The 90s were a decade of rebirth. After the booming economy of the 80s went south, the materialism and capitalism of that decade quickly went in the rearview. The conservatism of the Raegan era ushered a sea change to the liberal Clinton years. In music, the glamour and glitz of synth-pop was stripped down to the raw, dark guitar-based sound of indie and grunge. 

It’s hard to pigeonhole anything about the 90s. There were lots of contrapuntal things happening at the same time in politics, culture, fashion, and the arts. There were some undeniably classic rock songs throughout it all, however. Here are five that are each iconic for different reasons.