What's the best song about growing up?

Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" for adults, Taylor Swift's "Fifteen" for teenagers, and Lukas Graham's "7 Years" for the whole span of a life.

Best Songs About Growing Up

TL;DR — For nostalgia, play Summer of '69 or Forever Young. For being a teenager, Fifteen, Teenage Dirtbag or Ribs. For looking back as an adult, Landslide, 7 Years or Sharon Van Etten's Seventeen. Together they run from first crushes to wondering where the time went.

Landslide, 17, Ivy, 22, The Boxer, My Back Pages, Cat's in the Cradle, and Beautiful Boy. — Sorted by which stage of growing up each one captures.

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Being a teenager

"Teenage Dirtbag," Wheatus (2000). A loner pining for a girl who dates a jerk, until a twist in the last verse. Rediscovered by every new generation.

"Fifteen," Taylor Swift (2008). Written as a teenager about her first year of high school and her best friend's heartbreak. Gentle advice to her younger self.

"Ribs," Lorde (2013). From Pure Heroine, written as a teenager about a house party and the dread of the people around you growing up.

Nostalgia

"Summer of '69," Bryan Adams (1984). Buying a guitar, starting a band, first love. Adams has said the "69" is about more than the year.

"Forever Young," Alphaville (1984). A Cold War-era plea to stay young forever, now a staple of proms and graduations.

Looking back

"Landslide," Fleetwood Mac (1975). Stevie Nicks wrote it in her mid-twenties while wondering whether to keep going in music. Quiet, wise and endlessly covered.

"7 Years," Lukas Graham (2015). The Danish singer walks through his life at 7, 11 and 20, then imagines himself at 30 and 60. A worldwide hit.

"Seventeen," Sharon Van Etten (2019). A glowing, building song in which Van Etten sees her teenage self in a girl in New York and wishes she could warn her.

Frequently asked questions

What's a good song for a graduation? "Forever Young," "Fifteen" and Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" are classic choices.

What song is about being 17? Sharon Van Etten's "Seventeen" (2019), in which she watches a teenager who reminds her of herself and fears what's coming for her.

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