@@christophermichael5764 The mall was a safe haven for me when I was poor. It was like the most beautiful neighborhood, safe, clean, cool in summer and served the best food as well as I met people from all over the world that I would have not met anywhere else.
The mall is a microcosm of America. It was a collection of ideals, each store representing a value or interest of the people living at the time, which was the inward reflection of the entire country. Now that the internet is bigger than America, America is now the inward reflection as opposed to being the outward reflection like it was in the 80s or 90s. And so everything that does not reflect the internet is disappearing or how you've stated, separate embodiments not being able to coexist.
when I see these types of videos of so many people walking enjoying life I get a feeling of love and togetherness because if it wasn't for people these places would seem bland but when you add people to it you get a sensation of something amazing happening in the air. It is like somewhere someplace there is something amazing going on , a sense of euphoria. With people love is amazing.
Some architects should design a mall with a vapor wave aesthetic in mind with neon lights, fountains, palm trees, and constant vapor wave shopping music playing.
@@jackbudgen8858 it can be tho, aesthetic is an important part of any public place. You dont go to hang out in a place you consider boring to watch, right? That could increase profits
In some ways, quality of life was much better back then. We have become unbalanced due to the technological freedom we are currently experiencing. Too much distraction.
@@peteallyn412 it’s our own attitudes, society has gone soft and become ultra hypocritical, technologically we have advanced but internally we have collectively regressed because too many of Generation X and Millennials have forgotten how to maintain the same mentality we generally genuinely had in the 80s 90s and early 2000s. I try to always keep that perspective and still view things view my 1999-2002 era lens.
I'll be honest. I thought I was the only person in the world who was passionate for the retro mall atmosphere. I'm glad there's footage for these things, and even songs dedicated to the memory. I may have just been born in '95, but i feel like a some of the 90's made its way into the 2000's, and things like this really make me miss the whimsical, colorful way my mall used to look. I wonder what these malls look like today...
The malls are probably derelict relics of a time long since passed, only vague reminders of what once was. Also, to be fair, this was clearly recorded from the time when the 80's were just slowly starting to fade into the 90's, creating that unique aesthetic that so many 20-somethings and 30-somethings pine for because of the burgeoning technological revolution that we are now experiencing today.
I grew up in the 90s... Terminator II, Backstreet Boys, Doom, N-Sync, Sonic the Hedgehog, Billabong, the Titanic movie, BUM Equipment, Clinton, The Matrix, less-bricky cellphones with LCD displays (this was before the Nokia 3310), A&F, etc. Looking back at it, mall design from this era looked tacky, fake, and tried too hard to copy various styles... Large form glossy ceramic tiles everywhere, faux wood, varnished cheap plywood, multicoloured lighting, concrete & tile planter boxes, pastel colored plaster, matte-painted steel tubing, faux MediAdobeProvencCountryWhatever decor. Ageing has not made it any better. To be fair, I actually prefer today's current mall designs than in my childhood. But then again, I usually avoid suburban malls.
As for a young adult just exiting childhood, this is very true. I don't go a day without thinking of my old life, house, school, friends, games, and overall simpler times.
People were truly more optimistic in the 90s and especially before 9/11. Most of us believed society would continue to get better and better. When computers, cell phones, and the internet became popular people dreamed of the incredible things we'd see in our lives. Now we use those same devices to reminisce about a time we were all-to-happy to leave behind.
Whoever put this together... I'm 50 years old, and watching this brought tears to my eyes... I remember these days so well, and this was incredible to watch! There hasn't been found any vintage footage from our local mall (now torn down) but this is pretty darn close! Many of the same shops... good days that I will always miss.
@@someweirdguy7281 I remember thinking how the 90s weren't as great, but now in now well into the 2010s and now entering the 20s, this just fills me up with bittersweet feelings of nostalgia. The aesthetics, the fashion, the general feeling of optimism throughout that decade, it kills me that I took that decade for granted and is something that we'll never get to experience again.
It's like being a ghost wandering the malls pre-911. Gazing at the archetecture of a bygone era, of a faded collective heir of optimism among humans. Visualizing all that used to be, pondering on what could've been but never materialized. The relics of a different civilization that most of us in the future never got to fully experience, if at all. Feeling like something was lost, but forgetting due to the erosion of the evermarching passage of time. It's comforting, yet unsettling all the while. There seldom remain things to look forward to in our concurrent times of atomized, isolated society of loneliness and cynical, demoralized souls. But that's why the nostalgia of what used to be is here to soothe the pain, for just a short moment before we too shall return to the same fundamental ashes from which we came since the beginning of all of existence. What a breeze. What an honour to be alive to witness and contemplate everything.
Dunno if anyone cares, but malls like these still exist in Serbia. That’s partially bc of the fact that we inevitably lack behind the rest of the world by a couple of decades 😄
Be grateful for that.. People are more laidback in countries like these. In modern places, they all act like robots. Cold. I miss neighborhood shops smelling like coffee and cocoa candy.. Everything changed since the simple 90s.. Living in a big city is a pain. Million faces, yet no one cares about anything..
Born in '95. I remember having a slice of cake with Papa in a mall called Plaza Singapura in Singapore. I was 3, so that was in '98. That memory stuck with me because I remember crying so badly because that slice of cake fell. And Papa got me another slice. What hurts me even more is knowing that he was jobless at that time. And I'm crying as I am typing this. I love my Papa.
Holy shit I felt that. I am this close to tearing up since I know that very feeling just too well. Dad is getting very old very fast these days. Forgetful. Irrational. Aggressive, at the worst of times. Frail like a puppet, and we're talking about a tree trunk of a man... Well, used to. I have so many memories like yours and I'm scared of what's to come. Fuck u got me actually sobbing now.
A little older here, malls in the 80s and 90s were magical. And I think we all should have had a papa that bought us that cool toy, new hat or piece of cake.
It’s nice to see that everyone here appreciates it with a reminiscence of better times. Glad I’m not the only one who misses what used to be a real world, that was slightly naive, kind hearted and simple. It’s beautiful but my god does it hurt at the same time.
not really, I surprisingly like the stuff I get nostalgia over, which is why I get nostalgia. Or maybe it's just because those good moments were made equal with just as horrible other events as a child so I choose to be happy over what I had left idk :/
Vaporwave is living a past that I don't know. Having memories that I don't have. Understanding a country that is not mine. Dreaming a dream that is stuck on the past. Vaporwave makes me live with the maximum intensity of all each moment, because can be the last one. Do you remember when you last asked your mom to play on the arcade? Or what was the last movie you watched at the mall before it closed? Do you remember the last time you went out with your friends and walked through the mall quietly, without the weight you feel today? Remember when you last shopped at Sears full of people? When did you stop to look at the neon sign? When was your life simpler? Some people finds vaporwave depressive and empty. I disagree. Vaporwave makes me chill. Not like lo-fi, but in a much deeper way. It's like a hug that says "This is going to be in the past one day. So live now, be happy now. Enjoy your present. Make it the best memory you can". Vaporwave is my connection to the past. It is a passport to something that is eternalized within me. It's my way of keeping the flame burning. But also, is the possibility of living that dream again. You can still go to the arcade. The hallways are still full. The neon signs have not yet gone out. You are happy. When I listen to vaporwave, in those three minutes and so of music, the reality is whatever I want. My memories are my home. It's just what I need to be happy. Vaporwave are capsules from the past that help us face the present.
The nostalgia physically hurts me…I was little at that time but everything was so comfy, warm and felt like a world in itself. Slower, more mindful, happier. More human.
Wow you just reminded my old soul of something...im 22 years old🤦🏽♂️always felt like i been here before. I just know the air felt different back then...my soul knows it..its so weird. All my life I felt like a old soul trapped in the 21st century...I dont want to reincarnate nomore this is my last rodeo and im living it wisley lol😅💯
exactly, slower... everyone was more present, and more human. Consciously I had forgot about all of it, deep down always feeling like somethings missing, and when I look at videos like this it all comes back to me like a ton of bricks. All the smells, the sights, the thoughts and feelings I had of wonder. That feeling that everything is alright... Goddam I miss that feeling so much. Just the feeling that everything is OK. Some people tell me it's just like it was, I just have to live in the moment. Maybe they're right. But a part of me keeps wanting to believe that we had much more back then, something much more special, that was taken away the past decade or two.
I was born in 1999 so I was literally not even a year old then but I’m still nostalgic. Maybe because my childhood was watching animations and movies from the 90s. I was a 2000s kid.
Vaporwave is honestly the perfect name for this genre of music. The feeling it evokes, that nostalgia for a time that's long gone or wasn't yours to remember, is like vapor itself, mostly invisible, but when the light is right, you can see a wispy remnant, drenched in neon and pastel colors.
Crazy to think people like our parents were just doing something on this day. Just another day. Also crazy to think about all the people here who are either no longer with us or seem rather young who are probably reaching their 40's 50's now. Yet it all doesn't even seem too long ago.
I'd be one of them, 53 yrs old. For me it was in the mall in the 80s as a teen, then in the mall in the 90s as an employee. Then I finally went to college.
Turning 38 this year. i too take that memory lane trip sometimes but i try not to get stuck there too long reminiscing because its just too sad bro lol
I never liked the mall, but often had nowhere else to go in my teens. I couldn’t wait until I was 21 so I could drink instead. I’m 43 now. The mall was a waste of time and I’m glad they’re dying. I hate this video, though I love the music haha
This is one of the *finest* vaporwave mixes on the site...visuals, editing, everything is PERFECT. It brings me back to my days as a kid, strolling through the mall, playing skeeball at the arcade, buying earrings at Claire's, eating frozen yogurt by the mall fountain. Wow. Vaporwave really is musical nostalgia.
It's that distorted, off-key sound that makes vaporwave so powerful, it's like wading through a misty capitalist wasteland, with the haunting and slowed down vestiges of industry fueled pop music playing, but you can't quite put your finger on what song; just a ghostly skipping track playing for eternity. As if an amalgamated, anthropomorphized avatar for the decade.
I like how this video starts out with the upbeat neon glamour sparkle of the 80's & 90's before it shifts in tone to the hollowed out echoes of empty malls and shuttered storefronts becoming more somber and depressing.
It also reminds me of a mall I loved and grew up with since being a 90's kid. It was so lively and around 2005 is was dying, until it finally closed in 2016, after being a hollow shell for about 6 years. Seeing it torn down a year ago was painful. The same for the entire town becoming a ghost town. I connect with places, and the nostalgia lingers. Circuit City, Value City Dept. Store, Borders Bookstore, etc.
If its to be noticed, this video is telling a story. Its not just another video coupled with good Vapor Wave. From the beginning of the video, that shows us malls when they were in their prime. With people having a good time and shops everywhere coupled with rather joyful, upbeat sounding music. Then, slowly transitioning to slower, more somber sounding music with progressively less people. Representing of the magic that seems to have faded from the mall scene, leaving behind memories of a better time. The sad, nostalgic feeling summed up in the lyrics of the last song "and we let it get away". Who would've thought we would all miss malls as much as we do today.
I've actually noticed it as well. From the moment where malls were thriving, to the moment where it's become empty. A memory of what it used it to be is all that remains.
Jeez dude you might be on to something... just don't build it in California where it will be taxed to death or banned for no reason, or closed due to the purple tier because Gavin Newsome says so. But yeah... it could be like Disneyland!
