame the movie Say Anything for this one, but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Jennifer Paige - "Crush"

Seriously, the song so apt that its one word title says all you need to know about it.

Prince - "I Wanna Be Your Lover"

Prince was the smoothest SOB around, and in our minds there was nobody more qualified to try to woo a crush.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps"

We can't always understand what Karen O is saying, but the part where she goes “Wait, they don’t love you like I love you anyway” is all you need.

These next few songs were the ones that REALLY expressed just how you felt...

Kylie Minogue - "Love At First Sight"

The idea of love at first sight is pretty much incomprehensible to us cynical adults, but when you're a hormonal teenager, it's the realest thing alive.

Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris"

The ballad we all used to express our deepest of feelings, until, y'know, we realized it was awful.

Boys II Men - "I'll Make Love To You"

For when subtlety is for losers.

Blink-182 - "First Date"

This does a great job of being sweet and romantic while still highlighting just how awkward teenage romance is, and that was all of us in high school, wasn't it?

Britney Spears - “(You Drive Me) Crazy”

It's not exactly subtle, or demure, or even quiet, but you know that sometimes it was exactly what you needed to get your message across.

Box Car Racer - "There Is"

Man, Tom Delonge was really the poet laureate of awkward teenage romance, wasn't he?

Savage Garden - "Truly, Madly, Deeply"

This band was the single cheesiest thing to come out of the 90s, but hey, whatever works, right?

What song did you send your crush?