27 Songs About Being 17

“Sexy + 17” by The Stray Cats

Song Year: 1983

The retro vibe that embodied The Stray Cats is on full display in “Sexy + 17,” a song about cutting class to meet up with a girl. She’s, as you can probably guess, 17, and the narrator thinks she’s sexy. She also might have a little bit of a potty mouth.

In addition to skipping school to see her, the narrator also loves hanging out with her on Friday nights, listening to live music, and drinking 25-cent beers. The good old days, indeed.

“Seventeen” by Alessia Cara

Song Year: 2015

Pop wunderkind Alessia Cara wrote “Seventeen” when she was on the cusp of turning 18. It’s a rare instance of someone not longing for the days of youth and innocence long past, but rather knowing that this time in her life is a sweet one, but is ever fleeting.

She explicitly talks about wishing she could stop the march of time and stay the same age. She also recognizes the folly of her younger days, when all she wanted to do was be older.

It’s a sad song about the way so many of us spend so much time thinking that if we could only have this happen or get that job promotion or reach whatever milestone, then life will be perfect. It never is.

“This Year” by The Mountain Goats

Song Year: 2005

We all have tough years from time to time. The narrator in “This Year” recalls the difficulty of his seventeenth year at the hands of an abusive stepfather. To cope, he drinks to excess, uses drugs, and wills himself to make it to the end of that year. Presumably, at 18, he’ll be free of his tormentor.

While many songs about that time in our lives are sweet, loving, and filled with only good memories, this one is a far cry from that.

“Seventeen Forever” by Metro Station

Song Year: 2008

A pretty big hit for Metro Station, “Seventeen Forever” is pretty creepy. The narrator sings to a young girl that she won’t always be seventeen, and the context isn’t that someday she’ll grow up to be a happy, healthy adult. Instead, he’s desperately waiting for her 18th birthday.

But then, as if upon further reflection, he decides that maybe he can get away with it just this once. It’s probably just a story and not an autobiographical confession of skeezy behavior, but yikes.

“Born In Chicago” by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Song Year: 1965

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was a true giant in the world of the blues. These days, most blues bands play more blues-infused music than actual blues. Not these guys.

Using a standard 12-bar blues chord progression, the song weaves a sad tale of a violent upbringing on the wrong side of the tracks in Chicago. But it’s also about the passage of time.

The friends the narrator loses to gun violence throughout the song begin to fall away from memory, making the events even sadder.

“Tree by the River” by Iron & Wine

Song Year: 2011

The rare song that recognizes both the value of the days of youth and the comforts of the present, “Tree by the River” lovingly recalls time spent with a first love. The narrator, though, doesn’t wish for those days to return.

Instead, he remains happy for the experience, but he’s also quite happy with the life he’s gone on to lead as an adult. He’s spending it with a different love, and they’ve built a happy family together.

He doesn't wish for that old life, but he’s curious about what that first love of his is up to today.

“Seventeen” by Stone Cold Fox

Song Year: 2014

“Seventeen” tells of a man who’s lost the woman he loves and spends his time thinking back to those days before adulthood when he had her. He’s certain that no matter who she’s gone on to be with, they can’t love her as he did.

When he was seventeen, the narrator says, he was happy. Now he wanders the streets looking for a new love, but they all pale in comparison to the one he’s lost.

“The Rock Show” by Blink-182

Song Year: 2001

Blink-182’s music has always had a joyous, wreckless feel to it, and what two adjectives better describe our lives at 17?

“The Rock Show” tells the story of a kid who goes to, well, a rock show and falls in love there. Most of us have one of those stories when we were young and impulsive and saw who we thought was The One.

The narrator lost her, but he holds tight to a great memory.

“17” – Kings Of Leon

Song Year: 2008

Admittedly, many of Kings of Leon’s lyrics are mercurial at best. But “17” refers to a 17-year-old Spanish girl who seems wise beyond her years. The narrator has encountered her and presumably fallen for her.

The reference to a bloody mary for breakfast tells us the woman, though young, has enough experience with alcohol to know a good hangover cure. There are also repeated references to brothers, so perhaps the narrator loves her despite her family’s disapproval.

“He’s Seventeen” by The Supremes

Song Year: 1962

The B-side to 1962’s “Your Heart Belongs to Me” is an embodiment of the youth, innocence, and ebullience of early Motown music. The Supremes sing about loving the boy, who’s only a year older than the narrator.

The number of 16-year-olds who know what love is might be small, but maybe it happens. It’s a sweet song that will make all but the sourest listener smile.