My local mall is getting bulldozed down this coming June. I'm 48 years old and went to the grand opening in 1981 when I was eleven years old. I had my first date/lunch with my first boyfriend there in 1986. Now, I sit here with my husband in the almost completely vacant mall except for maybe 4 stores and only one place to eat in the food court. Just breaks my heart. Sigh....😢 I will miss Collin Creek Mall. So many fond memories. ❤
First time I went to America. 1991. I was 12. Went to Florida to do the Disney thing. As a kid from Little Old England who was growing up on 80’s /90’s Mall culture through the TV / cinema...the holiday literally blew my mind. The scale. The excess. The fun. This has taken me right back. I’m 40 now, with kids and a wife. I only discovered the whole vapor / synth / chill wave thing about a year ago, after decades of being a rock / metal head. This is giving me chills. Respect. X
I am American and when I think of quintessential America and Americans I think of the mall in the early 90s, the neon, the fashion, the people giggling, the happy-go lucky american consumerist spirit. Your comment captured that. You’re an honorary American
I could've written this, as I had the exact same experience, I'm from England, and am just a couple of years younger. Same surname and first initial too! Christ! The mallsoft subgenre has really captured my imagination lately, despite also being a huge metalhead. I have recurring dreams of my holidays to the States as a kid, as well as some underground malls/arcades in Tenerife and Australia, and the aesthetics/sounds are really tapping into the same source. It's incredibly surreal but also heartwarming and transcendental. Can't beat it.
Hi, Spliff Radio. I'm a philosopher and cultural critic currently writing a book on consumerism and mall culture. I just wanted to let you know that this video is truly, truly special to me. I have watched/listened to it countless times while writing my book. It has been a constant source of inspiration to me the last couple of years. There are other vaporwave/mall soft playlists that I also cherish, but what makes your video my absolute favorite, my #1, is all of the footage you compiled for it. The way you edited all of it together and placed it to the music involved true artistry. In my opinion, this is the greatest video/playlist of its kind. In fact, I'm planning on using it as my key example of mall soft in my book. Thanks so much for this brilliant work of art! If I had it my way, this video would be played on an eternal loop on my gravestone.
Antwon Jenkins yea im into that too lol ill see some old vhs movie and wonder whatever happened 2 those actors and the durextor writers etc same with these videos
back in 1985 a small but ultra-modernist shopping mall was opened in my hometown. it had fancy shops, boutiques, a record store, a cinema and many restaurants, all built around a lift made out of glass and chrome and a pond full of koi. lots of neon and plants everywhere, too. it was the major place for highschool kids to hang out, while at night adults would come for dining and watching the late night films. today the place is a graveyard. all shops has left the building, all restaurants are closed. damn, i miss the optimistic prosperous vibe of the eighties!
TVrawks301 Uh, you could move to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Where Mall Culture is alive and very well! We even have an 80’s style Mall Downtown called Portage Place!
Watched this from beginning to end...As a 42 year old, I dropped a tear. The nostalgia hit so hard it hurts. We had 4 malls around my area in Jersey, and the memories were endless. One is still thriving, but it's just not the same...especially since so many people I used to enjoy them with are now dead or no longer in my life, and I don't even know if they're alive. The internet and cell phones are wonderous tools, but they destroyed a society, a way of life, a culture of expectation, anticipation, and wonder that will never return. Goodbye memories, I'll see you in my dreams.
I'm just a little older and I know exactly what you mean. The impact of phones can't be underestimated. Social media has people more inside their homes, interacting remotely, than getting out in the public square. I attribute that to a lot of the angst, anxiety etc. that seems so prevalent these days. People used to be a lot more laid back, affectionate, creative. When I was coming up, everyone used to always say they wanted to go back to the 60s and 70s, even the 50s ... I never agreed, I was into tech and wanted to see the future. Now that the veil has been pulled aside, I want to go back, way back. The 21st century has been a massive scam perpetrated upon us thoroughly.
Technology can deprive you of many things in life, but it can also preserve or restore them. A technology exists for people to capture a complete view of our world. Picture frame wise, we've gone from aspect ratio of 4:3, to 16:9, 2.35:1, and now, VR 360 in stereo. With the recent tech, the hope is for people to learn the ways to preserve and reconstruct the old world in digital form, so they may be visited digitally. Sure, it's fake, but it's better than sitting down doing nothing, moping around about we can't save-- time.
I'm of a similar gen-x age... and while I was never too much into the "mall culture" and don't necessarily get overly nostalgic over footage like this, I will agree that social media was a mistake and it will take another generation or two to figure out if it's worth the risks. We're only at the start of Twitter witch hunting. At least another full generation of young people are going to have every single mistake or dumb thing they've said thrown back in their face down the road when they've pissed off the wrong person who decides to go digging...
I'm an older milennial from Jersey as well. I spent every weekend as a teenager in the early 2000s wandering the mall. Society was just coming out of the 90s so it looked just like this video. Neon lights and pastels everywhere. My friends and I still walk the mall sometimes and reminisce but the 90s aesthetic is long gone. There are still a LOT of teenagers that hang out at the malls by me. It's weird to think they'll reminisce over the 2010s.
I saw this on my recommended page and instantly recognized the thumbnail. Unless it was common for food courts to look identical in the '70s, I'm confident the thumbnail is a picture of the Eatery from a demolished mall in Rockville, Maryland called White Flint Mall. It was literally my favorite place growing up. My mom worked in the mall's management office as a secretary. I remember eating in this food court, playing around in Dave & Busters, shopping at H&M, getting cookies from Mrs. Fields, playing on my Nintendo DS in the lobby, and even going to the dentist here. My mom would bring cheesecake home from the Cheesecake Factory for our birthdays and during the holidays. When the mall closed, my mom lost her job and things were never the same. This mall holds such a special place in my heart, and just looking at old pictures of it helps me remember when life felt more normal.
@@VladmirPoopNnope, the mall was real and the image was of the White Flint Eatery. Just look it up and a bunch of different pictures of the same area come up.
One night I was listening to this and cried because I grew up around this time. The 80s and 90s were heaven to me. Still remember walking into the mall and smelling the food. Hearing people laugh, talking and passing by. Now the malls are like a ghost town and it depresses me. I'd do anything to go back in time. Those memories will forever be with me.
Everything changed with Smartphones People got lazy and preferred to socialize from home You know, in a way is cool Is like when you get something good, you lose something important at the same time I'm sure current times will be nostalgic in the future I remember the golden era of RUclips as nostalgic already, or the RUclipsr era, before 2017 YT politics, before Clickbait, was an awesome time!!! People sharing what they like to do, what they see outside, 80s and 90s yes, were cool to gather, but gotta admit every decade has something good on it's own I grew with Techno and Trance music, hated these events as Tomorrowland, EDC, Ultra And with the pandemic, I already feel nostalgic about them
The lesson is simple Enjoy every era, because it always ends and something different replace it, but also learn to like this different new era when it comes or will be nostalgic when it ends
Rest assured that time doesn't actually exist! It's only people who have changed their beliefs and desires. 1. Encourage people to spend less time and money on video games and invest in funding a video game arcade in the mall. Maybe two of them. 2. Find an Orange Julius and let them know it's time. 3. Leave your damn phone at home. 4. Rollerblades.. You figure the rest out. 5. Don't leave the mall until you can get a pet goldfish. When these things take place, the dried soils of shopping malls will be quenched and spring fourth shopping oasis bliss once more🍕🌴🛹
I grew up watching the death of Retro Mall A E S T H E T I C The death of Neon The death of themes The death of happiness of the mall staff From multicolour, to beige, and whites From unique, to universal From fountains to universal spaces From arcades to token casino games From ads that depicted the artists and their work, to celebs posing with the product Maximizing profit really killed the appeal of the mall The foodcourt still hasn't lost it's appeal. All multicolour, signs that pop, a place to hang out, some placed near ice skating arenas. It reminds me of what malls were, what they could have been. It was weird, it was tacky, but it was fun.
I can agree. I was born in the late 90s but on of the malls here has this cool upside-down 3d mural of the city in the food court and the tables are the clouds. They also used to have this cool motherboard design around the food court but that got painted over. I totally agree about the whole mall being bland but the food court still pops
I almost screamed when I saw the footage starting at 49:55. That’s my childhood mall. Century III Mall, in a town just outside of Pittsburgh. The last time I was there was probably 2005. The signs of it closing were just barely showing; it’s a pretty big mall and there were maybe 2 or 3 vacant storefronts. I spent a solid quarter of my childhood at that mall. Waiting with my dad by the fountain for my mom get off of work; the bus stopped there on its route, so we would pick her up, maybe have dinner there at the food court if I was lucky. Italian Village Pizza and Orange Juilus. Getting my hair done at Regis. Begging my mother to let me go into Hot Topic (this was the late 90’s early 00’s Hot Topic, where everything came in one color, black). Playing a Sega Dreamcast demo at the game store. I vividly recall that corner shown at 51:02. At the bottom of those steps there was a tax service, an As Seen on TV store, and a few tables, along with a well-loved DDR machine. It’s crazy, it’s been almost 20 years, but when I see these clips, I can smell the Food Court, catch the scent of whatever they treated the fountain water with as it drifted through the place, feel the plastic leaves. I remember seeing so many sunsets while walking to the car with my parents, watching the complex fade into the distance during the short ride home. It’s weird. That place I spent so much time in is just empty and abandoned. It’s a lot of land, the building is huge and imposing, but it’s gone. It’s just like the lyric in “Sprawl II” by Arcade Fire: “Living in the Sprawl, dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains, and there’s no end in sight.”
there was a dream. a dream of a prospering american people, all commuting to an urban infrastructure that would serve as the capital for markets and novelty stores. we were all to revel in the wealth, and that our decadent living was a result of both our virtues of freedom for the people with such a prospering economy. the mall was that dream. and it was real. the complex served as a means for buying our nicer clothes, our jewelry, things that could reflect our wealth. it was all a means of convenience of course, because now all these shops were conveniently located in one large plaza, and sometimes with gigantic arcades and novelty restaurants. the mall was real. however, america changed. our economy took a dive, our people became terrified after a national attack, our rock stars died and eventually buildings with a large number of people could reasonably make the average american uncomfortable due to so many random shootings. now the mall is decrepit. most malls, if they are not failing, they have turned into husks, shells of what was once a symbol of economic security and our former idea of convenience. these abandoned malls jut from the ground like a decayed tooth, something once health now shifted in condition due to so many bad habits. there are exceptions, as some malls still do well today. but malls in poorer areas, rural areas, places where jobs went away and a people were left destitute after, those malls are the ghost of an american dream. once realized, only to fade away over time. listen to these melodies. the distant sound of these beats. they echo. in an abandoned mall, somewhere in the mid-west, with all its lots vacant, its halls barren, those once rich people missing, these distorted, droning sounds still play. the lyrics are impossible to understand. the sounds recreate an eerie familiarity to other songs we've heard before. songs of the past. songs from a dream. now it's a memory we all share. a fractured memory, from a dream, none of us really had
I was born in the mid 70s and grew up in the northeast with these multilevel neon decked malls. Never in a million years would I have thought back then that a day would come when I'd be watching old videos of them and missing their existence. I barely remember that last time I went to a mall, and I know when I did go it was certainly nothing like it once was. I was dying to get the hell out of it almost as soon as I got inside. Not like the 80s and 90s when it was truly a place to hang out.
What happened is you grew up, simple as that, you think adults in the 90s had a better time than adults in 2020? It's just the fact that you were a kid, that's why you loved those times more...
@@ghost_fueled_scarecrow no, pre 9/11 world was a much simpler place. people made money, spent it on stupid stuff, but enjoyed their blissful ignorance. After 2001 Americans had to face the reality that they couldn't hide from the world's problems by running to gleaming towers of capitalism. The present may be more "real" but it's certainly not the carefree and whimsical 80s and 90s. Life was objectively better back then. Middle class had more spending power, and smartphones hadn't destroyed the world yet, people still talked to each other face to face.
I've been suffering with anxiety and overthinking at the moment due to issues at home. Vaporwave and Synthwave is a brilliant way to bring some calm into my day. Thank God that I found this genre of music.
