5 Songs From 1969 That Will Transport You Back to Your Younger Years

When looking back at our younger years, it’s the expanse of time, not the time itself, that tends to hit the hardest. Our wistful nostalgia is less for the trends and habits (good and bad) we followed in our teens and twenties and more for the years that have seemingly flown by without us being fully aware of them. Music has a way of highlighting that great, scary, exhilarating, and humbling expanse, even if the songs themselves weren’t distinct parts of our lives. Take, for example, these five poignant, reflective, and, in some cases, rebellious songs from 1969 that can transport you back to a younger version of yourself—but with a little more hindsight and clarity this time.

“Both Sides, Now” by Joni Mitchell

When we’re young, it’s easy to assume that things will get easier when we’re older. Once we get old, we realize that we don’t really feel all that much different. On and on the cycle goes into our golden years. Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides, Now” reflects on these paradoxical perspectives in a beautifully moving way. 

“I’ve looked at life from both sides now, from win and lose and still somehow / It’s life’s illusions I recall / I really don’t know life at all.”

“The Puppy Song” by Harry Nilsson

Harry Nilsson’s 1969 hit, “The Puppy Song”, might seem like one of those silly, nonsensical songs that are meant to entertain, not invoke deep introspection. However, if you take a closer look at the lyrics, it’s hard not to become wistful. At face value, the song might be just about a puppy. But the puppy is a placeholder for something that makes us feel seen, loved, and happy. It could be anything.

“Dreams are nothin’ more than wishes / and a wish is just a dream you wish to come true.”

“Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Part of what makes looking back on our younger years so nostalgic is the hindsight that only time and age can provide. It becomes easier to see the ways in which you had to struggle to get to where you are today. CCR’s “Fortunate Son” expands on this idea in the context of war. But in a broader sense, the song is about privilege—and making do without it when necessary. 

“It ain’t me, it ain’t me / I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no / It ain’t me, it ain’t me / I ain’t no fortunate one, no.”

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones

In that same vein of time-gifted hindsight is one of the most iconic songs of the 1960s, let alone just 1969: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones. Life is tough. Sometimes, looking back on our younger years makes us wish that we had done something differently to get different results. This classic Stones track reminds us that everything happens for a reason.

“You can’t always get what you want / But if you try sometimes, well you might find / You get what you need.”

“Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” by The Beatles

The Beatles’ B-side medley on Abbey Road is full of impressively catchy and poignant musical tidbits. There’s something particularly moving about “Golden Slumbers” into “Carry That Weight”. Back-to-back, these songs are as hopeful as they are exhausted and as optimistic as they are cynical. Just like adulthood.

“Once there was a way to get back homeward / Once there was a way to get back home / Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry.”

“Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight / carry that weight a long time.”

Photo by Jack Robinson/Getty Images

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