# What are some songs about being 21? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538 "2007-08-22T19:17:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frozen\_Fish\_Sticks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@Frozen\_Fish\_Sticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frozen_Fish_Sticks)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/1 "2007-08-22T19:17:49Z")
I think the thread title is pretty clear. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/2 "2007-08-22T19:37:44Z")
“It sucks to be under 21” - Real Big Fish I’m sure I’m missing some obvious ones but the rest i can think of are about 16 and 17 ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/3 "2007-08-22T19:40:40Z")
I listened to Cranberries - 21 almost all day on my 21st birthday. I dont even know if that’s what the song is about… but it was kind of melancholy and so was I. o/` twenty one.. twenty one.. today... today.. o/` ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/4 "2007-08-22T19:41:51Z")
“It Was a Very Good Year” is about being seventeen, twenty-one and thirty-five. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/5 "2007-08-22T19:46:23Z")
**Jackson Browne**'s “Running on Empty” contains the line “In '69 I was 21”. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/6 "2007-08-22T19:47:35Z")
Dashboard Confessional (forget the name of the song): We’re not 21. But the sooner we are the sooner the fun will begin So get out your fake eyelashes, Your fake IDs and real disasters, and grow up fast. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/7 "2007-08-22T19:47:50Z")
If you are 21 You can have a lot of fun Now I’m gonna be 22 I say oh my and a-boo-hoo Iggy, “1969,” okay? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/8 "2007-08-22T19:50:26Z")
“I was 21 years when I wrote this song, I’m 22 now but I won’t be for long” - Billy Bragg, _A New England_ ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/9 "2007-08-22T20:20:28Z")
**Mama Couldn’t Be Persuaded** by Warren Zevon _…she was twenty-one or two and she knew what she wanted she wanted that gamblin’ man_ **Someday Soon** by Ian Tyson _There’s a young man that I know His age is twenty one He comes from down in southern Colorado_ **Galveston** by Glen Campbell _She was 21 when I left Galveston_ ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/10 "2007-08-22T20:21:42Z")
_21 and Over_ - **The Romantics** (from _National Breakout_) ---
**Author:** ![Frozen\_Fish\_Sticks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@Frozen\_Fish\_Sticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frozen_Fish_Sticks)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/11 "2007-08-22T20:45:31Z")
Thanks for the responses, you guys are quick! But are these songs about being 21 or just have a few lines in them that mention being 21? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/12 "2007-08-22T20:56:04Z")
“And I turned 21 in prison, doin’ life without parole No one could steer me right, but mama tried, mama tried Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleadin’ I denied That leaves only me to blame cause mama tried.” - “Mama Tried,” Waylon Jennings "Now when I was a little boy, At the age of five, I had somethin in my pocket, Keep a lot of folks alive. Now Im a man, Made twenty-one, You know baby, We can have a lot of fun. Im a man, I spell m-a-n…man." - “I’m a Man,” Bo Diddley ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/13 "2007-08-22T21:25:49Z")
Anthem, Blink-182 “But good things come to those who wait, 'cause she laid me And mom and dad possess the key, instant slavery No need to explain the plan, no need to even bother I’ll pack my bags, I swear I’ll run, wish my friends were 21” ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/14 "2007-08-22T21:31:38Z")
When I was twenty-one it was a very good year It was a very good year for city girls who lived up the stair With all that perfumed hair and it came undone When I was twenty-one - Ol’ Blue Eyes ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/15 "2007-08-22T21:33:00Z")
Alice Cooper - _I’m Eighteen_ ---
**Author:** ![Petey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Petey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petey)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/16 "2007-08-22T21:44:43Z")
[QUOTE=Oredigger77] “It sucks to be under 21” - Real Big Fish [/QUOTE] That’s actually “Under 21” by **Save Ferris** ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/17 "2007-08-22T21:45:15Z")
Emiliana Torrini - **Unemployed in Summertime** > [@](#): > > Unemployed in summertime > I’ve only just turned 21, I’ll be OK > Unemployed in summertime > Don’t need money 'cause we’re young ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/18 "2007-08-22T22:01:38Z")
That line always seems like “Only Justin 21”, but I knew it couldn’t be that – thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/19 "2007-08-22T22:13:35Z")
Gordon Lightfoot’s [_Sweet Guinevere_](http://www.actionext.com/names_g/gordon_lightfoot_lyrics/sweet_guinevere.html) is about a girl who’s “a bit pretty, just turned twenty-one”. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538/20 "2007-08-22T22:19:59Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] “I was 21 years when I wrote this song, I’m 22 now but I won’t be for long” - Billy Bragg, _A New England_ [/QUOTE] You mean “Leaves That Are Green” by Simon and Garfunkel 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-about-being-21/416538.md?page=2)