3 Classic Rock Songs for Forgetting the Past and Moving Forward

It’s that time of year. Out with the old and in with the new. As 2024 comes to a close and 2025 arrives, it’s a good time to celebrate endings and all that we’ve lost. Music is the soundtrack to our lives, quite literally, so let’s put together a little playlist that acknowledges the upcoming annual transition with some great songs.

Here below, we wanted to do just that. To showcase three songs that celebrate endings, the past, and moving on. Indeed, these are three classic rock songs for forgetting the past and pushing ahead.

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“Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day from Nimrod (1997)

This acoustic-driven track from Green Day’s 1997 LP Nimrod is about the passing of time and how it’s inescapable. The only way to have any control over the fact that we all get older (and pass away) is to be conscious of the moment and try to make the best of it. So, while the pages of the calendar are turning all the time, we can enjoy the flow, enjoy the passing, replace what we lose with something better. Indeed, lead singer Billy Joe Armstrong sings,

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why
It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It’s something unpredictable
But in the end, it’s right
I hope you had the time of your life

“Yesterday” by The Beatles (Single, 1965)

This song came to Paul McCartney in a dream. It’s about the love he lost, the love he had yesterday. And now he must reconcile what’s slipped through his proverbial fingers. Today, the song is one of The Beatles’ most famous and beloved. It’s another acoustic-driven track on this list and the softness of the production somehow makes the message easier to swallow (and hear). On the offering, the former mop top sings,

Yesterday
All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly
I’m not half the man I used to be
There’s a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly

“Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper from She’s So Unusual (1984)

The chorus of this song highlights time’s march. Not only do the lyrics point to the passing of time but the feel of the song is so nostalgic and melancholy it almost has become a sonic stand-in for sand through the hourglass. On the song, Cyndi Lauper sings about staying loyal and connected to those who mean something to her despite the passing of time. On the tune, she sings emotively,

Lyin’ in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you
Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new
Flashback, warm nights almost left behind
Suitcase of memories
Time after

Sometimes you picture me, I’m walkin’ too far ahead
You’re callin’ to me, I can’t hear what you’ve said
Then you say, “Go slow”, I fall behind
The second hand unwinds

If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting
Time after time
If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, (I’ll be waiting) I will be waiting
Time after time

Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images