Songs where the singer says how old they are...

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There's a bunch of these:

Bruce Springsteen: My Hometown
"I'm 35, we got a boy of our own now"

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:48 (eighteen years ago)

Pretenders, "Middle of the Road"

"I'm not the [one?--I can't remember] I used to be/I've got a kid, I'm 33, baby."

― dylan (dylan), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:53 (eighteen years ago)

The first two lines of Billy Bragg's "A New England" not only mention age, but also present some odd questions about the ontology of songwriting:

I was 21 years when I wrote this song
I'm 22 now but I won't be for long

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:54 (eighteen years ago)

"I was only 16 but that was no excuse/my sister was 32, lovely, and loose"

Prince, "Sister"

(I know it's a stretch but I had to)

― Davey D (Dave Depper), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:54 (eighteen years ago)

Alice Cooper's "Eighteen" was the first to spring to mind...

― Bob McNichol (bmcnee), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:55 (eighteen years ago)

The Stooges - 1969

― M. Biondi (M. Biondi), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:55 (eighteen years ago)

Also, speaking as an old person, nothing pisses me off more than this one Red House Painters song -- called "24," I think? -- that's all like "I'm 23 ... and I've got 24 breathing down my neck." Aww, poor you, you'll be allowed to rent a car soon, ya whiny little dick.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:55 (eighteen years ago)

All versions of "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," I suppose, though probably you're thinking of songs in which the singer reveals his or her actual age at the time of composition as opposed to character songs.

― dylan (dylan), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:57 (eighteen years ago)

"yeah, life begins at forty,
age is just a state of mind.
Well, if all that's true
you know that I've been dead for thirty-nine."

John Lennon, "Life Begins at 40"

AKA the saddest and most ironic song ever

― Davey D (Dave Depper), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:57 (eighteen years ago)

ciara - bang it up ("what's the deal, i'm 21, i'm legal hey and i'm free to run")
sugababes - angels with dirty faces ("see i'm only 17 and i wanna be mysterious")

― antidote against poisoning (lex pretend), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:59 (eighteen years ago)

Bo Diddley announced he was "just 22 and don't mind dyin" in "Who Do You Love?"
Dylan sang "She's turning me into an old man and I'm not even 25"
Jarivs Cocker sang "A man told me to beware of 33"

― sexyDancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:00 (eighteen years ago)

Neil Young:

"Old man look at my life,
Twenty four
and there's so much more"

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:03 (eighteen years ago)

Goodie Mob - "Sesame Street"

Thirteen-and-a-half years old
Standin' at the bus stop, alone in the cold

― Bernard Snowy (sixteen sergeants), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:04 (eighteen years ago)

"[backup singers](You were a mere lad of sixteen/I've aged a year since then" –from Sam Cooke's "Only Sixteen," but that’s another character song.

Also, the "way past 21" line in "I'm a Man"/"Mannish Boy," maybe not specific enough, though.

― dylan (dylan), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:06 (eighteen years ago)

I think it was made clear that's he's been a man since "the age of 5"

― sexyDancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:07 (eighteen years ago)

KISS, "Goin' Blind": "I'm 93, you're 16"

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:07 (eighteen years ago)

half one's age plus eight that is not

― sexyDancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:08 (eighteen years ago)

"I'M 23 NOW BUT WILL I LIVE TO SEE 24 THE WAY THINGS IS GOIN I DON'T KNOW"

― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:10 (eighteen years ago)

i thought he was still a boy but with much vitality in his pocket.

― dylan (dylan), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:10 (eighteen years ago)

I'm 28 - Toni Basil

― Johnney B English (stigoftdump), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:11 (eighteen years ago)

xpost: I always figured the "something" in his pocket was fully-functional at 5.

― sexyDancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:14 (eighteen years ago)

"19 And Mad" - Leyton Buzzards

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:18 (eighteen years ago)

"I'm 21, I'm scared as hell, I quit school, I'm as healthy as a horse. Because of all that I'll be the first one to die in a war." Uncle Tupelo, "Train" (sung by Jeff Tweedy; ah Gulf War I dread)

― Euler (Euler), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:23 (eighteen years ago)

-- nabisco (--...), February 9th, 2007. (nabisco) (link)

This is a direct quotation of the first two lines from 'Leaves that are Green' off of this album:
http://www.zero.co.nz/music/images/Simon%20&%20Garfunkel%20-%20Sounds%20Of%20Silence.jpg

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:24 (eighteen years ago)

i love that S&G song

destroyer said something about the temporary age of 24 on streethawk album

soft machine "free white and 21" etc

― 69 (plsmith), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:28 (eighteen years ago)

Now I'm only 32, and all I wanna do
Is Boogaloo

I'm the Greatest by Ringo Starr, written by John Lennon

― Fjord Spellman (fjord), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:33 (eighteen years ago)

16 Clumsy and Shy
I went to London and I
Booked myself into the Y
WCA

Half A Person - The Smiths

― Fjord Spellman (fjord), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:33 (eighteen years ago)

wasn't the dude from blink 182 pushing 30 when "what's my age again" was all about being 23?

― Alex in Baltimore (Alex in Baltimore), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:37 (eighteen years ago)

If we can count found dialogue, Butthole Surfers - 22 Going On 23.

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:40 (eighteen years ago)

Sonic Youth pull similar tricks in "Protect Me You"
first Kim is ten, then fourteen, sixteen and eighteen

― sexyDancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 9 February 2007 19:41 (eighteen years ago)

ODB: "I came outta' my mother's pussy, I'm on welfare, I'm 26 years old... l'm still on welfare..."

― killa bee (killabee), Friday, 9 February 2007 21:10 (eighteen years ago)

Minor Threat - Guilty of Being White

"I'm a convict of a racist crime/I've only served 19 years of my time"

― La Monte (La Monte), Friday, 9 February 2007 21:27 (eighteen years ago)

"I'm just 21 and I don't mind dyin'" (Who Do You Love Bo Diddley)

"No new tale to tell 26 years on my way to hell" (Wish NIN)

"A decade ago I never thought I would be 23 on the verge of spontaneous combustion woe is me" (Pardon Me Incubus)

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Friday, 9 February 2007 21:28 (eighteen years ago)

Guns N' Roses--Estranged

"Old at heart, and I'm only 28"

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Friday, 9 February 2007 21:32 (eighteen years ago)

Alkaline Trio - "My Standard Break From Life"

"I try to leave a good impression
But it's hard when my obsession's in a pint glass
And when you're only 23
It's not attractive to complain about your sore back"

― jonviachicago (jonviachicago), Friday, 9 February 2007 21:52 (eighteen years ago)

Son, I'm 30
I only went with your mother cos she's dirty

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Friday, 9 February 2007 21:57 (eighteen years ago)

I'm only 19 but my mind is old

― Jackson Boxer (JacksonB), Friday, 9 February 2007 22:11 (eighteen years ago)

Baby's gone but there'll be more, I'm only 23
(That's OK Martin)

― Ian Edmond (ianedmond), Friday, 9 February 2007 22:14 (eighteen years ago)

She's pullin' at the lever
She's starin' at my bulge
I'm 24 now
I got a nice cock...

The Suburbs "Cig Machine"

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Friday, 9 February 2007 22:31 (eighteen years ago)

I notice scott w00ds has been posting today, so I'd better give credit-where-due when quoting his and/or Phil Dellio's lyrics to the figmentary Stooges classic "1973": "Last year I was 25/Got to meet the Jackson 5/Now I'm gonna be 26/Gonna set my sights on Styx"

― Myonga Vön Bontee (Monty Von Byonga), Saturday, 10 February 2007 00:52 (eighteen years ago)

Trashcan Sinatras "Obscurity Knocks"- something in the chorus about how he'd turned 21...but it's been so long since I've heard it, I could be wrong

― Morley Timmons (Donna Brown), Saturday, 10 February 2007 01:00 (eighteen years ago)

Rimmer off tv really, though sampled by ~~Tom's~~ ILX patron subsaints The Carter:

When you're younger you can eat what you like, drink what you like and still climb into your 28-inch waist trousers and zip them closed.

But then you reach that age.
24.
25.
Your muscles give up and wave a little white flag without any warning at all

and you're suddenly a fat bastard.

