Songs About Growing Up and Getting Older

Growing up happens whether you’re ready for it or not. One day you’re in your parents’ kitchen wondering what you’re going to do with your life, and the next you’re the parent in the kitchen wondering where the time went.

These songs about growing up and getting older capture the whole arc — the confusion and the freedom, the nostalgia and the relief, the moments you didn’t know you’d miss until they were already gone. If you’re in graduation season, check out our best graduation songs playlist too.

Highlights From the Playlist

“100 Years” – Five for Fighting

A meditation on the speed of life told through the eyes of someone looking back at every decade. “I’m 15 for a moment, caught in between 10 and 20” is one of the most accurate descriptions of adolescence ever written.

“The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert

A song about going back to the house you grew up in and finding that it holds pieces of you you’d forgotten about. Country music at its most emotionally honest.

“Glory Days” – Bruce Springsteen

The bittersweet truth about nostalgia: the people who peaked in high school are still talking about it decades later. Bruce Springsteen tells this story with warmth and just a hint of sadness.

“Never Grow Up” – Taylor Swift

Written from the perspective of an older Taylor Swift watching her younger self, this song is about the painful irony of growing up — that you can’t appreciate childhood while you’re in it. It tends to hit differently depending on how old you are when you first hear it.

“When We Were Young” – Adele

Adele running into someone from her past and being flooded with the memory of who they both used to be. The emotion in her voice when she sings “we were sad of getting old, it made us restless” is difficult to listen to without feeling it yourself.

“Changes” – David Bowie

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, turn and face the strange.” David Bowie‘s observation that change is both unavoidable and terrifying remains as true now as it was in 1971. And the piano intro still sounds like the beginning of something important.

Songs for Every Stage of Growing Up

• Teenage years: “Teenagers” – My Chemical Romance / “The Middle” – Jimmy Eat World
• Leaving home: “Cat’s in the Cradle” – Harry Chapin / “Castle on the Hill” – Ed Sheeran
• Looking back: “Yesterday” – The Beatles / “The Best” – Tina Turner
• Getting older gracefully: “My Generation” – The Who (ironic edition) / “Forever Young” – Alphaville

Full Playlist: Songs About Growing Up

1. 100 Years – Five for Fighting
2. The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert
3. Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen
4. Never Grow Up – Taylor Swift
5. When We Were Young – Adele
6. Changes – David Bowie
7. Cat’s in the Cradle – Harry Chapin
8. Castle on the Hill – Ed Sheeran
9. Forever Young – Alphaville
10. Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
11. Teenagers – My Chemical Romance
12. Yesterday – The Beatles
13. The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Bob Dylan
14. Old Before I Die – Robbie Williams
15. Grow Up – Paramore
16. Growing Pains – Alessia Cara
17. The Adult – boygenius
18. Vienna – Billy Joel
19. Ordinary World – Duran Duran
20. Younger Now – Miley Cyrus

Spotify Playlist

Check out this playlist by Spotify user Sophia:

This site is dedicated to playlist themes! Have we missed a song that should be included in this playlist? Comment below to share it!