# Nostalgic Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 30, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781 "2023-05-30T18:46:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/21 "2023-05-31T16:41:16Z")
A song about nostalgic songs is Yesterday Once More by the Carpenters. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/22 "2023-05-31T22:25:08Z")
“Puff, the Magic Dragon,” is kinda the poster child of nostalgic songs. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/23 "2023-05-31T22:43:08Z")
Les Temps de Cerises does it for me. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/24 "2023-05-31T23:10:30Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > songs, I would find that most of my picks would chronologically be songs that I heard a lot during the ages of 16 - 26 I agree, with the caveat that I think that range is about 4 or 5 years off. I’d go with songs that were popular from ages 11 - 21 rather 16 - 26. At least that’s true for me. I was born in 1977. I have much fonder memories of music from the late ‘80s than from the early ‘00s. Give me Rick Astley, Samantha Fox, NKOTB, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, and so on, and someone else can have Brittney Spears, Christina Aguilera, NSync, and the Backstreet Boys. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/25 "2023-05-31T23:53:30Z")
I think the range is sort of an individual thing - I don’t get really nostalgic about my grade school years and before 13, the only music I would have heard was my mother’s radio station. I get nostalgic when I hear what was played on the stations my friends and I listened to from age 13 to around 24. Which was not necessarily music that came out at that time , but that was when I heard it ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/26 "2023-05-31T23:59:04Z")
That makes sense. For me it was listening to Casey Kasem’s countdown on the car radio on Saturday mornings when my family would take short road trips. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/27 "2023-06-01T00:30:01Z")
For me it’s “Let it Be” by the Beatles. I was 7 or 8 years old. My Dad was long out of the picture, and my Mom was on call and would sometimes get called away at night and make my 11 year old brother look after both of us… It was pretty scary, but I had an old AM radio, and I’d put it on under the covers. That was when “Let it Be” was at the height of popularity The lyrics were very comforting to me then. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/28 "2023-06-01T01:51:56Z")
The entire 60s is nostalgic now. I was 13, just having discovered rock music, when I saw that first performance by the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. I grew up with the Beatles and they grew every year while I watched. Top 40 radio meant everything in the 60s until I went to college and albums, unbelievable, world-shaking albums, abruptly replaced it. That world can never return. And yet. Somehow some nostalgia is greater than other nostalgia, like a stack of infinities. For some reason that I’ve never been able to pin down, The Guess Who’s “These Eyes” and Blood, Sweat and Tears’ “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” just give me chills whenever I hear them. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/29 "2023-06-01T02:34:39Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Blood, Sweat and Tears’ “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” just give me chills whenever I hear them. Hopefully, the long version; I love the brief organ part in the middle. And remember, lovin’ you is where it’s at. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/30 "2023-06-01T03:28:51Z")
The album version, which I assume is the long version. That album I will defend to the death. The musicianship on it is superb, great jazz arrangements by great jazz musicians who could also rock. Also great pick of cover songs and David Clayton Thomas is restrained enough to perfectly match the music. Sure Al Kooper’s first album is good, but the cool crowd champions it while stomping all over the second album, which took the same core of musicians, added better arrangements and better songs and better singing and wound up with a better, even all-time-great album. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/31 "2023-06-01T09:06:12Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I think the range is sort of an individual thing Yes. Mine would be 3 - 13 years old. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/32 "2023-06-01T12:53:09Z")
Great example (though for me it’s Redondo Beach in the 70s 🙂) I’ve always classified it in my mind as “evocative” but “purposefully nostalgic feel” is a good description too. I guess the distinction for me is “nostalgic” implies a specific time / place and BS transported me from the very first time I heard it. So the nostalgia is me remembering listening to it in the old days but the actual sound of it takes me to an imaginary place. Sorry, that probably doesn’t make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/33 "2023-06-01T13:02:14Z")
Okay [THIS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH2hGqJved8) song from St. Elmo’s Fire was intended to feel nostalgic from its inception However, I find over time that now I _actually_ associate the song with life events going on during the 1980’s. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/34 "2023-06-01T13:22:32Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Okay [THIS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH2hGqJved8) song from St. Elmo’s Fire was intended to feel nostalgic from its inception I thought it was going to be _Man in Motion_ . But, yeah, that has a very nostalgic feel. Like you could slot it into any number of old romcoms. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/35 "2023-06-01T13:33:56Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > I would submit that the nostalgia factor for a given song has less to do with the musical form than other considerations. I think a classic example of this statement is, “Auld Lang Syne”. We have romanticized New Year’s Eve as the threshold of hope for a better year and the celebration of sweet memories of the past. It is, of course, a construct of our own minds. The reality is that December 31st is very much like December 30th and very much the way January 1st is going to turn out. On a personal note, as individuals we tend to romanticize songs or wax nostalgic because of them simply because they are associated with meaningful personal memories that have absolutely nothing to do with the music itself. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/36 "2023-06-01T15:10:55Z")
The songs that are nostalgic to me are mostly from my childhood and teenage years. Childhood: Bus Stop - The Hollies. My memory is walking home from the bus stop (!) and hearing that song coming out of the open windows of our house. My mom played that album a lot. Teen years: Any song from Boston’s first album reminds me of keg parties. Someone would have speakers on the roof of their car blasting into the summer night. Heard It in a Love Song by The Marshall Tucker Band. I’m sitting in my boyfriend’s (now husband’s) GTO with the windows rolled down heading to the beach. I notice that most of my nostalgia whether music or other memories are for the most part in the summer. ---
**Author:** ![YellowDog51](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a5b964/32.png) [@YellowDog51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowDog51)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/37 "2023-06-02T18:00:31Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The album version, which I assume is the long version. > > That album I will defend to the death. The musicianship on it is superb, great jazz arrangements by great jazz musicians who could also rock. Also great pick of cover songs and David Clayton Thomas is restrained enough to perfectly match the music. Sure Al Kooper’s first album is good, but the cool crowd champions it while stomping all over the second album, which took the same core of musicians, added better arrangements and better songs and better singing and wound up with a better, even all-time-great album. Agreed on both of these BST albums - I will defend them as well. In fact, I still listen to them. Got to give Al Kooper credit for bringing the Hammond B56 to rock music (see: _Like a Rolling Stone_). One that still runs through my head after all these years is _Old Friends/Bookends Theme_ (from _Bookends_ album by Simon and Garfunkel). What a sweet/sad/melancholy song. Looking back, it WAS a time of innocence - though we didn’t know it at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/38 "2023-06-02T18:15:32Z")
I cannot sing the old songs I sung long years ago For heart and voice would fail me And foolish tears would flow For bygone hours come o’er my heart With each familiar strain I cannot sing the old songs Or dream those dreams again I cannot sing the old songs Or dream those dreams again I cannot sing the old songs Their charm is sad and deep Their melodies would waken Old sorrows from their sleep And tho’ all unforgotten still And sadly sweet they be I cannot sing the old songs They are to dear to me I cannot sing the old songs They are to dear to me I cannot sing the old songs For visions come again Of golden drеams departed And years of wеary pain Perhaps when earthly fetters Shall have my spirit free My voice may know the old songs For all eternity My voice may know the old songs For all eternity Claribel, 1868, so in the Public Domain ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781/39 "2023-06-02T18:45:07Z")
Anyone nostalgic for that [Loving Feelng](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOnYY9Mw2Fg)? Cynthia Weil, who wrote it just died today. Man, she had an [impressive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_written_by_Barry_Mann_and_Cynthia_Weil) career. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-songs/984781.md?page=1)