Here are three songs that you’ll want to put on your friendship playlist immediately. Or maybe send them to your best friend right now so they know you’re thinking about them. I’ll wait.
“Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)” by The Spice Girls
The Spice Girls released “Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)” on their 2007 Greatest Hits album, and keen-eyed fans will notice a line from the 1996 hit “Wannabe” in the title. This song is a more down-tempo ballad, as The Spice Girls’ energy shifted with the passage of time. “Headlines” was also their final studio single, which makes it a little bittersweet as a friendship song.
“Headlines” was more like a way for The Spice Girls to close the book on their incredible career. In 2005, the group reunited, and “Headlines” became the first song to have vocals from all original members since 1998. It was simultaneously a comeback and a farewell, but the overwhelming themes of friendship and love are so classically Spice Girls.
“Girl” by Destiny’s Child
Destiny’s Child released “Girl” on their 2004 album Destiny Fulfilled. It has an interesting composition; the verses are written as narratives, but more than that, they’re like conversations. The whole song becomes several snapshots of the trio coming to each other for advice. Then, the chorus becomes all about girl power friendship affirmations.
But further than that, Beyoncé and Michelle Williams wrote “Girl” for Kelly Rowland as a plea for her to leave an abusive relationship. That detail wasn’t widely known for a while, but in 2013 Rowland shared the story. “The girls wrote it for me,” she said during a radio interview. “Destiny’s Child is deeper than what people see on the surface. Those are my homies for life … Those girls, we stuck with each other—period.”
“High School Never Ends” by Bowling For Soup
There’s a good chance Bowling For Soup’s 2006 hit “High School Never Ends” will always be relevant. The celebrity names in the chorus might become dated eventually, if they’re not already. But the sentiment will stay the same: people don’t change much.
Even though a lot of adult life feels insufferably like high school, there’s a bright spot in all of that. And a clever lyric change at the end of “High School Never Ends” broadcasts it loud and clear. The final chorus starts with the same complaints about what the world is obsessed with. But then the change happens: “And I still don’t have the right look / And I still have the same three friends / And I’m pretty much the same as I was back then.”
These last few lines don’t have the same frustration with the world that the other verses do. Because, through it all, the same three friends you had in high school have stuck with you. And sometimes that’s enough to get through the day.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Radio Disney
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