(cue 1992 festival pandemonium)

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Saturday, 10 February 2007 01:11 (eighteen years ago)

"And I just turned 22. I was wonderin' what to do...

Neil Young "Powerderfinger"

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Saturday, 10 February 2007 01:32 (eighteen years ago)

pretty much every bloody song on that Long Blondes album... why she's so hung up on ageing I don't know, the bassist is clearly the real fox in the band.

― about:coffee (fandango), Saturday, 10 February 2007 01:39 (eighteen years ago)

"I'm bitter, I'm twisted
James Joyce is fucking my sister
How can I remember 1690?
I was born in 1965"

Therapy, "Potato Junkie"

― Si.C@rter (SiC@rter), Saturday, 10 February 2007 01:42 (eighteen years ago)

"I'm picking up the habit of drinking long before four
When July is gone, I'll be 24"

The Promise Ring, "Jersey Shore"

― lindseykai (lindseykai), Saturday, 10 February 2007 02:12 (eighteen years ago)

this September I'll be 26 years old
& El's the only one besides my dad
who's ever said I love you Creedence

Casiotone FTPA, "I Love Creedence." So tweemo, I was really obsessed with this song for a while.

― 31g (31g), Saturday, 10 February 2007 02:17 (eighteen years ago)

In sixty-five I was seventeen and running up one-o-one [...]
In sixty-nine I was twenty-one and I called the road my own
- Jackson Browne, "Running On Empty"

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Saturday, 10 February 2007 02:46 (eighteen years ago)

pete townshend, "slit skirts": "i was just 34 years old/and i was still wandering in a haze"

cheap trick, "daddy should have stayed in high school": "i'm 30 but i feel like 16/i might even be your daddy"

― Lawrence the Looter (Lawrence the Looter), Saturday, 10 February 2007 02:53 (eighteen years ago)

The first two lines of Billy Bragg's "A New England" not only mention age, but also present some odd questions about the ontology of songwriting:
I was 21 years when I wrote this song
I'm 22 now but I won't be for long
-- nabisco (--...), February 9th, 2007. (nabisco) (link)
This is a direct quotation of the first two lines from 'Leaves that are Green' off of this album:

-- the table is the table (meltingglacier...), February 9th, 2007.

Bragg acknowledged it eventually, but not at the time.

― David A. (Davant), Saturday, 10 February 2007 04:40 (eighteen years ago)

"Everyday make a fine loaf of bread
And after work just before sunset
You hang down to the city park
There you're alone with the burbs in the dark

And I've seen other people do that too
But they're older than your twenty-two
They lost hope and soon they'll be gone
They'll just vanish with the setting sun"

Jens Lekman: 'When i said i wanted to be your dog'

― Tim Lucas (Piano Fire (Tim Lucas)), Saturday, 10 February 2007 08:42 (eighteen years ago)

Whats that song that was on a couple commercials and its like a guy living throught different ages in his mind imagining how it would be with his wife? I know it was like for a credit card commercial and I heard it in a store once....

im 32 for a moment...etc

― wesley useche (electronicmaji), Saturday, 10 February 2007 08:51 (eighteen years ago)

"When I was seventeen (tell us about it Green)"

― It's Tough to Beat Illious (noodle vague), Saturday, 10 February 2007 11:45 (eighteen years ago)

"I Was 37, she was 17" ("Come Live With Me" - Heaven 17)
In reality, Glenn Gregory was no more than 25 in 1983 though.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 10 February 2007 15:19 (eighteen years ago)

"4+20" by Stephen Stills: "Four and twenty years ago I come into this life/the son of a woman and a man who lived in strife"

― shookout (shookout), Saturday, 10 February 2007 18:55 (eighteen years ago)

Shouldn't this thread be called "Songs where the singer says how old they are... but they're invariably lying"?

Dexy's Midnight Runners, Tell Me When My Light Turns Green

"Seen quite a bit in my 23 years..."

― Tom D. (Dada), Sunday, 11 February 2007 13:47 (eighteen years ago)

That lyric from "Daddy Should Have Stayed In High School" is great, especially since they rhyme it with "I'm dirty but my body is clean."

