3 Nostalgic Rock Songs From the 1970s That Take You Back to the Era Every Time

Rock and roll in the 1970s, with all its dusty visuals, is ripe for nostalgia. The wistful vibes are right there in the genre name: classic rock. Although nostalgia often distorts our view of an idealized past, what remains clear are these eternal jams that take you back every time.

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“Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith

When I hear the opening notes of “Sweet Emotion”, the first image that comes to mind is of the long-haired stoners in the parking lot of Lee High School in Dazed And Confused. It’s one of the all-time best film opening syncs I can think of. So I imagine, for those who were in high school in the 1970s, Tom Hamilton’s cycling bass line and Joe Perry’s languid talk box might bring back whatever fuzzy memories survived all the … activities.

Talk about things that nobody cares
Wearing out things that nobody wears
You’re calling my name but I gotta make clear
I can’t say, baby, where I’ll be in a year.

“Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen

Ah, Springsteen’s first masterpiece. This is The Boss’s “Good Vibrations”. His wall of sound. And anyone feeling hopeless in a run-down town, the tramps, the losers, the dreamers. To those, this is the tune you want to crank. The hope of the open road. The anywhere but here. But it’s also a love song. A perfect coming-of-age anthem. It was its own kind of highway for The Boss. Forget about the next “Dylan.” Now people wonder where the next Springsteen will come from.

The highway’s jammed with broken heroes
On a last-chance power drive.
Everybody’s out on the run tonight
But there’s no place left to hide.

“Hollywood Nights” by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

There’s something about a Midwest kid landing in Los Angeles. Staring at the Hollywood sign like it holds some kind of secret access to your dreams. Occasionally, you land a break. California has always had a mystery to it. Something to attract those of us not from there. Bob Seger bottles up this emotion, and you can feel its power in “Hollywood Nights”. Just hearing this song makes me want to go back. With a belly full of Trejo’s Tacos, walking the Sunset Strip, and absorbing all its ghosts.

She stood there bright as the sun on that California coast,
He was a Midwestern boy on his own.
She looked at him with those soft eyes, so innocent and blue,
He knew right then he was too far from home.

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