The binder contained The Ultimate Top Hundred Songs of the 1990s , as determined by him and his three best friends—Maya, Jerome, and “Crazy” Craig—during a marathon argument on New Year’s Eve 1999. They’d stayed up all night, fueled by Surge and cheap vodka, listening to a five-disc changer and yelling about whether “Smells Like Teen Spirit” deserved the top spot (yes) or if it was overexposed (Craig’s losing argument).
The margin note was short. Not funny. Not argued. Just four sentences in Rick’s now-shaky handwriting: top hundred songs of the 90s
“January 1992. I was in my friend’s basement. The video came on. I didn’t know music could sound like that—like being angry and sad and free at the same time. Kurt died two years later. The song never did. It’s still here. We’re still here.” The binder contained The Ultimate Top Hundred Songs