# Songs about being 17 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122 "2012-03-08T05:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/1 "2012-03-08T05:18:11Z")
Last year when my daughter turned 16, we had a party for her and her friends out on the back deck, and I had music playing. It took her and her friends about half the party until they realized that all the songs were ‘16’ related. I had thrown the mix together pretty quick that morning on a whim and it turned out decent but I think with a little more time it could have been kick-ass. So she doesn’t turn 17 for six more months but I wanted to at least start collecting songs about being seventeen to include in next years mix. Last year was mainly her friends but this year I plan on having more of a mix with some of our friends as well as her friends,so the music can be a pretty broad range. What I have so far: Coming Clean–Greenday I saw her Standing there-The Beatles Seventeen-Jet Seventeen aint so Sweet–the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Edge of Seventeen—Stevie Nicks 17-Kings of Leon Seventeen-Ladytron Seventeen–Metro Station King of Nothing–Seals and Crofts Forever Seventeen–Tim McGraw Sexy and 17–Stray Cats and if I really want to depress her I can always add At Seventeen–Janis Ian So any other songs you guys can think of that either are about turning 17 or being 17? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lovely_Margo_Lane)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/2 "2012-03-08T05:29:33Z")
[“This Year”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii6kJaGiRaI) by the Mountain Goats. Though hopefully your daughter will have a better time than that kid… ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/3 "2012-03-08T05:32:11Z")
When I was 17. I drank some very good beer, some very good beer, I purcahsed with a fake ID, my name was Sammy McGee, I sayed up listening to Queen When I was 17… ([or the original](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwv-DxOPhSc)) ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/4 "2012-03-08T05:38:01Z")
> [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](#): > > [“This Year”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii6kJaGiRaI) by the Mountain Goats. > > Though hopefully your daughter will have a better time than that kid… Thanks-I enjoyed that song and the video! Not that familiar with this group but they might require some exploration. And **Simplicio** –how did I forget that song, it is one of my favorites. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/5 "2012-03-08T05:38:48Z")
I would avoid [\*Seventeen \*by Winger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QcgCSkExEI). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/6 "2012-03-08T05:57:54Z")
You could include a song by the 80s synth pop band [Heaven 17](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_17). Though I wouldn’t recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/7 "2012-03-08T05:59:21Z")
_Coz we were barely 17 and we were barely dressed_ Heh heh. Paradise by the Dashboard Light. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/8 "2012-03-08T06:23:34Z")
[I’m Seventeen](http://quietube2.com/v.php/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukwsfi2cf5o) - Tommy Conwell & The Young Rumblers ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/9 "2012-03-08T06:53:41Z")
Seventeen, by the Sex Pistols. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/10 "2012-03-08T07:10:00Z")
Reelin’ In The Years by Steely Dan, “You’ve been telling me you were a genius since you were seventeen…” ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/11 "2012-03-08T07:12:12Z")
“Dancing Queen” isn’t exactly _about_ it, but it is about the freedom and daring of youth (as far as I can tell), so close enough? ---
**Author:** ![Valerieblaise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@Valerieblaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valerieblaise)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/12 "2012-03-08T07:57:12Z")
“[I Love Rock & Roll](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AT_Pbtyid0)” has the lines, “I saw her dancing there by the record machine/ I knew she must’ve been about 17” in the original version by the Arrows. [Joan Jett’s cover](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JuD9umfGo8&feature=related) changes the ‘her’ to ‘him’ and the ‘she’ to ‘he’ and is way more awesome because it’s Joan Jett. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/13 "2012-03-08T08:05:28Z")
Two German ones for the cosmopolitan effect: 17 Jahr, blondes Haar — Udo Juergens 'Du kannst nicht immer 17 sein - Chris Roberts ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/14 "2012-03-08T08:07:28Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I would avoid [\*Seventeen \*by Winger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QcgCSkExEI). Ahhh, you beat me to it! LOL ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/15 "2012-03-08T08:10:55Z")
The Beatles “I Saw Her Standing There.” (Well, she was just seventeen, if you know what I mean…) ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/16 "2012-03-08T08:16:55Z")
Jackson Browne, “Running on Empty”–“In '65, I was seventeen and running up one-oh-one…” (101 is a highway, I assume?) ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/17 "2012-03-08T08:18:23Z")
dupe ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/18 "2012-03-08T08:23:03Z")
There’s a (IMO rather awful) song called “Seventeen” in the movie _Repo! The Genetic Opera_. That’s the first one that came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/19 "2012-03-08T09:29:13Z")
“Too Hot” by Kool and the Gang. _At seventeen we fell in love/High school sweethearts/Love was so brand-new…_ Although it goes on to say that after the marriage, the relationship went downhill fast. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122/20 "2012-03-08T09:36:33Z")
There’s always _Sixteen Going on Seventeen_ from The Sound of Music. And if you’re desperate, you can include Percy Grainger’s _I’m Seventeen Come Sunday._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-17/615122.md?page=2)