Back in 2008, music felt a little different. People were loading songs onto iPods, sharing tracks on MySpace, and hearing the same hits blasting from car radios, malls, and house parties. If a song made it big that year, chances are you heard it everywhere. But pop culture moves fast. Songs that once dominated every playlist can quietly drift out of memory once new hits take over. Let’s rewind to 2008 and revisit some chart-toppers you definitely heard back then—even if you haven’t thought about them in years.

Prince Rogers Nelson built a career on sharp control, slippery identities, and music that sounded like nobody else. Publicly, he looked unstoppable and almost untouchable. Privately, his worst problems stayed out of view until the very end.

Folk music has always belonged to the people. It carries protest, heartbreak, humor, faith, and history in melodies simple enough for anyone to sing but powerful enough to move generations. Whether born from traditional roots or written during the great folk revival of the 20th century, these songs endure because they tell the truth plainly.