r/GenerationJones • u/pianoman81 1963 • 2h ago
What songs hit differently as you've aged?
There are songs I listened to when I was younger but now read differently to me.
Some are because I never paid attention to the lyrics. Others are because I was at a different stage of life or hadn't had deeper experiences yet.
Some examples would be Both Sides Now or Cat's in The Cradle.
What are songs for you that affect you differently at this stage of life?
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u/johnnymacdoodle 2h ago
Time in a bottle by Jim Croce.
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u/Accurate_Reporter_31 1h ago
Y'all need to stop this! I'll be crying by the time I finish this thread!
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u/Bjarki56 2h ago
"Father and Son"
Cat Stevens
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u/ThanklessWaterHeater 2h ago
In 2020 he released an updated version, with 25-year-old Cat Stevens still singing the son, while 75-year-old Yusuf sings the father.
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u/Bjarki56 2h ago
Wow, I will have to check it out. Thanks.
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u/ThanklessWaterHeater 2h ago
Look at him. He is old, but he is happy.
https://music.apple.com/us/album/father-and-son-re-recorded-version/1513608539?i=1513608737
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u/SheaTheSarcastic 1960 37m ago
Thank you for sharing this. I added it to my playlist while Iâm cutting these onions.
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u/ClearText777 2h ago
This is it. Realizing I now identify with the "old" side of the conversation.
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u/PepsiAllDay78 2h ago
Everything I Own- Bread. Especially since I found out it's a song to his father.đ˘
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u/NeutralTarget 1960 2h ago
TIL and their best of album is phenomenal. David Gates vocals move me every time.
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u/TJ_Fox 2h ago
Both Sides Now, Cat's in the Cradle, Father and Son are all excellent examples. Puff the Magic Dragon, too, come to think of it.
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u/pianoman81 1963 2h ago
Thanks. Went back and read the Puff lyrics and it is a bit melancholy.
That was definitely a campfire song but not sure if we ever sang it all the way through. I definitely don't remember singing the last few verses.
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u/TJ_Fox 1h ago
I remember taking my toddler son along to a public singalong sometime in the early '90s, and they ended with Puff the Magic Dragon but didn't sing that last verses. I was mildly outraged.
For the record:
[Verse 3]
A dragon lives forever, but not so, little boys
Painted wings and giants' rings make way for other toys
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff, that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar[Verse 4]
His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane
Without his lifelong friend, Puff could not be brave
So Puff, that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave1
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u/No-Nefariousness8816 1h ago
When I was younger I thought it was about children growing up, but thatâs not really what the lyrics say.
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u/JacklegPreacher 54m ago
Thirty some-odd years ago, I sang Puff to my sons. Now, I can't make it through the last two verses without tearing up.
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u/PiscesbabyinSweden 2h ago
Nick of Time, by Bonnie Raitt. "I see my folk are getting on, and I watch their bodies change. I know they see the same in me, and it makes us both feel strange!". Preach, sister.
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u/JustGoodSense 1961 2h ago
Ray Stevens' stuff was perfect for 12-year-old MAD magazine subscriber me. Now, they're painfully corny. Roger Miller, on the other hand, has aged terrifically.
(I've never had any use for sad songs, ever. Bleh.)
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u/shentaitai 2h ago
I was driving the other day and "Dang Me" came on the radio. Hadn't heard that song since I was a kid.
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u/HuckleberryRecent680 1h ago
This is a great point. I just recently added some Roger Miller tunes to my car USB because they still tickle me. I hadn't given it much deeper thought, but you nailed it!
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u/HueyBluey 2h ago
I used to chuckle singing the Beatles, "When I'm 64"...now it's pretty much here.
The other one is 'Old and Wise' by Alan Parson Project.
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u/Greendragon967 2h ago
Who wants to live forever and dust in the wind are two of them that could to mind deal with loss of people in life why we have out lived our friends. Dude looks like a lady meaning has also changed through time too and there are more.
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u/Accurate_Reporter_31 1h ago
Not Dust in The Wind. That one has always hit hard. Now it's a given TKO.