I maybe know why we are fascinated with these Vaporwave videos, not only Vaporwave but 80s in general. It's because it looks like dream, thanks to VHS and we know dreams are blurry. 80s and Vaporwave is a dream we all remember, dreams are fascinating, combine it with music like this and voala you have special thing called Vaporwave Amazing
I remember when people were weirded out by seeing someone with a camcorder, they would freak out or not know how to act. I always had a camcorder with me at all time and people did not get it. They were like why do you record everything? Fast forward to now and every one and their dog have cameras recording. So weird lol thanks for the video. A great look at the past malls!
KieroTakoBell fast forward to now, and everyone and their grandmother will be looking for the videos that you took of that day to see. You're one of a few nationwide
1910-60s technically and I say 60s because the internet was the last major profound pioneering revolutionary technology. Most of the technology we have today from Jet technology to phones to Internet are just much much more efficient versions of previously develop technology, And unique reiterations thereof
Ever wanted to enjoy your nostalgic urges by watching these kinds of videos, but can't finish it due to the overwhelming emotions it brings into your old soul? That's what it gives me.
I would trade the entire MCU to be able to go back and buy all the awesome 90s X-men comics again. My friends and I would head down to the comic shop and buy, read, trade, repeat. God damn it was magnificent.
I was an arcade junkie when I was a kid. I made my parents drive me to arcades everywhere up to two hours away. But yeah I hung out in malls a lot, mostly because, as you mention, it was cool and that's just what there was to do in a suburb. I miss it a lot. I never thought about it at the time, but I was a kid in the late 90s early 90s and being 32 now, it's weird to think back then I was just "existing" and soaking up all this shit. I didn't have a care in the world. All I wanted was to go to the mall and buy something.
80's were the height of the arcade in my opinion. They had some more advanced games in the 90's like Tekken and so on, but I felt like the 80's was when it was the hottest scene. That was back when there were punks all over the streets with mohawks and everything. The Goths never achieved their level.
Imagine if someone could buy out an entire town and theme it in the 90s. No public wifi but there would need to be phone service of course. Neon everywhere, just a small town of raw nostalgia. That would be a tourist attraction
I grew up in the 00's and I still remember malls like this. Granted this was on early 00's, when the 90's aesthetics were still kicking in. I had a cinema near my parent's home which still rocked the neon lights and the CRT's for the movies they were previewing. The last movie I watched there was Happy Feet with a younger cousin. When the 2008 financial crysis hit, they shut down. The cinema themed café somehow survived and now they're doing well because in 2016 a gym opened where the cinema was. The mall inside is empty and you can't access it, but you can still see remnants of what used to be.
If only social media, mass online shopping and iPhones weren’t invented to replace people’s friendly relationships, these kind of times will last forever
I was born in 2003, so I’m only 17. But I wish I was around in the 80s and 90s, everything just seems so optimistic. When I watch vids like this I feel nostalgic about something I didn’t take part in.
@Morgue I was fortunate enough to be born in 1982. Though those born in the late 70s and 90s were lucky too. But after 2000, that's when things started to go wrong from 9/11 to coronavirus. I listen to vaporwave to get away from it all.
yeah, me too. i'm sixteen but my mom and dad raised me on music from the 70s, 80s, 90s. even within my lifetime things have gotten so much colder. i wish we could all go back to this atmosphere.
I consider myself really lucky to have been born in 1984. The world wasn't perfect in the 80s and 90s by any means, but it wasnt as frantic as todays world. My childhood and adolescence were analogue. No internet, no Netflix and only stock brokers had mobile phones haha! Everything is so INSTANT and on demand today.
@@murphycreationsvideos I was born in 84. I'm watching this to escape the beginning of 2021, we're in our third lockdown in the UK. These videos are something else! I feel as though I've just slept walked right back into my own childhood. I'm getting Proustian rushes!
It's getting to the point where I'm experiencing a sort of meta-nostalgia, coming across vaporwave for the first time back in 2016 and being fascinated by the whole dream-like quality of the genre.
Meta-nostalgia! Thank you for naming a phenomenon I have noticed for a long time. I believe it started when I was in high school, because it was amazing that 80s music was considered "retro". 😂 Then I noticed I would attach music to the last time I heard it. Fascinating!
This is my favorite thing on the entire fucking internet. I’ve always been obsessed with the memories of shopping malls at their peak and this week I only now discovered vaporwave. It’s set my world on it’s ear.
I don't care what anyone says, I miss the 80's and 90's so much. Having been born in 85, I'm just old enough to remember these type places with fond nostalgia. Part of my childhood and young adult years.
The section beginning at 39:07 really got to me. I wasn't a huge mall person growing up, but the emotional, evocative music track of this section paired with the footage of that dead mall make a powerful impression. The lone occupied storefront surrounded by empty ones, the plants that still appeared well cared for, the deserted food court still with chairs and neon lights glowing. It hit especially hard after all the vintage footage of busy, thiriving malls filled with people shopping and enjoying each others company.
I moved back home to be closer to my parents. I go to the mall from my childhood and slowly walk it's perimeter. It's nearly empty, but walking through lets me relive some of the best times of my life. This vid cuts deep!
It's been a glorious movie, our time here on earth. For the time that I've been alive, it took me a ridiculous percentage of my life to fathom that there were other cultures and cool happenings way before my time, and each generation borrowed from the next until it all amalgated into what we have today. Thus generation can only imitate, it doesn't create. It's like watching from a large cruise ship, we are sailing away never to return. This is our last glimpse of a nostalgia that was some people's utopia. I honestly don't see the need for pining, but perhaps it's the interaction they crave. We don't get close enough to speak to each other anymore and everyone is so corny. Goodbye, Friends. Maybe we can return in 1000 years and appreciate our lives better.
@@sarahmccollum3694wow what a comment my girl...who understands understands...I wanna give u a big tight hug...from jamaica 🇯🇲 one love keep good wherever u are 😊😊😊😊
Came for the jams to do the cleaning to. Stayed for the surreal nostalgia trip to a time I never experienced. This isn't just a mix; It's a work of art. The transitions, the footage, the order, the comments. An experience I've never quite had in any museum or gallery
Everyone seems to share the same melancholy for 19:54 . That music and recordings captures the nostalgia for some and the wistfulness of others. That camera man knew this would be valuable someday .
Now I understand the feeling of old people when they say,"back in my day" I for real shed a nostalgic tear in memory of my family and my childhood when I was a kid.
I’m sad because my family was so awful; I don’t wish to go back. I didn’t get to live it the first time, and now I can’t join you and share in echoing your feelings. It’s a lonely perspective, so I try not to choose that view/feeling that isolation.
These make me so emotional for some reason because these people are all grown up or gone. But they live on here forever. All these people went for a fun day at the mall and will forever spend that day at the mall here in this video with us. Part of it’s nostalgia for the time where they cared about the consumer experience, cared about human connection and community but the other is just hurt because we will never have this again.
Out of all the Vaporwave mixes out there. This by far my most favourite Vaporwave/Mallsoft mix. The music you put in order was perfect. It always carries that "Welcome!" aura at the beginning of the mix, and at the end of the mix it felt like the shopping mall is about to close. This really captures the neon 80s shopping mall feeling. It also shows the extreme aesthetic and beauty in this mix. This is really what I wanted the whole time. I'd say this is a masterpiece. It helps me sleep and relax when I put my earphones on. The nostalgic memories that Ive felt is truly amazing. This really helps me a lot. Thank you for this wonderful mix. It is really beautiful and relaxing. Lots of support and love from me.
Not kidding, I throw this video on nearly everyday throughout COVID just as background music for gaming, studying, chatting with friends. This was so well made. The intro, the great tracks that follow. The 30 year old tapes combined with the modern equivalents, showing how much has changed and how much we took for granted. Those pre 9/11 optimism vibes are definitely real. Did anyone feel optimism before 2020? The late 2010s were fun for me as someone approaching 30 and I had so much planned this year and over the next few. I hope we can get back to pre-2020 normal and start appreciating how valuable freedom and the simple things are.
It’s funny because in 2019 I felt like things were finally getting better after everything was going down hill prior. Hopefully after covid we keep moving in that direction.
Same, man. At some point that optimism died. I think it hung on for awhile after 9/11, but the public atmosphere is so tense these days. People see each other as enemies or threats. It didn’t used to feel like that, even in larger places full of strangers.
i started watching and snapped out of the trance six minutes in ... ive never seen anything like it. neon palm mall is the palace of the lotus eaters. trippy
Yeah, it was the perfect blend of 80s glitz and raw greed/consumerism. Too bad the palm trees are now dead and the neon is now a faded neutral tone. /musicplays
I swear to god, if I ever become like dumbass rich, I'm going to open up a shopping center that has that aesthetic, and every shop that wants to open in it needs to comply to the look.
This video made me realize just how vivid my memories are of going to the mall with my mom as a kid in the early-mid 90s. The neon signs, the Mrs. Fields cookies, the Taco Bell, the distinct electronic-y smell of a Sam Goody, the arcade sounds, the tropical plants, the skylights, the weird art sculptures hanging from the ceiling...wow I really miss being a kid.
When the video showed the dead mall @40:00, my heart wept. I watch dead mall videos quite often, but seeing the jubilant-like atmosphere of the malls at the beginning of this video, than having it turn into the eerie shell of what used to be makes me so sad. It’s 2:55 am. Nostalgia is hitting me hard.
For anyone wondering… The thumbnail is actually a real place but it doesn’t exist anymore... it is called “the eatery” it was a foodcourt that existed through the 90s in the White Flint Mall in Bethesda, Maryland really close to Washington DC... Yes! Just a stone’s throw away from our nations Capitol. Look it up and like so others can see. Also the true Neon Palm Mall (the eatery at white flint mall just mentioned) location can be seen in this video at: 40:23 And another really cool one at: 28:50 where is this? Anyone know?
28:50 That was the Seminole Mall in Seminole Florida. It was a sad little mall for at least a decade before they tore it down a few years ago. The last time I went was a few months before they did, and it was so empty and lifeless, in a much worse state than in this video.
What a great time to be a child. Not fully analogic, not fully digital. The best of both worlds together. We could be playing with dirt outside the whole Saturday and on Sunday we played with our consoles and went to the mall also. I loved how hughe those malls and supermarkets were. And also how luxurious they were, as shops invested more money on physical selling, as nobody thought about online shopping, at most phne selling, but even that was a small portion of the dellsz and we had to go to pick them up, or they would take weeks to arrive home. Oh, such days! ❤️
The inefficiency of living back then, the lack of instant gratification with online shopping, smartphones and so on is so hard to grasp nowadays, but truly hits a place close to home for myself. Malls and anything physical which has been replaced by their online counterpart is such a shame to lose culturally
And remember kids: back in those days it was impossible to film inconspicuously as the guy doing this would have a big-ass camcorder on his shoulder which was a quite rare sight. Those things were EXPENSIVE.
The beginning of the vid was in ‘99 so i wouldnt expect it to be that big. If you look up. “Going to burger king (1989)” and other vids by those two kids. It was late 80s and their camcorder was a handheld size and the quality speaks for itself.
@@mrawesome878 Funny, we got our first camcorder around 1995 (Universum VHS-C) and it still was a big thing that you even though you could hold it up by one hand, you could only do so for short periods as it was quite heavy and it was impossible to keep a steady shot this way. I remember preferring propping it up against my shoulder or holding it with two hands.
