While I have yet to convocate officially, I’ll be the first to admit that the post-grad lifestyle isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The past month has been filled with fear, loathing and a lot of crying over all the poor choices I’ve made in the last five years. I’ve spent many a night wondering how I will find gainful employment when the only thing I’m taking away from my Sexual Diversity Studies degree is how to question my gender identity in a safe space.

In between drafting copious cover letters and a quarter-life crisis, I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection and part of this journey has included compiling a list of gender anthems most relevant to my life right now:

5. Aaliyah – More Than A Woman

4. Pictureplane – Trancegender

3. Pulp – I’m A Man

2. The Cribs – Men’s Needs

1. White Town – Your Woman

Jyoti Mishra has been writing and recording as White Town since 1989, but seems to be known exclusively for his synth-happy surprise hit, “Your Woman” in 1997. The song samples the deflated trumpet riff from Lew Stone and the Monseigneur Band’s “My Woman” from 1932 and the music video (which is undoubtedly, one of the best of the entire decade) echoes this era with its old-timey feel.

What I found most refreshing about the video after seeing it for the first time as a 10 year old was the fact that Mishra only makes a humble cameo as a background image on a television screen. After ODing on Scott Weiland’s smug face and tight lime green pants in the Stone Temple Pilots video for “Big Bang Baby” the year before, by comparison, White Town had an air of mystery about him, and in the pre-Internet chapter of my life, I was ravenous for information and totally desperate to learn more about this man.

My parents purchased Mishra’s first and only major label effort, Women In Technology for me at the same time as Savage Garden’s self-titled debut. Much to my disappointment, there was no picture of Jyoti in the liner notes, there was a song called ‘The Function of the Orgasm’ that I didn’t understand and the rest of the record was just too inaccessible and weird for me so I only listened to ‘Your Woman’ on repeat until the CD started skipping.

It would be years later until I learned that White Town actually looked like this, and then realized why he wasn’t so keen on being the center of attention:

After the fluke success of “Your Woman,” a second single, “Undressed,” was released. It reached a pitiful #57 in the UK and failed to chart anywhere else. Shortly after that, White Town was dropped from EMI and Mishra dropped the synth act and returned to his indie-pop roots, where he released a slew of follow-up albums on Parasol Records that you had no idea existed.

So, you’re probably wondering, what’s a 90s one-hit-wonder up to in 2012? Jyoti Mishra has joined the blogosphere over at Bzangy, where he mostly photographs young girls, but occasionally writes about his life. Last year, White Town released their most recent album, Monopole, which you can listen to here, if you’re so inclined.

This cut didn’t make the album, but it should have because, let’s face it, nothing is more poignant than one faded 90s star immortalizing another in song.

As Tiger Beating comes to a close this week, it’s time to weigh in: is White Town still culturally relevant today?

Verdict: Even though you couldn’t correctly identify Jyoti Mishra in a police lineup, the “Your Woman” legacy lives on. Ten years after its release, Amy Heckerling wrote and directed a failed romcom called I Could Never Be Your Woman, starring a cougar-like Michelle Pfeiffer preying upon a happy-go-lucky manchild played by Paul Rudd.

In 2010, rapper Wiley sampled “Your Woman” in a duet he did with Emeli Sande called (wait for it…) “Never Be Your Woman.” It pales in comparison to the original, but at least it introduced a new generation to the 90s one-hit-wonder canon.

Finally, last year I went on one of the worst OkCupid dates of my extensive online dating career, based solely off of the last line of this person’s profile. Word to the wise: never attempt to date someone who fetishizes the 90s as much as you do. It only leads to profound disappointment.

The bottom line is, “Your Woman” sounds as fresh as it did today as it did in 1997 because the song’s appeal is universal. When writing “Your Woman,” Jyoti set out to create a pop song with more than one perspective, and he delivered, because this track has something that everyone can relate to. He is quoted on his website as saying the song is about:

• Being a member of an orthodox Trotskyist / Marxist movement
• Being a straight guy in love with a lesbian
• Being a gay guy in love with a straight man
• Being a straight girl in love with a lying, two-timing, fake-ass Marxist.

But for me, more than anything right now, “Your Woman” is about transgression and deconstructing binaries, and will continue to soundtrack my gender processing.

If you’re reading this and you’re in NYC over the long weekend, be sure to check out White Town’s performance at NYC PopFest on Sunday May 20th!