2009 Vh1 - Top 20
Mia felt a strange pang. 2009 had been her year. The year she discovered music wasn’t just background noise. It was a lifeline.
December 26, 2009. A basement bedroom in a suburban house. Posters of Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, and Kings of Leon on the walls. A clunky desktop computer with iTunes open. A TV tuned to VH1.
It was the Saturday after Christmas. Snow fell outside, but inside, 16-year-old Mia sat cross-legged on her carpet, a bowl of popcorn in her lap, watching the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown —the year-end special. Host Jim Shearer was hyped, his signature energy bouncing off the screen. 2009 vh1 top 20
Jim Shearer held up a sparkly disco ball. “Your #1 video of 2009!”
“This is it!” he announced. “The final countdown of 2009… and the final countdown of the decade !” Mia felt a strange pang
Now this. Mia sat up straighter. She remembered watching Gaga perform on an awards show in a dress made of Kermit the Frogs. Her dad had called it “ridiculous.” Mia called it brave . Gaga made being weird feel powerful. In October, Mia had cut her own bangs (disaster) and worn mismatched socks to school just because. She blamed Gaga. Thanked her, really.
As the credits rolled, Mia grabbed a blank CD-R and opened iTunes. She made a playlist: VH1 Top 20 of 2009 – My Life So Far. It was a lifeline
She cringed now, but in July? She’d danced to this in her room with a hairbrush microphone, pretending she wasn’t terrified of starting high school in the fall.
Mia remembered hearing this on a bus ride to a field trip last spring. The way Caleb Followill’s raspy voice cut through her cheap earbuds—it made her feel less alone in a crowd of classmates she didn’t quite fit in with.
Then she hit play on “Poker Face,” turned up the volume, and danced in her basement like nobody was watching.
Alicia’s voice filled the room. Mia had never been to New York, but this song made her believe she could go anywhere. Concrete jungle, green lights, dreams all that. She closed her eyes and imagined her future self—older, cooler, living some big city life. 2009 Mia had no idea what was coming. But this song felt like a promise.
