These three rock songs from the early 2000s mean all the more now that their target audiences have aged a bit. We’ve all loved these songs for decades, but they start to really hit hard once you can fully understand what these rockers are singing about.
[RELATED: 3 Pop Songs From the 2000s That Will Actually Make You Smarter]
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“Wake Up” — Arcade Fire
“Something filled up / My heart with nothing / Someone told me not to cry / But now that I’m older / My heart’s colder / And I can see that it’s a lie,” the lyrics to Arcade Fire’s 2000s rock song, “Wake Up”, read. The band indeed delivers a sobering wake-up call with this track, marking the transition into adulthood.
The driving rhythm mimics the unrelenting passage of time. The lyrics further drive home that sentiment. “Children, wake up / Hold your mistake up / Before they turn the summer into dust,” the lyrics read. Listening to this track in your youth is a rousing experience, to be sure, but the lyrics only really settle after you have some age to you.
“Times Like These” — Foo Fighters
“It’s times like these you learn to live again / It’s times like these you give and give again / It’s times like these you learn to love again / It’s times like these, time and time again,” the lyrics to Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These” read. This song gets better with age, when the lines in this song really start to take shape in your own life.
“But I, I’m a little divided / Do I stay or run away and leave it all behind,” the lyrics read later on in the song. This is a familiar, cagey feeling that many adults feel every once in a while. Once life starts to get real, the pressure sets in, and this song is a much-needed balm.
“The Middle” — Jimmy Eat World
“It just takes some time / Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride / Everything, everything will be just fine,” are lyrics that hit at any age. But most of us don’t really need them until we’re older. This 2000s rock hit is a comforting hand on the shoulder in times of trouble.
It’s a sonic reminder to pick yourself up, dust off, and realize that feelings are temporary. When we don’t have someone constantly soothing us as adults, this song can step in and fill that role.
(Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
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