# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/41 "2007-09-07T18:06:06Z")
What about “Sunrise, Sunset” from _Fiddler on the Roof_? (Depending on how old your friend is) Bruce Springsteen – Glory Days Steely Dan – Reelin’ in the Years I dunno about Harry Chapin’s Taxi, as someone suggested above. If your friend is not happy about the way his/her life is turning out, it may be depressing. Or inspiration to change. Same thing with George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. ---
**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, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/42 "2007-09-07T18:14:46Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] How old is this friend going to be, by the way? [/QUOTE] He’s going to be 29. He seems to think that’s inexplicably old and that a big chapter of his life is over. I kind of want to rub it in, given that almost all of his friends are older than that. I expect it to be received in good humor. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/43 "2007-09-07T18:17:18Z")
**Sugar Mountain** by **Neil Young** - All about reaching the ripe old age of 20 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/44 "2007-09-07T18:23:43Z")
Another one from Rush: “Losing It” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/45 "2007-09-07T18:33:44Z")
Grateful Dead’s [“A Touch of Grey.”](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/g/grateful+dead/touch+of+grey_20062412.html) ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/46 "2007-09-07T18:34:15Z")
[Old Man](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/neil-young-old-man-lyrics.html) by Neil Young ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/47 "2007-09-07T18:35:20Z")
[100 years](http://youtube.com/watch?v=fzOe2SrtLwM) by Five For Fighting. ---
**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, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/48 "2007-09-07T18:42:01Z")
[QUOTE=Staggerlee] 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. [/QUOTE] Yes, it’s evocative, isn’t it? I could never understand what people meant when they described Sinatra as a great _interpreter_ of songs until I really listed to that one. Then, it could just be because I’m getting older. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/49 "2007-09-07T18:49:45Z")
**End Of The Line** , by The Traveling Wilburys \*Well it’s all right, even if you’re old and gray, Well it’s all right, you still got something to say Well it’s all right, remember to live and let live Well it’s all right, the best you can do is forgive Well it’s all right, riding around in the breeze Well it’s all right, if you live the life you please Well it’s all right, even if the sun don’t shine Well it’s all right, we’re going to the end of the line \* ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/50 "2007-09-07T18:56:28Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] **End Of The Line** , by The Traveling Wilburys \*Well it’s all right, even if you’re old and gray, Well it’s all right, you still got something to say Well it’s all right, remember to live and let live Well it’s all right, the best you can do is forgive Well it’s all right, riding around in the breeze Well it’s all right, if you live the life you please Well it’s all right, even if the sun don’t shine Well it’s all right, we’re going to the end of the line \* [/QUOTE] D’oh! How could I forget that one? :smack: Touching video for that song, with the rocking chair and Roy’s picture and all. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/51 "2007-09-07T19:21:52Z")
[QUOTE=Alma] I don’t know if I should open or close the disc with “Older” by They Might Be Giants. It might be too flippant. [/QUOTE] Not quite as flippant as _Don’t Fear The Reaper_. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/52 "2007-09-07T19:34:45Z")
Rock and Roll Never Forgets - Bob Seger So you’re a little bit older and a lot less bolder Than you used to be So you used to shake ‘em down But now you stop and think about your dignity So now sweet sixteens turned thirty-one You get to feelin’ weary when the work days done Well all you got to do is get up and into your kicks If you’re in a fix Come back baby Rock and roll never forgets ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/53 "2007-09-07T19:45:04Z")
“Doin’ the Math” by Loudon Wainwright III - from _Strange Weirdos: Music from and Inspired by the Film Knocked Up_, excellent album by the way. a monkey, a dog, a horse, a giraffe they’re all gonna die but they can’t do the math doin the math is kind of a bummer you best avoid crunchin the numbers ---
**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, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/54 "2007-09-07T19:45:27Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Not quite as flippant as _Don’t Fear The Reaper_. [/QUOTE] I am so gonna do that, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/55 "2007-09-07T19:49:34Z")
Keane. ‘‘Somewhere Only We Know.’’ [Listen and Weep.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmXY2MSrguE) \*Oh, simple thing Where have you gone? I’m getting old and I need something to rely on So tell me when You’re gonna let me in I’m getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin And if you have a minute, Why don’t we go Talk about it, Somewhere only we know…\* ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/56 "2007-09-07T20:00:31Z")
_The Obvious Child_ by **Paul Simon** fits. Sample Lyric: “Sonnys yearbook from high school Is down from the shelf And he idly thumbs through the pages Some have died Some have fled from themselves Or struggled from here to get there Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls Runs his hand through his thinning brown hair” ---
**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, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/57 "2007-09-07T20:40:39Z")
Mary Hopkins’ **“Those Were The Days”** for an upbeat song about aging \*Through the door, there came familiar laughter I saw your face and heard you call my name Oh, my friend, we’re older but no wiser For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same Those were the days, my friend! We thought they’d never end We’d sing and dance forever and a day We’d live the life we’d choose We’d fight and never lose Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days!\* ---
**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, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/58 "2007-09-07T20:48:49Z")
Two pages before a mention of “Still Crazy After All These Years”? But I woud not be convicted by a jury of my peers. Still crazy after all these years. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/59 "2007-09-07T20:48:52Z")
**Bookends** , Simon and Garfunkel \*Old friends Old friends Sat on their park bench Like bookends A newspaper blown through the grass Falls on the round toes Of the high shoes Of the old friends Old friends Winter companions The old men Lost in their overcoats Waiting for the sunset The sounds of the city Sifting through the trees Settle like dust On the shoulders Of the old friends Can you imagine us years from today Sharing a park bench quietly? How terribly strange to be seventy Old friends Memory brushes the same years Silently sharing the same fear… * * * Bookends Theme P. Simon, 1968 Time it was, and what a time it was, it was A time of innocence, a time of confidences Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph Preserve your memories; They’re all that’s left you\* ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359/60 "2007-09-07T21:05:36Z")
“Silver Threads Among The Gold”, a very sentimental song from 1873. “Darling, I am growing old, Silver threads among the gold Shine upon my brow today; Life is fading fast away” A 1912 recording: [Silver Threads Among The Gold : Elsie Baker : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive](http://www.archive.org/details/SilverThreadsAmongTheGoldbyElsieBaker) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-getting-older/418359.md?page=4)