# Songs about getting older? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359 "2007-09-07T14:58:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/1 "2007-09-07T14:58:47Z")
I’m looking for some songs about getting older, to make a cd for a friend’s birthday. I don’t know that he’s particularly bummed about getting older, but he does keep talking about it. The songs can be serious or light-hearted, but preferably from a first person point of view. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/2 "2007-09-07T15:01:08Z")
“I’m an Adult Now” by The Pursuit of Happiness _Speaking of noise, I can’t take too much loud music. I mean, I like to play it, But I sure don’t like the racket._ Love that song. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/3 "2007-09-07T15:09:18Z")
_When I’m Sixty-Four_, the Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/4 "2007-09-07T15:09:47Z")
I guess the classic is Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “It was a Very Good Year.” The last verse is: _But now the days grow short Im in the autumn of the year And now I think of my life as vintage wine from fine old kegs from the brim to the dregs And it poured sweet and clear It was a very good year_ I seem to appreciate that song a little more each year. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/5 "2007-09-07T15:12:43Z")
_As Good as I Once Was_ - Toby Keith Sample lyrics: > [@](#): > > I ain’t as good as I once was > I got a few years on me now > But there was a time back in my prime > When I could really lay it down > And if you need some love tonight > Then I might have just enough > I ain’t as good as I once was > But I’m as good once as I ever was ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/6 "2007-09-07T15:12:58Z")
- Lies \* by Stan Rogers Is this the face that won for her the man Whose amazed and clumsy fingers put that ring upon her hand? No need to search that mirror for the years. The menace in their message shouts across the blur of tears. So this is Beauty’s finish. Like Rodin’s “Belle Heauimiere”, The pretty maiden trapped inside the ranch wife’s toil and care. Well, after seven kids, that’s no surprise, But why cannot her mirror tell her lies. All lies. All those lines are telling wicked lies. Lies all lies. Too many lines there in that face; Too many to erase or disguise; They must be telling lies. Also “The Circle Game” by Joni Mitchell. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/7 "2007-09-07T15:14:10Z")
I’m here for my obligatory Harry Chapin reference. _Dreams Go By_ is not one of my favorites by him, but it fits the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/8 "2007-09-07T15:15:35Z")
Steely Dan’s “ **Hey Nineteen** ” _Hey, Nineteen, that’s 'retha Franklin She don’t remember the Queen of Soul? Hard times befallen the sole survivors She thinks I’m crazy, but I’m just growing old…_ ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/9 "2007-09-07T15:16:01Z")
Another one:[Middle Age](http://www.steveforbert.com/lyrics/Strange_Names_and_New_Sensations/Middle_Age.htm) by Steve Forbert. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/10 "2007-09-07T15:17:13Z")
[QUOTE=PoorYorick] I guess the classic is Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “It was a Very Good Year.” The last verse is: _But now the days grow short Im in the autumn of the year And now I think of my life as vintage wine from fine old kegs from the brim to the dregs And it poured sweet and clear It was a very good year_ I seem to appreciate that song a little more each year. [/QUOTE] I love that song. Especially the way the strings just get more and more melodramatic as it goes on, and his talk of riding in limousines with blue-blooded girls of independent means. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/11 "2007-09-07T15:20:57Z")
Another Harry Chapin song: _WOLD_, about a disc jockey. Also, maybe, _Taxi_. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/12 "2007-09-07T15:27:33Z")
It’s blatant schlock, but _100 Years_ by Five for Fighting. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/13 "2007-09-07T15:28:55Z")
“I Think I’m Going Bald” by Rush > [@](#): > > I looked in the mirror today > My eyes just didn’t seem so bright > I’ve lost a few more hairs > I think I’m…I’m going bald ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/14 "2007-09-07T15:30:18Z")
Harry Chapin again with “Cat’s In The Cradle” ABBA’s gem “Slipping Through My Fingers” ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/15 "2007-09-07T15:32:55Z")
“Old Friends” from Bookends (Simon and Garfunkle). Be warned: pretty sad. Here it is on YouTube: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB0nt22Sgi8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB0nt22Sgi8) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/16 "2007-09-07T15:33:21Z")
**Sixty Years On** — Elton John and Bernie Taupin _Who’ll walk me down to church when I’m sixty years of age When the ragged dog they gave me has been ten years in the grave And señorita play guitar, play it just for you My rosary has broken and my beads have all slipped through_ ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/17 "2007-09-07T15:33:34Z")
[QUOTE=Sauron] Another Harry Chapin song: _WOLD_, about a disc jockey. [/QUOTE] I, too, have a spot on the top of my head, and a (minor) tire around my gut from sittin’ on my butt. _Little Miss Magic_ by Jimmy Buffet isn’t specifically about getting old, but it’s a nice story about an aging guy who feels “a little more moustache goin’ gray…” and who dotes on his daughter. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/18 "2007-09-07T15:34:51Z")
Old and Wise by the Alan Parsons Project. Very bittersweet. I hope to have it played at my funeral. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/19 "2007-09-07T15:37:16Z")
“Nick of Time” by Bonnie Raitt ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/20 "2007-09-07T15:37:57Z")
I used Cat Stevens’ song [“Child for a Day”](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/cat-stevens/child-for-a-day.html) when I made a bat mitzvah video for my partner’s daughter: > [@](#): > > We’re getting older as time goes by > A little older with everyday > We were the children of yesterday I’ll also whole-heartedly recommend the Hothouse Flowers’ song "[The Older We Get"](http://www.hothouseflowers.com/home.asp?s=music&p=theolderwegetlyrics) > [@](#): > > The older we get the further we see > The more we mean to each other > The more you mean to me [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359.md?page=2)