― John Fredland (jfredland), Sunday, 11 February 2007 15:47 (eighteen years ago)

"Bragg stated that Simon and Garfunkel had a strong influence on him, and that he took the line from their song intentionally."

What? Like we all thought it was an accident or something?

― everything, Wednesday, 21 February 2007 20:45 (eighteen years ago)

steve bent/the fall, "i'm going to spain"

― andrew m., Wednesday, 21 February 2007 21:02 (eighteen years ago)

2 more Ringo Star

When I'm 64

You're sixteen, you're beautiful and you're mine

oh and

She was just seventeen, you know what I mean (I saw here standing there - Beatles)

― roger whitaker, Thursday, 22 February 2007 02:38 (eighteen years ago)

Sorry - got excited - last 2 dont count do they?

― roger whitaker, Thursday, 22 February 2007 02:40 (eighteen years ago)

"I was only 16 but that was no excuse/my sister was 32, lovely, and loose"

Prince, "Sister"

(I know it's a stretch but I had to)

That's what he said!

― Hurting 2, Thursday, 22 February 2007 06:04 (eighteen years ago)

I was gonna say the S&G one, but I saw someone beat me to it. But no one anyone else was gonna mention this one:

KIM

I'm seventeen, and I'm new here today
the village I come from seems so far away
all of the girls know much more what to say
but I know
I have a heart like the sea
a million dreams are in me

CHRIS

Good Jesus, John, who is she?

(Miss Saigon)

― Mordechai Shinefield, Thursday, 22 February 2007 07:18 (eighteen years ago)

"so hard to believe that he only 19"
- sardonic computer lyric in Hrvatski's "Vatstep DSP" remix of Kid 606.

― raven, Thursday, 22 February 2007 07:53 (eighteen years ago)

Grateful Dead, "Ship of Fools": " . . . it makes me wild / With 30 years upon my head, to have you call me 'child'"

― Vornado, Thursday, 22 February 2007 14:37 (eighteen years ago)

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Twenty-Nine

― Mike Dixn, Thursday, 22 February 2007 15:23 (eighteen years ago)

"I'm 19 and classed in my own set"

MC Tunes on 'The Only Rhyme That Bites'

― blueski, Thursday, 22 February 2007 15:55 (eighteen years ago)

4th of July
Lucy in sky
I remember palm trees and the coat of many colors
I was nineteen
I'd do anything
Shit like that now scares me but I'd like to do it again

- 311, "Homebrew"

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 22 February 2007 16:03 (eighteen years ago)

bright eyes
"landlocked blues"

'the world's got me dizzy again, you'd think after 22 years i'd be used to the spin'

rufus wainwright
"Vicious World"

'just wait and see when you turn 23
oh lord what have i done to myself
in this vicious world'

― NateCole, Thursday, 22 February 2007 20:06 (eighteen years ago)

Jonathan Richman is not yet three:

"You think I should be fading now
That's because I'm not yet three
But my strength still ain't abating now
I'm stronger than you
You're simply bigger than me"

― everything, Thursday, 22 February 2007 21:13 (eighteen years ago)

The Hold Steady - Stevie Nix

"She got screwed up by her visions, it was scary when she saw 'em/She didn't tell a single person about the camps on the banks of the Mississippi River/Lord, to be 17 forever/She got strung out on the scene and she got scared when it got druggy/The way the whispers bit like fangs in the last hour of the party/Lord, to be 33 forever"

― stephen, Thursday, 22 February 2007 23:46 (eighteen years ago)

She was 31 and I was 17,
I knew nothing about love, she knew everything,
When I saw down beside her on the front porch swing,
And wondered what the coming night would bring.

Summer (the first time)
Bobby Goldsboro

― roger whitaker, Thursday, 22 February 2007 23:59 (eighteen years ago)

16 years old with a heart that's gold - Nutcracker, Words from the Nutcracker.

25, don't recall a time I felt this alive - Boo Radleys, Wake Up, Boo

― Aerial Telly, Friday, 23 February 2007 00:40 (eighteen years ago)

also - "Baby's gone but there'll be more, I'm only 23. My hair is thin, my size is large, what have I done to me? "

― the next grozart, Friday, 23 February 2007 10:55 (eighteen years ago)

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