A Playlist for Growing Up
by Alina Wilson
Part of me really, really doesn’t want to grow up. Who wants bills and taxes and actual responsibilities? Not this girl. I used to think that growing up was mostly a physical thing that came along with a little bit of an identity crisis, but it’s also more than that. Growing up is about opening yourself up to the world, realizing who you are, and seeing the bigger picture.
It’s funny because it’s easy to feel like I’m the only one growing up and questioning who I am. Conceptually, I know that everyone in my chemistry class, everyone in my high school, and maybe even every person, young and old, in the world is growing up. We never really stop. But when growing up is hard and suddenly I feel I’m the only one in the world who’s lost, I have music. So here’s a playlist of my favorite songs about growing up. May it help someone else the same way it’s helped me.
- “In My Life” by the Beatles
- “Bitter Sweet Symphony” by The Verve
- “The Suburbs” by Arcade Fire
- “1979” by the Smashing Pumpkins
- “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus
- “Same Drugs” by Chance the Rapper
- “Coming of Age” by Foster the People
- “Comeback Kid (That’s My Dog) by Brett Dennen
- “Time to Pretend” by MGMT
- “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day
- “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac
- “Forever Young” by Alphaville
- “Growing Up (Sloane’s Song)” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- “Stop This Train” by John Mayer
- “Flowers in Your Hair” by the Lumineers
- “Still Fighting It” by Ben Folds
- “Best Days” by Graham Colton
- “Down in the Valley” by the Head and the Heart
- “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire
- (Just for Funsies) “Here’s to Never Growing Up” by Avril Lavigne
I am plagued with this burden of growing up, as you are, but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It doesn’t have to be a wholly sad thing. It doesn’t have to be a lonely thing. People have written countless novels, sang a plethora of songs, and poured their souls into many poems on the subject. Most importantly, other people are going through the same thing we are. If we reach out to them, we might find someone who shares our struggle and understands.
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