8 Iconic Songs About Aging

Laura Grande | December 2nd, 2016

Beautiful songs that find the humour and heartache that come with getting older.

We’re getting older, and it’s unavoidable. And mortality is a theme that pops of frequently in every genre, from rock n’ roll to country and blues.

Picking a favourite is impossible, especially given the wealth of selection out there. So we’ve narrowed it down to a few of the all-time greats.

Here, our favourite songs that help us come to terms with our sense of mortality.

Frank Sinatra
“It Was A Very Good Year” (1965)

Sample lyric: “But now the days grow short / I’m in the autumn of the year / And now I think of my life as vintage wine from fine old kegs.”

Leonard Cohen
“The Darkness” (2012)

Sample lyric: “I got no future / I know my days are few.”

Pink Floyd
“Time” (1973)

Sample lyric: “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.” 

Bruce Springsteen
“Glory Days” (1984)

Sample lyric: “Glory days, well, they’ll pass you by / Glory days, in the wink of a young girl’s eye.”

Dusty Springfield
“Yesterday When I Was Young” (1972)

Sample lyric: “I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out / I never stopped to think what life was all about.”

Rolling Stones
“Time Waits For No One” (1974)

Sample lyric: “Time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me / Time can tear down a building or destroy a woman’s face / Hours are like diamonds, don’t let them waste.”

Neil Young
“Old Man” (1972)

Sample lyric: “I’ve been first and last / Look at how the time goes past / But I’m all alone at last / Rolling home to you.”

Johnny Cash
“We’ll Meet Again” (2002)

Sample lyric: “And would you please say hello / To all the folks that I know / And tell ’em I won’t be long / They’ll be happy to know / That as you saw me go / I was singing this song.”