Rene Raggl oops. Sorry. The beginning was in ‘91. Sorry. But thats is crazy to hear. I was born ‘01 the only thing from the ‘90s that i knew were the walkman my dad had. And one was a cassette. Thats where i was introduced to rap. As a child😂 50 cent and em. But the simplicity of the ‘90s is awesome. I love the cars. Especially japans cars. Everyone that i have talked to that lived in the ‘90s said it was awesome and so much fun. I am very glad for vids like this to showcase real history. Not from the victors. Early ‘90s was prime music. Every genre was pumpin out quality. It was only way back then. Not now. And i dont doubt they were heavy. The phones had to be held in a bag. Too much for any pocket. 😂😂
@@mrawesome878 no that's what you had those fun hip holsters for... ;-) I got my first mobile around 1997, a Nokia 1611, which was one of the first who could text... It could fit in a Jeans pocket, but you couldn't really sit down.
@@dutchbachelor i do remember seeing those hip holsters. 😂😂. And if you still have that pone that would be awesome. A piece of history. Is it the model that is infamous for being indestructible? My first phone was a razor flip phone😂😂 good times. Did you enjoy those times? I definitely would have. And i have that problem with my iphone 6s plus. With certain pants. 😂😂
I was born in 90 but the malls were still like this in houston,tx. I vividly remember seeing the iconic blue&pink neon and hearing the 80s hits. In Baytown texas there was a carousel in the San Jacinto mall but unfortunately the mall died and was ultimately demolished few years ago
I only just recently learned of Mallsoft music, mainly due to finding Dan Bell's dead malls channel, and it has been like I've taken a time machine back to my youth. For those who weren't around then, the 1980s mall scene was a very exciting time in our lives, one that can never be truly duplicated. And for those who were there, treasure those memories forever. They were truly special.
I can't stand Dan Bell or his videos. He's too slow. And he has such an exaggerated waddle. It's ridiculous, it hurts to watch. I'm greedy for the information contained within, for seeing these malls, but I cannot stand to watch them. They drive me up all of the walls.
This is just pure nostalgia to childhood. My mom used to take me to a mall decorated with fishtanks and large palmtrees. I can remember the mesmerizing feeling of the high roof and the escalators. Music echoing on the marble tiles, all unknown tracks for me as kid. People mindlessly but serene sitting at chairs drinking coffee and enjoying this modern environment. Adult were already brainwashed, already infused and used to this modern environment. As a kid who also spent a lot of time in nature, malls felt like a dreamy, surreal or even sci-fi kind of place. A big modern playground. This music really makes me relive these hazy memories.
This is my island of escape from anxiety and fear… I lie in bed, listen to music and try to sleep, because in 2 days I barely slept 4 hours in total. all because of this war in Ukraine... I'm worried about my relatives... but now I'll try to sleep. appreciate the peaceful sky above your head and every moment lived without anxiety and fear. 🤕
For anyone wondering, the picture in the thumbnail was the food court in White Flint mall, located not far from both Rockville and Bethesda Maryland. I remember running around and playing in this mall as a kid while my dad was at work. There was always something so cool about the obviously dated design of the mall, especially the food court. It was very Vice City. It's a shame the place got torn down a few years back, although the datedness of the mall was sure to catch up sooner or later. There's some really cool drone footage of them actually tearing down the mall that came out a few years back. It's very much a blast from the past
I was born in 92 I remember walking through mall shops like these with my mom and grandma in 97. Hiding in the clothing racks while they looked for bargains. It brings back good memories.
Wishing you safe travels and sending my gratitude for what you do! My late uncle was a trucker and used to talk of how long the nights could be. May this mix offer you comfort and nostalgia along your journeys
I look at that timestamp with this deep sense of longing. Like there was a world and all I have to do is reach into some kind of collective memory and I'll be there. Like someday I'll walk through a door and this neon mall will be back. This video was recorded nine months before I was born. Why does it feel so familiar?
It probably feels familiar because many malls rarely changed their initial design and stylization. The mall you visited as a kid in the late 90s probably wasn't too different than it was in the 80s, just some different shops and fake plant arrangements
Props to all the dorky dads carrying camcorders at the mall, and their surely mortified daughters and sons.
This is such a wholesome comment to me.
"Kids, go stand by the fountain again. Wave! Wave!"
“It’s for posterity!”
Yah that was my dad. I'm no better with my camera, and my smart phone taking pictures and video of my kids lol.
My dad does that too
- So what kind of music do you like?
- Mall music, mostly the mattresses section.
Underrated comment.
This comment wins the internet.
Synthwave retrowave chillwave vaporwave anything with :wave: at the end
Comment - so good.
💀
I can already smell the crisp chlorine coming from the fountain.
You sir, have triggered powerful memories. ❤👍
Yes and the smell of new leather was everywhere.
@@aintplayinggames7086
It's so weird how smell can trigger nostalgia. The scent of new products in the mall is one of my strongest memories. 👍
@@aintplayinggames7086 THE MEMORIES!
@@christophermichael5764 The mall was a safe haven for me when I was poor. It was like the most beautiful neighborhood, safe, clean, cool in summer and served the best food as well as I met people from all over the world that I would have not met anywhere else.
The mall was the physical embodiment of the internet. They just can’t exist like this simultaneously
Brilliant
The mall is a microcosm of America. It was a collection of ideals, each store representing a value or interest of the people living at the time, which was the inward reflection of the entire country. Now that the internet is bigger than America, America is now the inward reflection as opposed to being the outward reflection like it was in the 80s or 90s. And so everything that does not reflect the internet is disappearing or how you've stated, separate embodiments not being able to coexist.
Absolutely brilliant.
The mall had porn stores? Spencers doesn't count.
when I see these types of videos of so many people walking enjoying life I get a feeling of love and togetherness because if it wasn't for people these places would seem bland but when you add people to it you get a sensation of something amazing happening in the air. It is like somewhere someplace there is something amazing going on , a sense of euphoria. With people love is amazing.
Some architects should design a mall with a vapor wave aesthetic in mind with neon lights, fountains, palm trees, and constant vapor wave shopping music playing.
Even the thought makes me happy
Obvs never gonna happen because it’s not financially beneficial for anyone to make. But maybe one day you could create your own dream
@@jackbudgen8858 it can be tho, aesthetic is an important part of any public place. You dont go to hang out in a place you consider boring to watch, right? That could increase profits
If I ever get rich, imma buy a dead mall and do just that.
i will
the 80s and early 90s feels like its more Futuristic
than the times we live in today
It was, we gone backwards
In some ways, quality of life was much better back then. We have become unbalanced due to the technological freedom we are currently experiencing. Too much distraction.
@@peteallyn412 it’s our own attitudes, society has gone soft and become ultra hypocritical, technologically we have advanced but internally we have collectively regressed because too many of Generation X and Millennials have forgotten how to maintain the same mentality we generally genuinely had in the 80s 90s and early 2000s. I try to always keep that perspective and still view things view my 1999-2002 era lens.
@@stanleylipka7657 Lil B - the Age of Information.
2011
@@stanleylipka7657 kind of funny because that song has a type Vapor beat too
I'll be honest. I thought I was the only person in the world who was passionate for the retro mall atmosphere. I'm glad there's footage for these things, and even songs dedicated to the memory. I may have just been born in '95, but i feel like a some of the 90's made its way into the 2000's, and things like this really make me miss the whimsical, colorful way my mall used to look. I wonder what these malls look like today...
The malls are probably derelict relics of a time long since passed, only vague reminders of what once was. Also, to be fair, this was clearly recorded from the time when the 80's were just slowly starting to fade into the 90's, creating that unique aesthetic that so many 20-somethings and 30-somethings pine for because of the burgeoning technological revolution that we are now experiencing today.
There is not enough remaining of what our parents/grandparents lived through. What truly defined America was the 1800s-1900s.
The early 90s still had some nostalgic elements of the 80s greatness that I long for now. Miss it so much.
I don't think they really do hang out together today. Since they're always on their phones, I can't really tell.
I grew up in the 90s... Terminator II, Backstreet Boys, Doom, N-Sync, Sonic the Hedgehog, Billabong, the Titanic movie, BUM Equipment, Clinton, The Matrix, less-bricky cellphones with LCD displays (this was before the Nokia 3310), A&F, etc. Looking back at it, mall design from this era looked tacky, fake, and tried too hard to copy various styles... Large form glossy ceramic tiles everywhere, faux wood, varnished cheap plywood, multicoloured lighting, concrete & tile planter boxes, pastel colored plaster, matte-painted steel tubing, faux MediAdobeProvencCountryWhatever decor. Ageing has not made it any better. To be fair, I actually prefer today's current mall designs than in my childhood. But then again, I usually avoid suburban malls.
it hurts even more when you actually see the mall you grew up in and remember a time that you'll never get back.
As for a young adult just exiting childhood, this is very true. I don't go a day without thinking of my old life, house, school, friends, games, and overall simpler times.
dude youre like 19 and commenting like you were there
So well put and 100% true!
@@willfade7994 thank you.
im tirtheeen and i wish I could experiment my childhood again
Before 2020 I was just nostalgic for the mall aesthetic, now I’m nostalgic for seeing any mall at all with actual people in it
In 2040 you might be nostalgic for 2020, who knows
@@noradosmith the only thing 2020 is going to inspire in people is post traumatic stress.
Same
Holy shit you that's why i love the vaporwave aesthetic because it's all we took for granted fr
What is life...
People were truly more optimistic in the 90s and especially before 9/11. Most of us believed society would continue to get better and better. When computers, cell phones, and the internet became popular people dreamed of the incredible things we'd see in our lives. Now we use those same devices to reminisce about a time we were all-to-happy to leave behind.
Deep. And true. We didn’t see it coming, we only saw the birth of everything. And it was just beautiful.
Especially after the cold war ended. The 90s truly seem like a very optimistic time, an innovative time.
Yes. I miss that optimism more than anything else about the past. In some ways it feels like a completely different world now.
Man, you're
insane
This actually gave me a ping of sadness. Before covid there was an optimism similar to before 9/11.
Whoever put this together... I'm 50 years old, and watching this brought tears to my eyes... I remember these days so well, and this was incredible to watch! There hasn't been found any vintage footage from our local mall (now torn down) but this is pretty darn close! Many of the same shops... good days that I will always miss.
So Tru🤩🤪😜
ok boomer
It is kind of funny and sad how we don't really appreciate some things until they are gone.
@@someweirdguy7281 I remember thinking how the 90s weren't as great, but now in now well into the 2010s and now entering the 20s, this just fills me up with bittersweet feelings of nostalgia. The aesthetics, the fashion, the general feeling of optimism throughout that decade, it kills me that I took that decade for granted and is something that we'll never get to experience again.
@@deividaskavaliauskas2210 hey chill out, they're Gen X.
It's like being a ghost wandering the malls pre-911. Gazing at the archetecture of a bygone era, of a faded collective heir of optimism among humans. Visualizing all that used to be, pondering on what could've been but never materialized. The relics of a different civilization that most of us in the future never got to fully experience, if at all. Feeling like something was lost, but forgetting due to the erosion of the evermarching passage of time. It's comforting, yet unsettling all the while. There seldom remain things to look forward to in our concurrent times of atomized, isolated society of loneliness and cynical, demoralized souls. But that's why the nostalgia of what used to be is here to soothe the pain, for just a short moment before we too shall return to the same fundamental ashes from which we came since the beginning of all of existence. What a breeze. What an honour to be alive to witness and contemplate everything.
Dunno if anyone cares, but malls like these still exist in Serbia. That’s partially bc of the fact that we inevitably lack behind the rest of the world by a couple of decades 😄
Lemme pay ya a visit then 😂
You're actually ahead of the world without realizing the blessing! 😅
@@ahmedhabbachi3779 Spot on! ;)
So essentially Serbia's stuck in 1991? 😂
Be grateful for that..
People are more laidback in countries like these.
In modern places, they all act like robots. Cold.
I miss neighborhood shops smelling like coffee and cocoa candy..
Everything changed since the simple 90s..
Living in a big city is a pain.
Million faces, yet no one cares about anything..
Born in '95. I remember having a slice of cake with Papa in a mall called Plaza Singapura in Singapore. I was 3, so that was in '98. That memory stuck with me because I remember crying so badly because that slice of cake fell. And Papa got me another slice. What hurts me even more is knowing that he was jobless at that time. And I'm crying as I am typing this. I love my Papa.
Sad memories ❤️
Holy shit I felt that. I am this close to tearing up since I know that very feeling just too well.
Dad is getting very old very fast these days. Forgetful. Irrational. Aggressive, at the worst of times. Frail like a puppet, and we're talking about a tree trunk of a man... Well, used to.
I have so many memories like yours and I'm scared of what's to come. Fuck u got me actually sobbing now.
Aww man😭
A little older here, malls in the 80s and 90s were magical. And I think we all should have had a papa that bought us that cool toy, new hat or piece of cake.
I love u
It's like being haunted by the ghost of late 20th century optimism.
I want that tattooed on me!
I'm haunted by the ghost of late 20th century optimism... A song begins.
Haunted by the ghost of my stolen childhood
@@PandaPelley ......... I feel you on this
Optimism Returns once the Right is restored to order...
It’s nice to see that everyone here appreciates it with a reminiscence of better times. Glad I’m not the only one who misses what used to be a real world, that was slightly naive, kind hearted and simple.
It’s beautiful but my god does it hurt at the same time.
The sad thing about nostalgia is you don’t appreciate the moment until it passes, then when it comes back it’s appreciated as nostalgia
Very true. I'm still trying hard to appreciate the present like I enjoy nostalgic memories.
I actually appreciated it a lot. I often wish things felt remotely close to this
“I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.”
― Andy Bernard
not really, I surprisingly like the stuff I get nostalgia over, which is why I get nostalgia. Or maybe it's just because those good moments were made equal with just as horrible other events as a child so I choose to be happy over what I had left idk :/
Facts been feeling the same with 80s sythwave
Vaporwave is living a past that I don't know. Having memories that I don't have. Understanding a country that is not mine. Dreaming a dream that is stuck on the past. Vaporwave makes me live with the maximum intensity of all each moment, because can be the last one. Do you remember when you last asked your mom to play on the arcade? Or what was the last movie you watched at the mall before it closed? Do you remember the last time you went out with your friends and walked through the mall quietly, without the weight you feel today? Remember when you last shopped at Sears full of people? When did you stop to look at the neon sign? When was your life simpler?
Some people finds vaporwave depressive and empty. I disagree. Vaporwave makes me chill. Not like lo-fi, but in a much deeper way. It's like a hug that says "This is going to be in the past one day. So live now, be happy now. Enjoy your present. Make it the best memory you can". Vaporwave is my connection to the past. It is a passport to something that is eternalized within me. It's my way of keeping the flame burning.
But also, is the possibility of living that dream again. You can still go to the arcade. The hallways are still full. The neon signs have not yet gone out. You are happy. When I listen to vaporwave, in those three minutes and so of music, the reality is whatever I want. My memories are my home. It's just what I need to be happy.
Vaporwave are capsules from the past that help us face the present.
At least you got a more constructive view of this.
I know EXACTLY how you feel this is the same for me
Stop talking shite lad.
Beautiful man.
This comes pretty close to what I feel in regards to V A P O R W A V E, but lack the words to express to others.
Gettin mad vibes from being a kid in the 90's and just feeling happy listening to this. Nostalgia is one hell of a drug.
It Sure Is !!
Lucky :(
Yup. I'm honestly so grateful I got to live in this time. I miss it.
to me nostalgia represents pain and loss. my mind is just built different sadly
ＮＯＳＴＡＬＧＩＡ ＩＳ ＯＮＥ ＨＥＬＬ ＯＦ Ａ ＤＲＵＧ
The nostalgia physically hurts me…I was little at that time but everything was so comfy, warm and felt like a world in itself. Slower, more mindful, happier. More human.
Wow you just reminded my old soul of something...im 22 years old🤦🏽♂️always felt like i been here before. I just know the air felt different back then...my soul knows it..its so weird. All my life I felt like a old soul trapped in the 21st century...I dont want to reincarnate nomore this is my
last rodeo and im living it wisley lol😅💯
exactly, slower... everyone was more present, and more human.
Consciously I had forgot about all of it, deep down always feeling like somethings missing, and when I look at videos like this it all comes back to me like a ton of bricks. All the smells, the sights, the thoughts and feelings I had of wonder.
That feeling that everything is alright... Goddam I miss that feeling so much. Just the feeling that everything is OK.
Some people tell me it's just like it was, I just have to live in the moment. Maybe they're right. But a part of me keeps wanting to believe that we had much more back then, something much more special, that was taken away the past decade or two.
@@Anw120 ur right the internet ruined it we were more in tune because we wasn’t constantly on our phones😂
true
I'm 85 baby...I understand u ...im with u 🇯🇲 ...one love
the nostalgia is so real you can cry and wish you went back in time
The vaporwave make it magic
Especially since the economy sucks, and most of us can't afford to even breath the air in a mall...
Sean Medrano Check out Portage Place Winnipeg, where you can travel back to 1987 every day!
Sean Medrano same I cried when I saw this. I miss that Era.
I was born in 1999 so I was literally not even a year old then but I’m still nostalgic. Maybe because my childhood was watching animations and movies from the 90s. I was a 2000s kid.
Vaporwave is honestly the perfect name for this genre of music. The feeling it evokes, that nostalgia for a time that's long gone or wasn't yours to remember, is like vapor itself, mostly invisible, but when the light is right, you can see a wispy remnant, drenched in neon and pastel colors.
Beautifully stated
Yeah.
Woah.. couldn't have said it any better myself 🗿
my thoughts exactly, Crusty. 👍🏻
Divinely said
Crazy to think people like our parents were just doing something on this day. Just another day. Also crazy to think about all the people here who are either no longer with us or seem rather young who are probably reaching their 40's 50's now. Yet it all doesn't even seem too long ago.
I'd be one of them, 53 yrs old.
For me it was in the mall in the 80s as a teen, then
in the mall in the 90s as an employee. Then I finally went to college.
Turning 38 this year. i too take that memory lane trip sometimes but i try not to get stuck there too long reminiscing because its just too sad bro lol
Who'd ever have thought I'd miss this kind of thing. Damn I feel ancient right now.
I never liked the mall, but often had nowhere else to go in my teens. I couldn’t wait until I was 21 so I could drink instead. I’m 43 now.
The mall was a waste of time and I’m glad they’re dying. I hate this video, though I love the music haha
@@835FPV why did you hate the mall bro, do you still drink today?
i dont think we knew how much of a treasure it was growing up in the 90s
“I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.”
― Andy Bernard
You got that right!
I’m very aware
I knew then but not as much as I know now.
So true man sooo true
This is one of the *finest* vaporwave mixes on the site...visuals, editing, everything is PERFECT. It brings me back to my days as a kid, strolling through the mall, playing skeeball at the arcade, buying earrings at Claire's, eating frozen yogurt by the mall fountain. Wow. Vaporwave really is musical nostalgia.
yoooo vaporwave with art and drugs, perfect combination: ruclips.net/video/_vdrn2QxUjU/видео.html
💯❤
me too
It's that distorted, off-key sound that makes vaporwave so powerful, it's like wading through a misty capitalist wasteland, with the haunting and slowed down vestiges of industry fueled pop music playing, but you can't quite put your finger on what song; just a ghostly skipping track playing for eternity. As if an amalgamated, anthropomorphized avatar for the decade.
Deep
This comment gave me chills whoa
So a coma that's fallout with a dash of 70s
Write a book
Well said
I like how this video starts out with the upbeat neon glamour sparkle of the 80's & 90's before it shifts in tone to the hollowed out echoes of empty malls and shuttered storefronts becoming more somber and depressing.
literally while listening i was like, why do i feel so depressed all of a sudden
It also reminds me of a mall I loved and grew up with since being a 90's kid. It was so lively and around 2005 is was dying, until it finally closed in 2016, after being a hollow shell for about 6 years. Seeing it torn down a year ago was painful. The same for the entire town becoming a ghost town. I connect with places, and the nostalgia lingers. Circuit City, Value City Dept. Store, Borders Bookstore, etc.
Fox Crimson so sad. It’s a fresh reminder my past and hopes for the future is all shattered
After the 18 minute mark, the effect proves obvious and purposeful. In a very effect and jarring way.
The memory of the past decaying in your head and you can't go back
*. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .*
If its to be noticed, this video is telling a story. Its not just another video coupled with good Vapor Wave. From the beginning of the video, that shows us malls when they were in their prime. With people having a good time and shops everywhere coupled with rather joyful, upbeat sounding music. Then, slowly transitioning to slower, more somber sounding music with progressively less people. Representing of the magic that seems to have faded from the mall scene, leaving behind memories of a better time. The sad, nostalgic feeling summed up in the lyrics of the last song "and we let it get away". Who would've thought we would all miss malls as much as we do today.
😌
Very astute. Had to restart video to see...
And then at the end of the video there’s literally like no people at the mall no more
I wrote a similar observation and didn't even see this comment until now. Glad I was not the only one to notice this.
I've actually noticed it as well. From the moment where malls were thriving, to the moment where it's become empty. A memory of what it used it to be is all that remains.
honestly i wish that there was a retro mall attraction in the world, you’d see cool 80’s mall neon lights and 80’s looking stores, that’d be cool.
Jeez dude you might be on to something... just don't build it in California where it will be taxed to death or banned for no reason, or closed due to the purple tier because Gavin Newsome says so.
But yeah... it could be like Disneyland!
Thanks for giving me this idea. I'm gonna build a business around this and become a billionaire.. MUHHHAAHAHHHHH
JK
I'd never leave
@@RoRo-hw3um you really should tho
Count me in!
My local mall is getting bulldozed down this coming June. I'm 48 years old and went to the grand opening in 1981 when I was eleven years old. I had my first date/lunch with my first boyfriend there in 1986. Now, I sit here with my husband in the almost completely vacant mall except for maybe 4 stores and only one place to eat in the food court. Just breaks my heart. Sigh....😢 I will miss Collin Creek Mall. So many fond memories. ❤
I didn't know about this until I read your comment. A lot of fond memories at this mall. ☹️💔
Yes I grew up going there as well, it's crazy.
omg same, ive been going to that mall since i was 6, when i heard it was gonna be demolished i was so heart broken :(
That was my childhood mall! I was born in '81 and spent a lot of my formative years inside that mall. RIP.
First time I went to America. 1991. I was 12. Went to Florida to do the Disney thing. As a kid from Little Old England who was growing up on 80’s /90’s Mall culture through the TV / cinema...the holiday literally blew my mind. The scale. The excess. The fun.
This has taken me right back.
I’m 40 now, with kids and a wife. I only discovered the whole vapor / synth / chill wave thing about a year ago, after decades of being a rock / metal head.
This is giving me chills.
Respect. X
I am American and when I think of quintessential America and Americans I think of the mall in the early 90s, the neon, the fashion, the people giggling, the happy-go lucky american consumerist spirit. Your comment captured that. You’re an honorary American
I could've written this, as I had the exact same experience, I'm from England, and am just a couple of years younger. Same surname and first initial too! Christ!
The mallsoft subgenre has really captured my imagination lately, despite also being a huge metalhead. I have recurring dreams of my holidays to the States as a kid, as well as some underground malls/arcades in Tenerife and Australia, and the aesthetics/sounds are really tapping into the same source. It's incredibly surreal but also heartwarming and transcendental. Can't beat it.
David Brown Love this!
I'm a 41 year old American and miss the 80s and 90s so bad. Come on back when this virus bullshit is over yeah?
