Ages in songs - a piece of complete frippery

The way you repeated 'Leaves That Are Green' was marvellous in its pedantry.

1. 'I'm gonna be / Nineteen forever' - Joe Jackson, 'Nineteen Forever'.

2. 'She looks a little like Jodie Foster: 12 years old with eyes of 35' (Lloyd Cole, 'Wild Orphan').

3. 'Life begins at thirty' - Lloyd Cole, '29'.

4. 'Now That You Are 18' - theaudience, 'Now That You Are 18'.

"At the age of 37, she knew that she would never ride thru Paris in a sportscar with the warm wind in her hair": Marianne Faithfull, Ballad Of Lucy Jordan. When I was 20, I found this line unutterably sad — now it seems silly.

I'm sorry, I can't stop laughing now, mark.

Um, there's that Sex Pistols line "You're only twenty-nine you've got a lot to learn"... is the song "Seventeen"?

And "Seventeen" by the Regents ("Seventeen / And not yet a woman").

"I eat hot dogs / I live on pies / I'm forty-five"... Fiery Jack by the Fall.

"Eighties" by Killing Joke, like "Old" by Dexy's, is a touching account of senior citizenship.

"You act like you're 14 years-old/everything you say is so funny true and mean/I want to be your blow job queen" (Liz Phair, "Flower")

"I've been around the same old scene/my girlfriend Betty, she's just 14" (Iggy Pop, "Dog Food")

"When I was 21, it was a very good year."

"When I was 35, it was a very good year."

Is there another?

Also, from "The Ocean" by Zep:

Now I'm singing all my songs to the girl who won my heart She is only 3 years old and it's a real fine way to start

Oh and a 23...in "23 Strikes Your Out" by All About Chad...it's about getting kicked out by your parents.

Train of thought...there is a 99 in a Kinks song...I think maybe Autumn Almanac..."this is my street and I'm never gonna leave it if I live to be 99" or something like that!

"I was waiting to be 16 when it hit me" - On The City, The Pinefox.

"I remember you at 16, through to 23" - The Wedding Song, Tompaulin.

"We gave up sleep at the age of 17" - My Bag, Lloyd Cole and The Commotions.

"Not to mention her bold intention to keep the bairn, and she's only 17" - Hurley's Having Dreams, Belle and Sebastian.

"I was 21 when I left Galveston" - Galveston, Jimmy Webb.

"24 and there's so much more" - Old Man, Neil Young.

"We buried her at 32" - My Sister, Tindersticks.

"How terribly strange to be 70" - Old Friends, Simon and Garfunkel.

Stray Cats - Sexy+17

DM - Little 15 and Question of Time "now you're only fifteen, and you look good"

"Surprised at 28 to find myself so late / Changing from a boy into a man / I'm starting to feel guilty that nobody has killed me / Early as my stepfather had planned" ('Bishonen' - Momus)

Thank you Tim for reminding me of that Fall lyric. I love the fact that by the time you're 45, that's all that pop has to offer you. I eat hot dogs / I live on pies / I'm forty-five.

Cookie: we forgot about the 12-year-old.

Of course she said she needed someone older and wiser to take care of her. He was older, but as his uniformed Nazi stint showed - not necessarily wiser.

"I learnt the truth at seventeen, that love was meant for beauty queens, And high school girls with clear skinned smiles, who married young and then retired" At Seventeen, Janis Ian.

I think I'd better run along and make some play clothes out of the curtains...

"Speed jive, don't wanna stay alive when you're 25" - Mott The Hoople, All The Young Dudes (surely we've had this one but I couldnt see it)

IS ANYONE COMPILING THESE? I want this for an article. I smell hits, heh heh.

Vixen "Hard 16" - "Soft to the touch but she's seen too much / She's hard 16 / Will her soul run dry by 17?"

Smashed Gladys "17 Goin' On Crazy" - "You're 17 and you're going insane / Meat on the table / Just another horse in the stable."

Kill for Thrills "Paisley Killers" - "I was seven years old, I didn't care at all / My teachers were loaded."

Ted Nugent "Jailbait" - "I don't care if you're just 13 / I just know that you're probably clean."

Jan and Dean 'Baby Talk'

Life begins I'm forty now

Tom T Hall

"And 24 keeps pounding at my door..." - '24', Red House Painters (from an album released when 24 was pounding on *my* door; also featured a track called 'Michael'. It's like, he was articulatin' my pain, man.)

What are we missing, Nick?

1,2,4,6,8 (do we allow 8 and a half?),10,11,20,26,27,31, 34,36,38,39,41-44,46-63,65-69,71-89,91,92,94-98,101-

"Though my old man's a dustman he's got an 'eart of gold. He got married recently, though he's 86 years old."

Come on - there must be songs with those missing 20s and 30s ages. If you don't come up with them soon I'll have to commission them from the pinefox...

20 : "J'ai 20 ans, qu'est-ce que j'fais, qu'est-ce que j'fais", Plastic Bertrand "Stop ou encore"

50 : "She was nifty, shifty, she looked about 50", Rolling Stones, live "The Spider and The Fly" from Stripped

So that's 57. And here's 10: I've looked at the thread and I can't see the following, but can't believe no-one's noted it already. "At the age of ten / She looked like Greta Garbo / And I loved her then / But how was she to know that?" (Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, 'Perfect Skin'). Pinefox, where have you been?

er, "99" by Toto.

"at the tender age of 3, i was plugged to a machine/just to keep my mouth from spouting junk" (Hyperactive by Thomas Dolby)

"Baby's gone, but there'll be more/I'm only 23" - Leaves and Sand "28 but I feel much younger" - Jimmy Webb is God

"I remember when I was 5 and you where 10 boy / You knew that I was shy / You teased and made me cry / But I loved you" - I'm Still Waiting, Diana Ross

"I'm not the cat I used to be, I got a kid, I'm 33 baby" - Middle of the Road - Pretenders

"25" by Veruca Salt

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, "I Love Rock and Roll"

Sixteen Candles -- The Crests

When I was five I took a dive.
When I was ten I walked again.
When I was fifteen I kept my motor clean.
When I was twenty I got plenty.
When I was twenty-five......... Veruca Salt

• Yes, I'm cooking for my son and his wife / It's his 30th birthday - Cibo Matto, Shut Up And Eat

10, 14, 16, 18

• Protect me from ravagement / I'm ten years old / I don't know what to do / Protect me myself / I'm fourteen / There's nothing to do / Protect me yourself / I'm sixteen / Protect me from starving / I'm eighteen - Sonic Youth, Protext Me You

Also I can hear Frank Black saying "I was just ___" in my head or something similar, can anyone think of a Pixies song?

"You were only nine years old, And I was barely 10"
- "The Summerhouse", The Divine Comedy.

23 & 24

I'm 23 now but will I live to see 24? The way things are going, I don't know"
- "Gangsta's Paradise", Coolio