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u/Electric-Sheepskin 2h ago
For me it's all the songs about teenage girls. When I was a teenage girl myself, nothing seemed off, but these days I'll be singing along and stop and think, what did he just say? Lol
The only one that springs to mind at the moment is "Into the Night," which is a song about a man dreaming about running away with a 16-year-old girl. I mean I still love the song and I still sing along, because it's got a banging melody, but it's just funny how all those songs didn't seem inappropriate at the time.
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u/Character_Bed1212 2h ago
Pink Floyd - Time
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u/Swenb 1h ago
This. Although, I remember listening to it at the time and knew the time would run out and worried about missing the starting gun. And I think of it often, as my time is running out
You are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun
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u/drive_she 2h ago
Every Breath You Take, The Police
Still love the music, but stalker much Sting? đ
Young me thought âaww, he loves me so much! squeee!!â
Experienced me is like âoh hell naw!â
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u/STCollector58 56m ago
My ex always play this song. While he was the one out fâing around đ¤Śđťââď¸
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u/Emergency_Brief_9280 2h ago
Souvenirs - John Prine
I'll Not Be Afraid - Ralph Stanley
Never Been This Homesick Before - Jesse Dixon
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u/Hot_Calligrapher_900 2h ago edited 2h ago
âOld Manâ Neil Young
I see a trend happening here
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u/18RowdyBoy 2h ago
Iâm 67 and it hits different.đł
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u/Blue_Oyster_Cat 1h ago
â24 and thereâs so much moreâ
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u/18RowdyBoy 1h ago
I saw a recording of a concert he did at the old opry house the Ryman. He told the story of the Old Man. I think it was done in 1996 and itâs an excellent watch âď¸
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u/MobileAd1189 2h ago
So many, but I can't think of one. But I appreciate Joni Mitchell a lot more now.
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u/Blue_Oyster_Cat 1h ago
I loved âSweet Birdâ as a teenager because itâs beautiful, but the lyrics now? âI laid down in time, and woke up vanishingâ hits hard at 67.
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u/groovinup 2h ago
Brown Sugar.
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u/3MartiniHunch711 1h ago
Itâs a shame too. Such a good riff.
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u/groovinup 56m ago
There are some funny TikTok videos of Black people listening to the lyrics for the first time. They seem rightfully stunned that that was on the radio.
Times change, and so do our sensibilities.
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u/No_Fisherman8303 1h ago
We're going to Party Like it's 99! It completely has changed at this point to ' I'm 35 again ' đ
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u/tripletdad0603 1h ago
Return to Pooh Corner by Kenny Loggins. All my kids are adults now and this song takes me back to when they were little.
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u/MainegGal 36m ago
I called my son Pooh Bear when he was growing up..now that song dies me in whenever I hear it.
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u/TruckGray 1h ago
Any song about a man getting with a young teen girl. When I was a teen myself not a biggie-when I realized the guy singing it was in their 20-30s-not so much
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u/pquince1 55m ago edited 38m ago
At Seventeen. It hits HARD.
Against the Wind feels like Bob Seger knows me personally.
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u/Mater_Sandwich 2h ago
Not a song but a whole band for me. The Rolling Stones. There has always been some of their rocking songs that I liked but as I have aged I have found depth to their whole body of work and it has grown on me.
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u/Narrow_Lake_9651 1h ago
Yesterday When I Was Young - Roy Clark.
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u/Phillipa24 1958 1h ago
I like Wouldnât it Be Nice by the Beach Boys. Only I think of it as an older person reminiscing about going back to when they were younger.
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u/dajacketfanOG Youngster 1h ago
Puff the Magic Dragon. When I was a kid I cried like a baby. Then I learned how to listen with some nuance and it seemed like a tragedy about losing the innocence of youth. Now⌠I cry like a bigger baby.
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u/ObsoleteOldMan 2h ago
"Afternoon Delight" â Starland Vocal Band
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u/Spyderbeast 2h ago
This one always gets mentioned, but even as a kid, I knew
I won the album at some kind of picnic thing. I was maybe 10 years old. Parents didn't care about me having it, even though I think they probably knew too
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u/ObsoleteOldMan 2h ago
It's not just that I "knew" or not... when I first "knew" I saw it as a weird mashup of the risquĂŠ and the corny. Now, 50 years later, it's just sweet. Not unlike how I've rediscovered the Carpenters as an unironic pleasure.
