Growing up is a a funny thing.
All those painfully awkward years of growing up, hoping and praying to become a real.live.adult, all becomes one giant dam of nostalgia ready to burst open the moment THAT SONG comes on.
To help bring forth that wave, All Groan Up presents:
The Top 10 Songs About Growing Up
10. Dammit – Blink 182
To kick off this countdown right, we start with the epitome of Groan Up angst, Dammit!
If you didn’t ride in your friend’s Honda through your neighborhood singing this song at the top of your lungs with the windows down while you pictured the girl who sat in front of you in Bio class, chances are you grew up in Siberia where it is too dang cold to attempt such a thing. (Link to Dammit on Amazon)
Dammit Classic Line: Well I guess this is growing up…
9. Young – Kenny Chesney
What’s a nostalgic countdown without some country music? 93% of all country music is about your former girlfriend, old home, childhood dog, etc… (Link to Young by Kenny Chesney)
Young Classic Lines:
Talked a good game when we were out with the guys
But in the back seat we were awkward and shy
Girls were a mystery that we couldn’t explain
And I guess there are some things that are never gonna change ~ Kenny Chesney
8. No Such Thing – John Mayer
You can say what you want about John Mayer, but the dude can write a song. No Such Thing is the first of two JM appearances on the countdown. John, is there no such thing as the real world? (Link to No Such Thing)
I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there’s no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you’ve got to rise above
~ John Mayer
7. Jack and Diane – John Mellencamp
Let’s get a little old-school with the original “Cougar” himself about being young and in love. (Link to Jack and Diane)
Jack and Diane Classic Lines: Hold onto 16 as long as you can. Changes come around real soon make us women and men.
6. Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen
I am lobbying there be a law passed that every countdown has to include The Boss.
Plus this video is a 80’s gem. The Boss and Guy in Pink Bandanna are forever seared in my heart. (Link to Glory Days)
5. Stop This Train – John Mayer
I want to get off and go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know I can’t but honestly won’t someone stop this train
So scared of getting older
I’m only good at being young
So I play the numbers game to find away to say that life has just begun.
~ John Mayer (Link to Stop This Train)
4. Still Fighting It – Ben Folds
Of course Ben Folds is going to have a poignant song about growing up.
Everybody knows
It sucks to grow up
And everybody does
It’s so weird to be back here.
Let me tell you what
The years go on and
We’re still fighting it, we’re still fighting it.
~ Ben Folds (Link to Still Fighting It)
Don’t become a ho-hum adult just trying to get through the day.
Check out Paul Angone’s new book 101 Questions You Need to Ask in Your Twenties and start living on purpose with purpose.
3. Best Day of My Life – George Strait
Dad, this could be the best day of my life
I’ve been dreamin’ day and night ’bout the fun we’ll have
It’s just me and you doin’ what I’ve always wanted to
I’m the luckiest boy alive
This is the best day of my life
~ George Strait (Link to Best Days)
2. Wake Up – Arcade Fire
This song coupled with the movie Where the Wild Things Are propelled it to number two on this countdown. If you don’t get goosebumps watching this trailer, well you my friend need to take a trip to Chuckie Cheese. (Seems like a good place to put childhood in perspective). (Link to Wake Up)
1. In This Diary (Best Days of Our Life) – Ataris
A shout out to my good buddies Josh and Scott, and all the drives we made singing this song at the top of our lungs (that and Whitesnake. But that’s for another countdown). (Link to In This Diary)
Being grown up isn’t half as fun as growing up.
These are the best days of our lives.
The only thing that matters
is just following your heart
and eventually you’ll finally get it right. ~ The Ataris
Now check out the 27 most important books to read in your 20s and the top 35 movies to watch about growing up and becoming an adult.
If you purchase a song through one of these links you’re supporting the fine work here at All Groan Up.
The first times I heard “Welcome to my Life” by Simple Plan and “Vienna” by Billy Joel I cried. They captured what I was feeling exactly, and I have them on my Comfort Music playlist.
Thanks Sarah for those suggestions. I’m actually not familiar with either one so I’ll have to go check them out..
Aw yes…Comfort Music…better than a brownie….
Well…almost…
Nicely done Angone, nicely done.
Great song lineup! For some reason, I always think of “I’ve had the time of my life…” from the movie- Dirty Dancing. Not sure if it goes with the blog theme, but when I hear it, it definitely makes me get that nostalgic feeling of childhood.
I totally agree Naomi!! Great nostalgic memories!!
Hey Naomi, by the way – The Pilot for the new season, New Girl, has an awesome scene of the friends singing this song from Dirty Dancing 😉 You might enjoy!
How about Forever Young by Bob Dylan and When We Were Young by Lucy Schwartz (List in thanks to the soundtrack from Parenthood – another great TV Show!!)
Naomi — Yes great song. Dirty Dancing reminds you of your childhood?? What were you doing growing up… :)…ha..I kid, I kid
Great selection!
On my part, the only one missing was “100 Years” by Five for Fighting.
Cheers!
Jacqui – Thank you for the “100 Years” shout out on top songs about growing up. Definitely one I should’ve included as I remember tearing up watching a commercial where the song was playing.
Great line up Angone! I’m old school. How about “What a drag it is getting old”, by the Rolling Stones?
Lou – Thanks for the old school representation with a Rolling Stones shout out. Definitely a great song to include.
I love vienna by billy joel, It scares me because I run around, trying so hard to grow up to fast. Living life like im already forty disapearing for weeks without telling my parents, and everyday for me is about drugs. Thats how I decide who im going to hang with. Because when I was younger I thought if I did all that stuff i would be an adult, now I pretty much am an adult but Its something I would give back everyday to have my innocents back, and be a 17 year old girl. Instead of being 17 but not having ever been that….
Oh my god, When i heard “never grow up” by taylor swift at a high school concert, I teared up so bad. Many of the parents there cried. I remembered how when I was little I would run around, laugh at everything, and (god, I’m tearing up now)just have no worries. I would wish I could grow up, but now, I wish I hadn’t. Now, there’s all these limitations on what’s polite and what’s weird, and even what’s childish. When I was little, I could do anything and not really have to worry about what other people thought. Oh, the munchkin days. You should add “Never grow up” by taylor swift to this.
This hurt my wee wee
They say youth is wasted on the young, and they re sort of right. We never know how easy we ve got it, how fun the memories will be in retrospect, or how safe and carefree the love feels before we ve had our hearts broken. That s why songs about growing up make us feel so good. It s an instant walk down our own personal memory lanes.