1. Ryan Adams - Oh My Sweet Carolina, 2000
The first time I heard Heartbreaker, I was in my best friend Danielle's bedroom listening to records we'd taken from her brother's collection while he wasn't home to stop us. I was thirteen and too young to understand the majority of what Ryan wrote about, but the emotions were palpable enough to get through to someone too young for the experiences. I recognized it as real, authentic, raw. That honesty inspired me to be honest, and it lit a fire in me that's still burning thirteen years later. I could list every Ryan Adams song on this, but instead you just get this one.
2. Fleetwood Mac - Silver Springs, 1977
I think most of the women in music who followed Stevie's blazing trail were shaped by her influence in some way. I grew up with Fleetwood Mac as a prominent fixture in my household, and when I started writing music myself, this song was one that resonated with me as a point of reference when I was trying to tap into my emotions. She's always bold, she sings with conviction. I owe a lot to the existence of this song. If you don't love it as much as I do, go watch The Dance. You will.
3. Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes, 1986
My parents saw Say Anything... six months into pregnancy, with my mom promptly falling in love with the film and Lloyd Dobler's now iconic boombox. It also introduced her to Ione Skye, whose name she liked so much, she went ahead and named her daughter after her. If I'm talking about things that made me, this one's kind of a given. In the technical, but vaguely connected sort of way.
4. Fiona Apple - Never is a Promise, 1997
I was maybe ten when I was first introduced to Tidal, but years later I'd put on this album and hear this song for the first time all over again, an added weight of understanding attached to it. "You'll never touch these things that I hold/The skin of my emotions lies beneath my own/You'll never feel the heat of this soul/My fever burns me deeper than I've ever shown to you." I'll spend the rest of my life wishing I could write a verse like that.
5. Shania Twain - You're Still The One, 1998
Throughout my career, in moments of doubt, I've stopped and asked myself, "what would Shania do?" This song was a huge crossover success. When I was afraid of taking risks, that I wouldn't be successful in pop or that the country community would no longer embrace me as one of their own, I asked myself that question, and then I did what I thought Shania would do -- and what she then told me to do when I reached out to her for advice. They say you should never meet your idols, but I consider myself lucky that I met mine.
6. Tracy Chapman - Fast Car, 1988
My mom had this song on cassette (remember those?) and listened to it so much that it was still in regular rotation for her by the time I was born and old enough to absorb it. Ten or so years later, I borrowed that cassette and never really gave it back. The transition from hope to reality in the lyrics is poignant and still holds up today.
7. Jack's Mannequin - I'm Ready, 2005
Likely the most underrated on this list, I fell in love with Andrew McMahon as a lyricist back in middle school. As I developed as a songwriter, his method of storytelling was one that I drew a lot of inspiration from. He has a way of using simplicity very effectively and honestly, and when I'm feeling stuck or struggling to find the words that accurately match my emotions, I pull out Everything in Transit to get me into the zone. "As I'm finding the words, you're getting away." I met him a month ago and I definitely wasn't able to find the words to explain the influence he's had on me.
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