Ten Great Songs From One Great Year

1998

The first few months of 1998 were mostly taken up with the scandal of President Clinton, and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. By the end of the year, Clinton will have been Impeached by the House of Representatives. Because the House had a Democrat majority, and the votes were tallied along party lines (although an additional 10 Republicans voting against impeachment). Clinton survived the impeachment. However, he was disbarred from practicing law.Another one of the main stories at the time was that Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski pled guilty, and accepted a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Another major story was the final development of Pakistan's nuclear abilities. This caused tremendous tensions between Pakistan and her neighbor, India.

In July, the International Criminal Court was created to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. In August, however, the United States' embassies of both Kenya and Tanzania are bombed, killing 224 people and injuring over 4,500; they are linked to terrorist Osama Bin Laden, an exile of Saudi Arabia. While Bin Ladin has been on the map of worldwide terror, this is his most audacious move yet.

In sports, this was the year John Elway finally won a Super Bowl (after losing 3 times in landslide loses) and also the Tennessee Volunteers won their first NCAA football championship since 1951. Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa set baseball ablaze with their race to see who would break Roger Maris' home run record. Although both men break the record, McGuire holds the record of 70 (since topped by Barry Bonds). And in Basketball, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls win their third straight NBA title. This was the 2nd three-peat for the Bulls this decade.

Torn -- Natalie Imbruglia



Iris -- Goo Goo Dolls



Out of my Head -- Fastball



Thank U -- Alanis Morissette



Truly, Madly, Deeply -- Savage Garden



Sex And Candy -- Marcy Playground



Jumper -- Third Eye Blind



Brick -- Ben Folds Five



Sunny Came Home -- Shawn Colvin



As Long As You Love Me -- Backstreet Boys



BONUS TRACK

My dad died in October of this year. During his final weeks, I listened to the Gerry Beckley (of the band AMERICA) album "Van Go Gan" a lot. The song that makes me miss my dad the most is this one:

Kiss of Live -- Gerry Beckley