3 Coming-Of-Age Rock Classics That Perfectly Capture the Transition From Adolescence to Adulthood

Rock songs speak to our lives. There is likely a song for every situation. But one scenario that continually pops up is growing up. Rock stars love to write about the carefree nature of youth and, at times, the transition out of it. The three classic rock tracks below all perfectly capture the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

“1979” — Smashing Pumpkins

Your teenage years can often feel like limbo, stuck between childhood and adulthood. Many teens feel like they are in a waiting pattern, but there is much life to be lived before the wait for coming-of-age is over. That’s the subject matter of Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979.”

“The street heats the urgency of now / As you see there’s no one around,” the lyrics to this alt-rock song read. The uncomfortable, off-kilter lyrics of this song are married with an equally existential melody. No song has better captured the devastating drama of youth than this one.

“Growin’ Up” — Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen has many songs that are meant to energize rebellious youth, but none are as to the point as “Growin’ Up.” Springsteen tells a story of defiance and hope with this Asbury Park cut, singing, “I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd / but when they said, ‘Sit down,’ I stood up.”

This song has an unmatched sense of nostalgia. It’ll make anyone who listens to it long for simpler days when all that mattered was your own opinion, and you felt like you knew everything. Like Springsteen, the listener will look back and laugh at the ways their lives have changed since growing up.

“In My Life” — The Beatles

Though this Beatles classic could work at any stage of life, the transition into adulthood is our first encounter with life’s shifting tides. Your high school friends fade away as your college friends take shape. Later, your college group spreads out, and you’re left with loneliness and nostalgia only adulthood can produce. “In My Life” is the perfect retrospective rock song to help guide us through those uncomfortable moments when things stop being how they used to be.

“Though I know I’ll never lose affection / For people and things that went before / I know I’ll often stop and think about them,” the lyrics read. This song captures the maturity that comes with adulthood. The notion of leaving behind the past is something only those who have surpassed adolescence can fully understand.

(Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)