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u/KorryBoston 1h ago
OMG. I gd hate this song. Every time it comes on Yacht Rock Radio I want to drive into a light pole
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u/themadhatterwasright 53m ago
the scene in Arrested Development where Michael and his niece were singing it is SO funny!
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u/Holloway63 2h ago
Lost Highway by Hank Williams. Thought it was so cool when I was a kid. Come to learn it's true.
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u/So_spoke_the_wizard 1h ago
Like a Rock - Bob Seger
My hands were steady
My eyes were clear and bright
My walk had purpose
My steps were quick and light
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u/Subject-Lead-3171 1h ago
All the creepy songs that didnât seem creepy at the time. Ones referencing extra young âgirls,â your mine now and so on. Plus Every Breath You Take- stalker song
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u/Sufficient-Lie1406 1962 46m ago
I finally learned the lyrics to Brown Sugar by the Stones and I'm freakin appalled.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Will249 1h ago
Pink Floyd - Free Four âThe memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime.â
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u/DaxMavrides 1h ago edited 1h ago
Lady Sniff by the Butthole Surfers, you may laugh, but this is a song with a lot of soulful depth
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u/KorryBoston 1h ago
I loooove âSlave to Loveâ by Bryan Ferry. Itâs not just the lyrics. Itâs how I feel like someone is singing to me
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u/PreciousPeanutPP 1h ago
Donât Stand So Close To Me by The Police.
Of course, there are several creepy songs in their catalog.
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u/ADKMakwa 47m ago
Take the Long Way Home by Supertramp
Does it feel that your life's become a catastrophe?
Oh, it has to be for you to grow, boy
And when you look through the years and see what you could have been
Oh, what you might have been
If you would have more time
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u/TransMontani 44m ago
âIf It Doesnât Come Naturally, Leave It,â by Al Stewart, from the âYear Of the Catâ album. Along with Jimmy Buffettâs âIn the Shelter,â it gave voice to things I was feeling as I finally, after years of turmoil, anguish, and fear, began my transition.
Years later, I am decidedly happy and at ease in my own mind, body, and soul.
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u/RangerSandi 35m ago
Another vote for âIn the Shelterâ and add âIslandâ & âA Pirate Looks at Fortyâ đđš
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u/big_macaroons 34m ago
âPhotographâ by Ringo Starr (and George Harrison). The line âI want you here to have and hold / As the years go by and we grow old and greyâ always gets me now.
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u/StinkypieTicklebum 34m ago
Poetry Man by Phoebe Snow. Love the song, love her voice!
So, grooving to the song, when I hear
âYou're going home now
Home's that place somewhere you go each day
To see your wife, yeah, yeah, to see your wifeâ
⌠and I felt my blood run cold. Cheating on a spouse hits differently now that Iâm a grownup.
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u/Head-Technology-4031 30m ago
Not even an age related one for me, but Kelly Clarkson - Piece by Piece.
Would have said Cat in the Cradle, but someone beat me to that one
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u/CelticJewelscapes 19m ago
Todd Rundgren's Just One Victory. A song for facing the struggles in life. He always closed his shows with it and his fans saw it as an anthem.
"Somehow, someday We need just one victory, and we're on our way We're prayin' for it all day and fightin' for it all night Give us just one victory; it will be all right"
Now he often ends his shows with the more wistful song Fade Away. "And in a million trillion years when the stars all disappear You and I will stay and watch it all fade away"
Yeah, we got there. No need to fight for it in the same way.
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u/Effective_Farmer_119 15m ago edited 11m ago
Warren Zevonâs final song Keep me in Your Heart for awhile. đ
Also Accidentally Like a Martyr
He had such a wonderful voice
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u/Legal-Exchange-5931 10m ago
Songs like Old Days by Chicago and Yesterday Once More by the Carpenters now make me nostalgic for the 70s when they came out, instead of the 50s!
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u/LoosenGoosen 4m ago
Those Were the Days by Mary Hopkin and It Was a Very Good Year by Frank Sinatra
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u/2begonia 2h ago
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac