the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 2009 in Canada

To be fifteen in Canada in 2009 was to have “I Gotta Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas everywhere, Avatar on every screen, and Flashpoint on after school. That year, gas cost $0.98/L and H1N1 vaccination clinics was the new thing. Born in 1994? You turned 15 in 2009 — a teenager from 2007 to 2013, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.

Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.

▶ Play your 2009 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 2009

I Gotta Feeling — The Black Eyed Peas

Boom Boom Pow — The Black Eyed PeasThe future had a beat now, and it thumped from every phone speaker on the back of the bus.
TiK ToK — KeshaBrushing your teeth with a bottle of Jack became the reckless mantra of pre-drinks everywhere.
Best I Ever Had — DrakeToronto's Drake arrived, and suddenly the whole country had a hometown star to chant along with.
Help I'm Alive — MetricMetric's Emily Haines made panic sound like poetry, the indie pulse under every drive home at 2 a.m.
Beside You — Marianas TrenchMarianas Trench turned devotion into an orchestral swell you played on repeat waiting for a reply.

▶ Play your 2009 reel

why this one mattered

Sixteen weeks at #1 in Canada that summer — every backyard party, wedding dance floor, and rolled-down car window from Canada Day through Labour Day.

the year-end #1 was Topped the Canadian Hot 100 for 16 consecutive weeks starting July 4, 2009 — the longest run and best-performing single of the year in Canada.