Hi, Spliff Radio. I'm a philosopher and cultural critic currently writing a book on consumerism and mall culture. I just wanted to let you know that this video is truly, truly special to me. I have watched/listened to it countless times while writing my book. It has been a constant source of inspiration to me the last couple of years. There are other vaporwave/mall soft playlists that I also cherish, but what makes your video my absolute favorite, my #1, is all of the footage you compiled for it. The way you edited all of it together and placed it to the music involved true artistry. In my opinion, this is the greatest video/playlist of its kind. In fact, I'm planning on using it as my key example of mall soft in my book. Thanks so much for this brilliant work of art! If I had it my way, this video would be played on an eternal loop on my gravestone.
where to buy your book
That’s beautiful and I wanna read it
Hey there have you had your book published
Where can I purchase your book
Ohh look! we have an intellectual here!
When I watch these old videos I wonder where these people are now and how many are still with us
Antwon Jenkins yea im into that too lol ill see some old vhs movie and wonder whatever happened 2 those actors and the durextor writers etc same with these videos
when you realize someone 25 in 1990 is now 52... I DIDNT ASK FOR THIS.
i was literally just thinking the same thing
Sure wish I was back in those simpler carefree days. Back when class and glamour and kindness won out unlike now.
+Progressive59 LOL
back in 1985 a small but ultra-modernist shopping mall was opened in my hometown. it had fancy shops, boutiques, a record store, a cinema and many restaurants, all built around a lift made out of glass and chrome and a pond full of koi. lots of neon and plants everywhere, too. it was the major place for highschool kids to hang out, while at night adults would come for dining and watching the late night films. today the place is a graveyard. all shops has left the building, all restaurants are closed. damn, i miss the optimistic prosperous vibe of the eighties!
Wow, that sounds awesome! I wonder how we can bring it all back...?
What mall is it
TVrawks301 Uh, you could move to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Where Mall Culture is alive and very well! We even have an 80’s style Mall Downtown called Portage Place!
I love retro malls even the neons in them ｎｅｏｎｄｒｅａｍｓ
John Milner it must of been so fun and amazing, i wish i was there
Watched this from beginning to end...As a 42 year old, I dropped a tear. The nostalgia hit so hard it hurts. We had 4 malls around my area in Jersey, and the memories were endless. One is still thriving, but it's just not the same...especially since so many people I used to enjoy them with are now dead or no longer in my life, and I don't even know if they're alive. The internet and cell phones are wonderous tools, but they destroyed a society, a way of life, a culture of expectation, anticipation, and wonder that will never return. Goodbye memories, I'll see you in my dreams.
I'm just a little older and I know exactly what you mean. The impact of phones can't be underestimated. Social media has people more inside their homes, interacting remotely, than getting out in the public square. I attribute that to a lot of the angst, anxiety etc. that seems so prevalent these days. People used to be a lot more laid back, affectionate, creative. When I was coming up, everyone used to always say they wanted to go back to the 60s and 70s, even the 50s ... I never agreed, I was into tech and wanted to see the future. Now that the veil has been pulled aside, I want to go back, way back. The 21st century has been a massive scam perpetrated upon us thoroughly.
Technology can deprive you of many things in life, but it can also preserve or restore them. A technology exists for people to capture a complete view of our world. Picture frame wise, we've gone from aspect ratio of 4:3, to 16:9, 2.35:1, and now, VR 360 in stereo. With the recent tech, the hope is for people to learn the ways to preserve and reconstruct the old world in digital form, so they may be visited digitally. Sure, it's fake, but it's better than sitting down doing nothing, moping around about we can't save-- time.
43, same.
I'm of a similar gen-x age... and while I was never too much into the "mall culture" and don't necessarily get overly nostalgic over footage like this, I will agree that social media was a mistake and it will take another generation or two to figure out if it's worth the risks. We're only at the start of Twitter witch hunting. At least another full generation of young people are going to have every single mistake or dumb thing they've said thrown back in their face down the road when they've pissed off the wrong person who decides to go digging...
I'm an older milennial from Jersey as well. I spent every weekend as a teenager in the early 2000s wandering the mall. Society was just coming out of the 90s so it looked just like this video. Neon lights and pastels everywhere. My friends and I still walk the mall sometimes and reminisce but the 90s aesthetic is long gone.
There are still a LOT of teenagers that hang out at the malls by me. It's weird to think they'll reminisce over the 2010s.
I saw this on my recommended page and instantly recognized the thumbnail. Unless it was common for food courts to look identical in the '70s, I'm confident the thumbnail is a picture of the Eatery from a demolished mall in Rockville, Maryland called White Flint Mall. It was literally my favorite place growing up. My mom worked in the mall's management office as a secretary. I remember eating in this food court, playing around in Dave & Busters, shopping at H&M, getting cookies from Mrs. Fields, playing on my Nintendo DS in the lobby, and even going to the dentist here. My mom would bring cheesecake home from the Cheesecake Factory for our birthdays and during the holidays. When the mall closed, my mom lost her job and things were never the same. This mall holds such a special place in my heart, and just looking at old pictures of it helps me remember when life felt more normal.
By any chance you still have the pictures?
facts we need to see this magical mall
I'm pretty sure the thumbnail isn't an actual photo; but that's cool you saw a place very similar looking 🎉
@@VladmirPoopNnope, the mall was real and the image was of the White Flint Eatery. Just look it up and a bunch of different pictures of the same area come up.
One night I was listening to this and cried because I grew up around this time. The 80s and 90s were heaven to me. Still remember walking into the mall and smelling the food. Hearing people laugh, talking and passing by. Now the malls are like a ghost town and it depresses me. I'd do anything to go back in time. Those memories will forever be with me.
You Are Not Alone.
Everything changed with Smartphones
People got lazy and preferred to socialize from home
You know, in a way is cool
Is like when you get something good, you lose something important at the same time
I'm sure current times will be nostalgic in the future
I remember the golden era of RUclips as nostalgic already, or the RUclipsr era, before 2017 YT politics, before Clickbait, was an awesome time!!! People sharing what they like to do, what they see outside, 80s and 90s yes, were cool to gather, but gotta admit every decade has something good on it's own
I grew with Techno and Trance music, hated these events as Tomorrowland, EDC, Ultra
And with the pandemic, I already feel nostalgic about them
The lesson is simple
Enjoy every era, because it always ends and something different replace it, but also learn to like this different new era when it comes or will be nostalgic when it ends
Rest assured that time doesn't actually exist! It's only people who have changed their beliefs and desires.
1. Encourage people to spend less time and money on video games and invest in funding a video game arcade in the mall. Maybe two of them.
2. Find an Orange Julius and let them know it's time.
3. Leave your damn phone at home.
4. Rollerblades.. You figure the rest out.
5. Don't leave the mall until you can get a pet goldfish.
When these things take place, the dried soils of shopping malls will be quenched and spring fourth shopping oasis bliss once more🍕🌴🛹
@@liliannakifflin6343 totally agree
I grew up watching the death of Retro Mall A E S T H E T I C
The death of Neon
The death of themes
The death of happiness of the mall staff
From multicolour, to beige, and whites
From unique, to universal
From fountains to universal spaces
From arcades to token casino games
From ads that depicted the artists and their work, to celebs posing with the product
Maximizing profit really killed the appeal of the mall
The foodcourt still hasn't lost it's appeal. All multicolour, signs that pop, a place to hang out, some placed near ice skating arenas. It reminds me of what malls were, what they could have been.
It was weird, it was tacky, but it was fun.
Neon>>>*
28:50 #alldatneon
Well written.
I can agree. I was born in the late 90s but on of the malls here has this cool upside-down 3d mural of the city in the food court and the tables are the clouds. They also used to have this cool motherboard design around the food court but that got painted over. I totally agree about the whole mall being bland but the food court still pops
@@Zoey587 What mall?
it's like playing a cassette in an empty supermarket at night
I almost screamed when I saw the footage starting at 49:55. That’s my childhood mall. Century III Mall, in a town just outside of Pittsburgh.
The last time I was there was probably 2005. The signs of it closing were just barely showing; it’s a pretty big mall and there were maybe 2 or 3 vacant storefronts. I spent a solid quarter of my childhood at that mall. Waiting with my dad by the fountain for my mom get off of work; the bus stopped there on its route, so we would pick her up, maybe have dinner there at the food court if I was lucky. Italian Village Pizza and Orange Juilus. Getting my hair done at Regis. Begging my mother to let me go into Hot Topic (this was the late 90’s early 00’s Hot Topic, where everything came in one color, black). Playing a Sega Dreamcast demo at the game store. I vividly recall that corner shown at 51:02. At the bottom of those steps there was a tax service, an As Seen on TV store, and a few tables, along with a well-loved DDR machine. It’s crazy, it’s been almost 20 years, but when I see these clips, I can smell the Food Court, catch the scent of whatever they treated the fountain water with as it drifted through the place, feel the plastic leaves. I remember seeing so many sunsets while walking to the car with my parents, watching the complex fade into the distance during the short ride home.
It’s weird. That place I spent so much time in is just empty and abandoned. It’s a lot of land, the building is huge and imposing, but it’s gone. It’s just like the lyric in “Sprawl II” by Arcade Fire: “Living in the Sprawl, dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains, and there’s no end in sight.”
Thank you for sharing this memory.
Thanks for sharing..heartfelt
where I live malls are still alive
This is my memory too... I'm not crying you're crying! 😂😢
I love you
will they still take my macys coupon that expired in 1990
hopefully
Yes
I will
Pad here ? nicee
I k r
there was a dream.
a dream of a prospering american people, all commuting to an urban infrastructure that would serve as the capital for markets and novelty stores. we were all to revel in the wealth, and that our decadent living was a result of both our virtues of freedom for the people with such a prospering economy.
the mall was that dream. and it was real. the complex served as a means for buying our nicer clothes, our jewelry, things that could reflect our wealth. it was all a means of convenience of course, because now all these shops were conveniently located in one large plaza, and sometimes with gigantic arcades and novelty restaurants.
the mall was real. however, america changed. our economy took a dive, our people became terrified after a national attack, our rock stars died and eventually buildings with a large number of people could reasonably make the average american uncomfortable due to so many random shootings.
now the mall is decrepit. most malls, if they are not failing, they have turned into husks, shells of what was once a symbol of economic security and our former idea of convenience. these abandoned malls jut from the ground like a decayed tooth, something once health now shifted in condition due to so many bad habits.
there are exceptions, as some malls still do well today. but malls in poorer areas, rural areas, places where jobs went away and a people were left destitute after, those malls are the ghost of an american dream. once realized, only to fade away over time.
listen to these melodies. the distant sound of these beats. they echo. in an abandoned mall, somewhere in the mid-west, with all its lots vacant, its halls barren, those once rich people missing, these distorted, droning sounds still play.
the lyrics are impossible to understand. the sounds recreate an eerie familiarity to other songs we've heard before. songs of the past. songs from a dream. now it's a memory we all share. a fractured memory, from a dream, none of us really had
Hell, that's powerful. Reading this as the mix comes to a close has got my eyes welled up.
Beautiful - the memories are real.
this is so sad but true :(
Eloquently put
Thank you, that is so well written....but you didnt mention the real killer of the malls, the internet.
I love how this mix tells a story
started tearing up watching this about 1/2 way though. too much nostalgia.... gonna take another swig of my fiji water
This guy may, or may not of realized his filming of this is real history.
*may or may not have
Fact
nothing like art museums: ruclips.net/video/_vdrn2QxUjU/видео.html
The same will be said in 30 years about the footage we are filming nowadays.
@Anglo-Saxon In Asia not really.
