I’m trying to come up with a good list of songs about those oh-so-wonderful teen years. Back when I was making love in the green grass behind the stadium with you, trying to lose those awkward teenage blues, finding paradise by the dashboard light, etc etc etc.
Help me out, dopers!
1979 - Smashing Pumpkins
Summer of 69’ - Bryan Adams
Seventeen - Winger
Schools Out - Alice Cooper
Ymca
Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
Spirit in the Night - Bruce Springsteen
Jack and Diane - John Cougar (Mellencamp)
Fight For Your Right (To Party)- Beaste Boys
At Seventeen - Janis Ian
First Episode at Highenton–Elton John
One of my favorite songs
The songs still are sung
It was fun to be young
But please, don’t be sad wherever you are.
I am who I am.
You are who you are
“In The Summertime,” Mungo Jerry
“See You In September,” by The Happenings
(may be a stretch, but sure fits your mood) “California Girls,” by The Beach Boys
“Sidewalk Surfing,” by The Challengers
“Surfing Safari,” by The Beach Boys
I’ll try to think of more later, that captured that time…
:o Guess I’m telling my age here, oh well. :o
Billy Joel’s Scenes From an Italian Restaurant contrasts “how it is now” with “how it was then”:
[Quote]
Do you remember those days hanging out at the village green?
Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans
Oh, you drop a dime in the box play the song about New Orleans
Cold beer, hot lights, my sweet romantic teenage nights{/Quote]
‘Those Were The Days, My Friend’
Mary Hopkins
Those were the days, my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
John “Cougar” Mellencamp’s song “Cherry Bomb”:
*That’s when a smoke was a smoke
And groovin’ was groovin’ … *
Or Bruce Springsteen’s song “Growin’ Up”:
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd
When they said “sit down”, I stood up!
Oooh - Growin’ up
Don Henley’s song, The End of the Innocence
Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn’t have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standing by
As much as I love that song, it’s more a song about the grim, grey, awkward reality of teenage-dom, and of losing your childish dreams. It’s not exactly a fondly nostalgic look backward.
Another bleak, “look back in anguish”-type song would be “the Boys of Summer” by Don Henley. Not to mention “Footprints in the Frost” by Squeeze.
Anyway, for more cheerier songs -
“Summer Days” Chad & Jeremy
“Oh, What a Night” by…I don’t think I ever knew who recorded this song.
“Summertime” originally written by Gershwin, covered by multitudes including Janis Joplin.
Corn nuts! Even as I hit ‘submit’, I realized I got the wrong title.
That should be “A Summer Song” by Chad & Jeremy.
Carry on, then…
"Oh What A Night’
The Dells did it in '69.
Four Seasons did an up beat version. Don’t remember the year.
For a humorous take on the subject, Springsteen’s “Glory Days”.
Your confusion is understandable. Various sources say December 1963 (Oh What A Night) was by Frankie Valli, others say it was Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and yet others credit it to The Four Seasons. Many sites also call the song “Oh, What A Night” (notice the comma).
As I best recall, the song came out in 1975 or 1976.
Also, Wycleff Jean recorded a song, “Oh What A Night” as well, and it even icluded part of the prior song:
“Oh, what a night
Late December, 1993 (what happened?)
Who thought he would rule the industry?
What an MC on the grind”
In this example, only two lines (the first two) were from the original hit.
“Distant Shores” too.
Sixteen Blue - The Replacements (Let It Be)
How about Alright by Supergrass:
An upbeat, fun song that captures the carefree spirit of youth (sigh).
Most of you will know this, but for the avoidance of doubt - “fag” is British slang for “cigarette”.