Millennial realizes her favorite throwback song hits differently now!

Have you ever heard one of those songs from middle school as an adult and all of a sudden, it all just feels a bit too close to home? That's what happened to @ashlelnok, who humorously recreated her experience on TikTok listeninng to Bowling for Soup's “1985." This post was also shared on Instagram via @millennial_misery.

Debbie Just Hit the Wall, She Never Had It All

As @ashlelnok sang along to the lyrics, it started to hit her: she is Debbie. She never had it all. She's only been with one man. What happened to her plan?

Bowling for Soup's “1985” is not the only song that might have this effect years down the road. Try giving “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers or even “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn a closer listen. It's not a pretty picture. In fact, it's actually kind of sad. Consumed with jealousy? Standing alone while your ex makes out with someone else right in front of you? These bops are kind of depressing and, dare I say, triggering?

They might have been fun once upon a time. Like when you were at those middle school dances and had no real dating experience outside of a peck on the cheek that you then overexaggerated to your friends. They might have been fun in high school when everyone's generally awful to one another and you kind of have no idea what the lasting impact of those reckless actions will be. The same goes with college to a certain extent.

But when you're a jaded millennial whose adult journey so far has gone, well, ever so slightly differently than what was originally planned…depressing bops are no longer bops. They're just depressing. And once you hear those lyrics in this new way, there isn't much you can do to erase them from your mind. 

I mean, you could listen to new music instead of throwbacks, but that's not much better. GenZ teenagers are well aware that their music is Depressing with a capital D (Billie Eilish, anyone?). Perhaps there's something to be learned from those Zoomers. They seem to revel in those depressing song lyrics already. Should we have embraced that Debbie never had it all this whole time? Would we then be happier in our adult lives and not experience this level of millennial disillusionment? I guess we'll never know. In the meantime, let's just admit that really, we're all Debbie from “1985.”

Millennial discontent seems to be widespread these days. Take a look at these memes for all of you aging millennials out there.

Keep scrolling for some of the best comments on Instagram!

@wildrosefiberart wrote, “Holy sh** this is kinda depressing.”

@anywherechrista quipped that she needs “a 1995 version of this song.”

Finally, @desidomi simply wrote, “*cries in nostalgia*”