I was born in the mid 70s and grew up in the northeast with these multilevel neon decked malls. Never in a million years would I have thought back then that a day would come when I'd be watching old videos of them and missing their existence. I barely remember that last time I went to a mall, and I know when I did go it was certainly nothing like it once was. I was dying to get the hell out of it almost as soon as I got inside. Not like the 80s and 90s when it was truly a place to hang out.
Jess Carlson we lived through very similar times.. Definitely know what you mean.
Did you grow up in malls
What was the difference?
Jess Carlson yeah I was at a mall a couple days ago and a fight broke out right in front of me. Almost got caught in it. Time to leave!!
@Mustache Man Bad I agree man :(
Loved this video for years.
VECTOR GRAPHICS drop at 5:38 you are IMMEDIATELY IN THE MALL remembering the angst of your highschool days
“In these uncertain times”...seeing and hearing this is bittersweet...seems like a million years ago...
fuck covid, vaporwave will cure it all
@@seiyogaming5110 fuck yeah...
we had us a dream.
and we let it get away.
Ｄｏｎ＇ｔ ｔｒｙ ｎｏ ｍｏｒｅ
Ｆｏｒ ｏｎｅ ｍｏｒｅ ｄａｙ
Ｄｏｎ＇ｔ ｔｒｙ ｔｈｅ Ｍａｌｌ
Ｉ ｎｅｅｄ ｔｏ ｓｔａｙ ａｗａｋｅ
Ａｌｌ ｉｎ ａｌｌ Ｉ ｆａｄｅ ａｗａｙ
Ｉ ｊｕｓｔ ｃａｎｔ ｔａｋｅ ｉｔ ｏｎｅ ｍｏｒｅ ｄａｙ
Ａｌｌ ｉｎ ａｌｌ ｉｔｓ ｎｏｔ ｏｋａｙ
Ｉ ｈｏｐｅ ｍｙ ｅｙｅｓ ｗｉｌｌ ｓｔａｙ ｔｈｉｓ ｗａｙ
What happened is you grew up, simple as that, you think adults in the 90s had a better time than adults in 2020? It's just the fact that you were a kid, that's why you loved those times more...
@@ghost_fueled_scarecrow Literally just quoting the end of the video lol
So deep 😭😭😭😩😩😩😔😔😔
@@ghost_fueled_scarecrow no, pre 9/11 world was a much simpler place. people made money, spent it on stupid stuff, but enjoyed their blissful ignorance. After 2001 Americans had to face the reality that they couldn't hide from the world's problems by running to gleaming towers of capitalism. The present may be more "real" but it's certainly not the carefree and whimsical 80s and 90s. Life was objectively better back then. Middle class had more spending power, and smartphones hadn't destroyed the world yet, people still talked to each other face to face.
"We didn't realise we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun." - Winnie the Pooh
💜
I've been suffering with anxiety and overthinking at the moment due to issues at home. Vaporwave and Synthwave is a brilliant way to bring some calm into my day. Thank God that I found this genre of music.
@@alandashcar1453 Ty
There's always weed too!
I maybe know why we are fascinated with these Vaporwave videos, not only Vaporwave but 80s in general. It's because it looks like dream, thanks to VHS and we know dreams are blurry. 80s and Vaporwave is a dream we all remember, dreams are fascinating, combine it with music like this and voala you have special thing called Vaporwave
Amazing
omg you worded this so well i love it
I remember when people were weirded out by seeing someone with a camcorder, they would freak out or not know how to act. I always had a camcorder with me at all time and people did not get it. They were like why do you record everything? Fast forward to now and every one and their dog have cameras recording. So weird lol thanks for the video. A great look at the past malls!
KieroTakoBell fast forward to now, and everyone and their grandmother will be looking for the videos that you took of that day to see. You're one of a few nationwide
KieroTakoBell tbh, people still react the same way on camera.
People still act the same haha upload your footage and make a VP playlist
Hahaha my dad was the same way! Always had his camcorder recording every moment of every trip and event
Dont you people see? dont you understand? THE FUTURE WAS YESTERDAY!
You just described the premise of future funk.
Yesterday? Yesterday you said you’d call Sears...
Brett Shipes I’ll call today.
1910-60s technically and I say 60s because the internet was the last major profound pioneering revolutionary technology. Most of the technology we have today from Jet technology to phones to Internet are just much much more efficient versions of previously develop technology, And unique reiterations thereof
Youre high
The only RUclips video I always return to after months of not listening.. 6 years now. Cheers. :-)
*Hello friend welcome to the Fake Nostalgic Junky Club!* ❤🎵🎶
@@emalbraun4651 love that. fake nostalgia junkie club is stuck on me from here on out. ✌️
Ever wanted to enjoy your nostalgic urges by watching these kinds of videos, but can't finish it due to the overwhelming emotions it brings into your old soul? That's what it gives me.
same here. I look at the present and I feel terrible for all the shit we've wasted since that time.
I agree, everything seemed so lively and so many things were happening nothing like now..I really wish I could go back
I would trade the entire MCU to be able to go back and buy all the awesome 90s X-men comics again. My friends and I would head down to the comic shop and buy, read, trade, repeat.
God damn it was magnificent.
remember when hanging out at the mall was cool?
Hell yeah, especially at the arcade.
I was an arcade junkie when I was a kid. I made my parents drive me to arcades everywhere up to two hours away. But yeah I hung out in malls a lot, mostly because, as you mention, it was cool and that's just what there was to do in a suburb. I miss it a lot. I never thought about it at the time, but I was a kid in the late 90s early 90s and being 32 now, it's weird to think back then I was just "existing" and soaking up all this shit. I didn't have a care in the world. All I wanted was to go to the mall and buy something.
It was still cool in S.E.Asia
Preston Garvey it's still a thing in the middle east like Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
80's were the height of the arcade in my opinion. They had some more advanced games in the 90's like Tekken and so on, but I felt like the 80's was when it was the hottest scene. That was back when there were punks all over the streets with mohawks and everything. The Goths never achieved their level.
Imagine if someone could buy out an entire town and theme it in the 90s. No public wifi but there would need to be phone service of course.
Neon everywhere, just a small town of raw nostalgia. That would be a tourist attraction
That’d be awesome! Only 80s cars for driving as well!
People have data tho so they'd probably still be able to use it in there
@@sp00kyd4ddy6 No cell phone towers and electromagnetic jamming could take care of that.
doooo itttt
I’ve had that idea for years I wish man…
I grew up in the 00's and I still remember malls like this. Granted this was on early 00's, when the 90's aesthetics were still kicking in. I had a cinema near my parent's home which still rocked the neon lights and the CRT's for the movies they were previewing. The last movie I watched there was Happy Feet with a younger cousin.
When the 2008 financial crysis hit, they shut down. The cinema themed café somehow survived and now they're doing well because in 2016 a gym opened where the cinema was. The mall inside is empty and you can't access it, but you can still see remnants of what used to be.
This video is the definition of calm. Everyone seems so peaceful and happy. Like they’re just living their life and loving it. It makes me so happy.
If only social media, mass online shopping and iPhones weren’t invented to replace people’s friendly relationships, these kind of times will last forever
those times were special but i don't think there has ever been a period where people were truly happy
I was born in 2003, so I’m only 17. But I wish I was around in the 80s and 90s, everything just seems so optimistic. When I watch vids like this I feel nostalgic about something I didn’t take part in.
@Morgue I was fortunate enough to be born in 1982. Though those born in the late 70s and 90s were lucky too. But after 2000, that's when things started to go wrong from 9/11 to coronavirus. I listen to vaporwave to get away from it all.
yeah, me too. i'm sixteen but my mom and dad raised me on music from the 70s, 80s, 90s. even within my lifetime things have gotten so much colder. i wish we could all go back to this atmosphere.
You should have been there! Born in 84. Life leading up to Y2k was very optimistic!
I consider myself really lucky to have been born in 1984. The world wasn't perfect in the 80s and 90s by any means, but it wasnt as frantic as todays world. My childhood and adolescence were analogue. No internet, no Netflix and only stock brokers had mobile phones haha!
Everything is so INSTANT and on demand today.
@@murphycreationsvideos I was born in 84. I'm watching this to escape the beginning of 2021, we're in our third lockdown in the UK. These videos are something else! I feel as though I've just slept walked right back into my own childhood. I'm getting Proustian rushes!
Man i wish the world stayed looking like this!
It's getting to the point where I'm experiencing a sort of meta-nostalgia, coming across vaporwave for the first time back in 2016 and being fascinated by the whole dream-like quality of the genre.
Just think, in another 7 years you’ll be nostalgic for 2023 when you were nostalgic for 2016 when you were nostalgic for another time
@@bertonspat129 we truly do live in a post-modernist hellscape
Time is something else to behold
Meta-nostalgia! Thank you for naming a phenomenon I have noticed for a long time. I believe it started when I was in high school, because it was amazing that 80s music was considered "retro". 😂 Then I noticed I would attach music to the last time I heard it. Fascinating!
Ya the mid 2010s already brings nostalgia to me.
This is my favorite thing on the entire fucking internet.
I’ve always been obsessed with the memories of shopping malls at their peak and this week I only now discovered vaporwave.
It’s set my world on it’s ear.
It physically hurts to see some of these malls closed down and dying. Like watching someone slowly wither away from a fatal disease. Bloody tragic.
I don't care what anyone says, I miss the 80's and 90's so much. Having been born in 85, I'm just old enough to remember these type places with fond nostalgia. Part of my childhood and young adult years.
The world is a worse place because the internet has disconnected us all
Same here pal
85 ova here too bro the 90’s mall / movie scene was like one big dream
The section beginning at 39:07 really got to me. I wasn't a huge mall person growing up, but the emotional, evocative music track of this section paired with the footage of that dead mall make a powerful impression. The lone occupied storefront surrounded by empty ones, the plants that still appeared well cared for, the deserted food court still with chairs and neon lights glowing. It hit especially hard after all the vintage footage of busy, thiriving malls filled with people shopping and enjoying each others company.
I moved back home to be closer to my parents. I go to the mall from my childhood and slowly walk it's perimeter. It's nearly empty, but walking through lets me relive some of the best times of my life. This vid cuts deep!
It's been a glorious movie, our time here on earth. For the time that I've been alive, it took me a ridiculous percentage of my life to fathom that there were other cultures and cool happenings way before my time, and each generation borrowed from the next until it all amalgated into what we have today. Thus generation can only imitate, it doesn't create. It's like watching from a large cruise ship, we are sailing away never to return. This is our last glimpse of a nostalgia that was some people's utopia. I honestly don't see the need for pining, but perhaps it's the interaction they crave. We don't get close enough to speak to each other anymore and everyone is so corny. Goodbye, Friends. Maybe we can return in 1000 years and appreciate our lives better.
my fav telepath song. like floating into ghostly memories and the emptiness of the mall goes so well with how much the song echoes
@@sarahmccollum3694wow what a comment my girl...who understands understands...I wanna give u a big tight hug...from jamaica 🇯🇲 one love keep good wherever u are 😊😊😊😊
@@dwaynegayle1931 🤗
Came for the jams to do the cleaning to.
Stayed for the surreal nostalgia trip to a time I never experienced.
This isn't just a mix; It's a work of art.
The transitions, the footage, the order, the comments. An experience I've never quite had in any museum or gallery
This is a great comments section. I revisit it every few weeks or months just to see what’s going on.
@@dumbcrambo1265 Incredible comments! This art draws so many intelligent and insightful people.
Everyone seems to share the same melancholy for 19:54 . That music and recordings captures the nostalgia for some and the wistfulness of others. That camera man knew this would be valuable someday .
Now I understand the feeling of old people when they say,"back in my day" I for real shed a nostalgic tear in memory of my family and my childhood when I was a kid.
