What makes a song a ‘millennial song’
It's Been a Minute
NPR
4.7 • 9.2K Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode from our friends at All Songs Considered, NPR Music editors Hazel Cills and Sheldon Pearce join host Robin Hilton to weigh the options and attempt to pick the one song that best captures the Millennial experience, from the dizzying highs of the dot-com boom, when anything seemed possible, to the post-9-11 bust, the "hope and change" of the Obama years, and prolonged period of generational disillusionment.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When I think of the millennial experience, a lot of things come to mind. From the macro to the micro. |
| 0:09.6 | There's the historically significant. Think 9-11 or the 2008 financial crisis. And there's the little things. |
| 0:16.5 | The skinny jeans we wore to the avocado toast we ate and of course the songs we listened to. |
| 0:23.4 | When I think of the soundtrack to the millennial experience for me, the song, crank that |
| 0:30.8 | by Soldier Boy is scripture. |
| 0:33.8 | Okay, hear me out. |
| 0:34.9 | I mean, we've got the YouTube dance craze. We've got like a |
| 0:39.6 | totally homegrown internet star, a kind of annoying, but very cloying and sticky and very |
| 0:48.4 | fun and satisfying chorus. That's kind of totally nonsense. It really encapsulates to be so many defining |
| 0:58.4 | millennial cultural markers all in one package. Now, that, of course, is my opinion, |
| 1:04.8 | but today I am passing the mic to our friends at all songs considered. But recently sat down |
| 1:10.3 | and hashed out what they believe are the defining songs of the |
| 1:13.5 | millennial experience. |
| 1:15.1 | And whether you're a backstreet boys forever fan or still have Soldier Boy in the rotation, |
| 1:20.2 | this combo is bound to stir up some good old millennial nostalgia. |
| 1:24.7 | And a reminder, if you love It's Been a Minute, which from the sweet comments y'all have been leaving, it sounds like maybe you do. Be sure to follow or subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast app. That way, you get new episodes the moment they drop. Okay, y'all, take it away. You're listening to All Songs Considered from NPR Music. I'm Robin Hilton. I'm here with Sheldon Pierce. |
| 1:45.6 | Hello. |
| 1:46.2 | And Hazel Sills. |
| 1:47.5 | Hi. |
| 1:48.5 | So you all have a very tall order for this episode. |
| 1:52.9 | We are going to attempt to crown a single song for an entire generation, millennials specifically. Did you understand that that's what |
| 2:04.1 | you were signing up for when you agreed to do the show? I did. The look on your face tells me, |
... |
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