I’m sad because my family was so awful; I don’t wish to go back. I didn’t get to live it the first time, and now I can’t join you and share in echoing your feelings. It’s a lonely perspective, so I try not to choose that view/feeling that isolation.
These make me so emotional for some reason because these people are all grown up or gone. But they live on here forever. All these people went for a fun day at the mall and will forever spend that day at the mall here in this video with us. Part of it’s nostalgia for the time where they cared about the consumer experience, cared about human connection and community but the other is just hurt because we will never have this again.
Out of all the Vaporwave mixes out there. This by far my most favourite Vaporwave/Mallsoft mix. The music you put in order was perfect. It always carries that "Welcome!" aura at the beginning of the mix, and at the end of the mix it felt like the shopping mall is about to close. This really captures the neon 80s shopping mall feeling. It also shows the extreme aesthetic and beauty in this mix. This is really what I wanted the whole time. I'd say this is a masterpiece. It helps me sleep and relax when I put my earphones on. The nostalgic memories that Ive felt is truly amazing. This really helps me a lot. Thank you for this wonderful mix. It is really beautiful and relaxing. Lots of support and love from me.
Amir Afique Thank you, thank you so much!! :) That really means a lot, I'm glad you enjoy it!
SPLIFF RADIOショー No problem! I hope you make more of this in the future. I really appreciate it. :)
Had us a dream, and we let it get away...
@@SPLIFFRADIO If you ever get enough footage and/or music to make another video in this style it would make my year.
I fkkn love all you musical geniuses
Not kidding, I throw this video on nearly everyday throughout COVID just as background music for gaming, studying, chatting with friends. This was so well made. The intro, the great tracks that follow. The 30 year old tapes combined with the modern equivalents, showing how much has changed and how much we took for granted. Those pre 9/11 optimism vibes are definitely real. Did anyone feel optimism before 2020? The late 2010s were fun for me as someone approaching 30 and I had so much planned this year and over the next few. I hope we can get back to pre-2020 normal and start appreciating how valuable freedom and the simple things are.
It’s funny because in 2019 I felt like things were finally getting better after everything was going down hill prior. Hopefully after covid we keep moving in that direction.
The later 2010s did carry a bit of a resurgence of the kind of optimism people had in the 90s, covid killed it
The 7 year tribulation is coming after the rapture which is very soon
Same, man. At some point that optimism died. I think it hung on for awhile after 9/11, but the public atmosphere is so tense these days. People see each other as enemies or threats. It didn’t used to feel like that, even in larger places full of strangers.
The 10s were shit.
i started watching and snapped out of the trance six minutes in ... ive never seen anything like it. neon palm mall is the palace of the lotus eaters. trippy
"Palace of the lotus eaters." That was just too poetic. THUMBS UP FOR YOU!
milspire same
Yeah, it was the perfect blend of 80s glitz and raw greed/consumerism. Too bad the palm trees are now dead and the neon is now a faded neutral tone.
/musicplays
Being a little kid in the very late 80s and early 90s was so fun. Malls were just like this.
I love the 80s and 90s Mall look...all that neon...
deziboy5606 they should bring all the neon back for the 2020’s.
I miss it :(
I swear to god, if I ever become like dumbass rich, I'm going to open up a shopping center that has that aesthetic, and every shop that wants to open in it needs to comply to the look.
This video made me realize just how vivid my memories are of going to the mall with my mom as a kid in the early-mid 90s. The neon signs, the Mrs. Fields cookies, the Taco Bell, the distinct electronic-y smell of a Sam Goody, the arcade sounds, the tropical plants, the skylights, the weird art sculptures hanging from the ceiling...wow I really miss being a kid.
When the video showed the dead mall @40:00, my heart wept. I watch dead mall videos quite often, but seeing the jubilant-like atmosphere of the malls at the beginning of this video, than having it turn into the eerie shell of what used to be makes me so sad. It’s 2:55 am. Nostalgia is hitting me hard.
I love how the clips increasively show the mall getting more liminal and empty each time. Such a sad yet amazing evolution
For anyone wondering… The thumbnail is actually a real place but it doesn’t exist anymore... it is called “the eatery” it was a foodcourt that existed through the 90s in the White Flint Mall in Bethesda, Maryland really close to Washington DC... Yes! Just a stone’s throw away from our nations Capitol. Look it up and like so others can see.
Also the true Neon Palm Mall (the eatery at white flint mall just mentioned) location can be seen in this video at: 40:23
And another really cool one at: 28:50 where is this? Anyone know?
This eatery is really cool! I found it so many times in Liminal Space videos/topics around the internet and always wondered where it was.
28:50 That was the Seminole Mall in Seminole Florida. It was a sad little mall for at least a decade before they tore it down a few years ago. The last time I went was a few months before they did, and it was so empty and lifeless, in a much worse state than in this video.
@@Tarkus_H thank you!
@@Tarkus_H how old are you now and tell me about growing up in Florida
Rockville represent :) im just a quick drive away from what was White Flint
Due to my restricted Internet acces, I unironically have to watch it in 144p - unurprisingly, it just makes it more A U T H E N T I C
The 90's feels like it was 50 years ago with how much things changed so quickly and not for the better....
Notices individual chapters were added to this masterpiece
“I’ve been looking forward to this”
What a great time to be a child.
Not fully analogic, not fully digital.
The best of both worlds together.
We could be playing with dirt outside the whole Saturday and on Sunday we played with our consoles and went to the mall also.
I loved how hughe those malls and supermarkets were.
And also how luxurious they were, as shops invested more money on physical selling, as nobody thought about online shopping, at most phne selling, but even that was a small portion of the dellsz and we had to go to pick them up, or they would take weeks to arrive home.
Oh, such days! ❤️
The inefficiency of living back then, the lack of instant gratification with online shopping, smartphones and so on is so hard to grasp nowadays, but truly hits a place close to home for myself.
Malls and anything physical which has been replaced by their online counterpart is such a shame to lose culturally
And remember kids: back in those days it was impossible to film inconspicuously as the guy doing this would have a big-ass camcorder on his shoulder which was a quite rare sight. Those things were EXPENSIVE.
The beginning of the vid was in ‘99 so i wouldnt expect it to be that big. If you look up. “Going to burger king (1989)” and other vids by those two kids. It was late 80s and their camcorder was a handheld size and the quality speaks for itself.
@@mrawesome878 Funny, we got our first camcorder around 1995 (Universum VHS-C) and it still was a big thing that you even though you could hold it up by one hand, you could only do so for short periods as it was quite heavy and it was impossible to keep a steady shot this way. I remember preferring propping it up against my shoulder or holding it with two hands.
Rene Raggl oops. Sorry. The beginning was in ‘91. Sorry. But thats is crazy to hear. I was born ‘01 the only thing from the ‘90s that i knew were the walkman my dad had. And one was a cassette. Thats where i was introduced to rap. As a child😂 50 cent and em. But the simplicity of the ‘90s is awesome. I love the cars. Especially japans cars. Everyone that i have talked to that lived in the ‘90s said it was awesome and so much fun. I am very glad for vids like this to showcase real history. Not from the victors. Early ‘90s was prime music. Every genre was pumpin out quality. It was only way back then. Not now. And i dont doubt they were heavy. The phones had to be held in a bag. Too much for any pocket. 😂😂
@@mrawesome878 no that's what you had those fun hip holsters for... ;-) I got my first mobile around 1997, a Nokia 1611, which was one of the first who could text... It could fit in a Jeans pocket, but you couldn't really sit down.
@@dutchbachelor i do remember seeing those hip holsters. 😂😂. And if you still have that pone that would be awesome. A piece of history. Is it the model that is infamous for being indestructible? My first phone was a razor flip phone😂😂 good times. Did you enjoy those times? I definitely would have. And i have that problem with my iphone 6s plus. With certain pants. 😂😂
I was born in 90 but the malls were still like this in houston,tx. I vividly remember seeing the iconic blue&pink neon and hearing the 80s hits. In Baytown texas there was a carousel in the San Jacinto mall but unfortunately the mall died and was ultimately demolished few years ago
The opening clip brought me right back to the early 90s... Malls just don't have that "feeling" anymore...
Shho13 Except Portage Place Winnipeg!
I only just recently learned of Mallsoft music, mainly due to finding Dan Bell's dead malls channel, and it has been like I've taken a time machine back to my youth. For those who weren't around then, the 1980s mall scene was a very exciting time in our lives, one that can never be truly duplicated. And for those who were there, treasure those memories forever. They were truly special.
I can't stand Dan Bell or his videos. He's too slow. And he has such an exaggerated waddle. It's ridiculous, it hurts to watch.
I'm greedy for the information contained within, for seeing these malls, but I cannot stand to watch them. They drive me up all of the walls.
This is just pure nostalgia to childhood. My mom used to take me to a mall decorated with fishtanks and large palmtrees. I can remember the mesmerizing feeling of the high roof and the escalators. Music echoing on the marble tiles, all unknown tracks for me as kid. People mindlessly but serene sitting at chairs drinking coffee and enjoying this modern environment. Adult were already brainwashed, already infused and used to this modern environment. As a kid who also spent a lot of time in nature, malls felt like a dreamy, surreal or even sci-fi kind of place. A big modern playground. This music really makes me relive these hazy memories.
This is my island of escape from anxiety and fear… I lie in bed, listen to music and try to sleep, because in 2 days I barely slept 4 hours in total. all because of this war in Ukraine... I'm worried about my relatives... but now I'll try to sleep. appreciate the peaceful sky above your head and every moment lived without anxiety and fear. 🤕
Praying for u, ur family, and country 🙏
Goodluck brother I hope you're doing well
@Imm0rtal_ Everything will be all right, friend. The Lord protects.
Next time vote for someone more concerned about ukrainians rather than serving the WEF, world bank israel and nato
This is absolutely amazing. The old mall videos almost bring tears they're so nostalgic.
Watching this in an empty cinema on a VR headset is both the saddest and most awesome thing i've done this weekend.
For anyone wondering, the picture in the thumbnail was the food court in White Flint mall, located not far from both Rockville and Bethesda Maryland. I remember running around and playing in this mall as a kid while my dad was at work. There was always something so cool about the obviously dated design of the mall, especially the food court. It was very Vice City. It's a shame the place got torn down a few years back, although the datedness of the mall was sure to catch up sooner or later. There's some really cool drone footage of them actually tearing down the mall that came out a few years back. It's very much a blast from the past
please never delete this video
I was born in 92 I remember walking through mall shops like these with my mom and grandma in 97. Hiding in the clothing racks while they looked for bargains. It brings back good memories.
The music is so hauntingly chill. All those people are ghosts of decades past.
@Anglo-Saxon In Asia yes, but they were referring to the people as they existed in that moment.
As a trucker. This helps me not feel so alone on the road
Wishing you safe travels and sending my gratitude for what you do! My late uncle was a trucker and used to talk of how long the nights could be. May this mix offer you comfort and nostalgia along your journeys
Im so happy that I got to experience these times. Todays world just isnt the same.
I look at that timestamp with this deep sense of longing.
Like there was a world and all I have to do is reach into some kind of collective memory and I'll be there. Like someday I'll walk through a door and this neon mall will be back.
This video was recorded nine months before I was born.
Why does it feel so familiar?
Maybe there is actually a collective consciousness, or memory as you put it.
It probably feels familiar because many malls rarely changed their initial design and stylization. The mall you visited as a kid in the late 90s probably wasn't too different than it was in the 80s, just some different shops and fake plant arrangements
Because of the atmosphere probably, I'm guessing you too, have spent many hours wandering around in malls so that might be why it feels so familiar
I was born in 90 so fortunately I got to live this for a few years. Most local malls were like this up until around year 2000
@@wysoft then just fill in the rest with television, movies, and an overactive imagination...