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Songs about Looking Back on Life

Well, time for some navel-gazing at its finest. Here are songs about life itself, in a contemplative, reflective mood. There's all kinds of points of view, be it bittersweet, cheery, regretful, boastful, or even devil-may-care.

Of course, pondering a meaning of life is the chief business of philosophy. So expect to hear a lot of armchair speculation on what life is about, or not about.

Now, without further ado, songs about looking back on life and reflecting on the past:

• 
  (Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine
  Tom T. Hall
• 
  100 Years
  Five For Fighting
• 
  A Child of the Fifties
  Statler Brothers, The
• 
  Against the Wind
  Bob Seger

  "And I remember what she said to me
  How she swore that it never would end
  I remember how she held me oh so tight
  Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then"

• 
  American Honey
  Lady Antebellum

  "Oh, I miss those days
  As the years go by
  Oh, nothin' sweeter than summertime
  And American honey"

• 
  Black Dahlia
  Hollywood Undead
• 
  Brown Eyed Girl
  Van Morrison

  "So hard to find my way,
  Now that I'm all on my own.
  I saw you just the other day,
  My how you have grown,
  Cast my memory back there, Lord"

• 
  Castle On The Hill
  Ed Sheeran
• 
  Cat's in the Cradle
  Harry Chapin

  "And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
  He'd grown up just like me.
  My boy was just like me"

• 
  Closer
  Chainsmokers, The
• 
  Coming Back to Life
  Pink Floyd
• 
  Disenchanted
  My Chemical Romance

  "I spent my high school career
  Spit on and shoved to agree
  So I could watch all my heroes
  Sell a car on TV"

• 
  Don't Blink
  Kenny Chesney

  "Don't blink, you just might miss
  Your babies growing like mine did
  Turning into moms and dads"

• 
  Dreams of the Everyday Housewife
  Glen Campbell

  "The photograph album she takes from the closet and slowly turns the page
  And carefully picks up the crumbling flower
  The first one he gave her now withered with age"

• 
  Field Of Innocence
  Evanescence
• 
  Fields of Gold
  Sting

  "Many years have passed since those summer days
  Among the fields of barley
  See the children run as the sun goes down
  Among the fields of gold
  You'll remember me when the west wind moves"

• 
  Fireflies
  Owl City
• 
  First Kiss
  Kid Rock
• 
  For the Love of a Daughter
  Demi Lovato
• 
  Glory Days
  Bruce Springsteen
• 
  Grandaddy's Gun
  Blake Shelton
• 
  Heaven
  Jake Worthington
• 
  Honey
  Bobby Goldsboro
• 
  How Far We've Come
  Matchbox 20
• 
  I Miss My Friend
  Darryl Worley
• 
  In My Life
  Beatles

  "There are places I remember
  All my life though some have changed
  Some forever not for better
  Some have gone and some remain
  All these places have their moments
  With lovers and friends I still can recall
  Some are dead and some are living
  In my life I’ve loved them all"

• 
  Iridescent
  Linkin Park
• 
  It Was A Very Good Year
  Frank Sinatra
• 
  It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
  Boyz II Men

  "I don't know where this road
  Is going to lead
  All I know is where we've been
  And what we've been through.
  If we get to see tomorrow
  I hope it's worth all the wait
  It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday."
  

• 
  Letter to Me
  Brad Paisley
• 
  Lion
  Hollywood Undead
• 
  Mary's Song (Oh My My My)
  Taylor Swift
• 
  Memories
  Within Temptation
• 
  My Hometown
  Bruce Springsteen

  "I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
  Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
  I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town"

• 
  My Way
  Frank Sinatra
• 
  Never Forget You
  Zara Larsson
• 
  Never Stop
  Jackson Browne
• 
  New Divide
  Linkin Park
• 
  Old Apartment
  Barenaked Ladies
• 
  Photograph
  Def Leppard
• 
  Photograph
  Nickelback
• 
  Real Life
  Jeff Carson
• 
  Red Ragtop
  Tim McGraw

  "We took one more trip around the sun
  But it was all make believe in the end
  And no I can't say where she is today
  I can't remember who I was back then"

• 
  Reflections of My Life
  Marmalade
• 
  Remember Everything
  Five Finger Death Punch
• 
  Remember When
  Alan Jackson

  "Remember when thirty seemed so old
  Now lookn' back it's just a steppin' stone
  To where we are,
  Where we've been
  Said we'd do it all again
  Remember when"

• 
  Small Town Southern Man
  Alan Jackson
• 
  Stealing Cinderella
  Chuck Wicks
• 
  Strawberry Fields Forever
  Beatles
• 
  Strawberry Wine
  Deanna Carter
• 
  Swing Life Away
  Rise Against
• 
  Telegraph Road
  Dire Straits
• 
  The Art Teacher
  Rufus Wainwright

  "There I was in uniform
  Looking at the art teacher
  I was just a girl then;
  Never have I loved since then"

• 
  The Class of '57 Had Its Dreams
  Statler Brothers, The

  "And the class of '57 had its dreams,
  But living life from day to day is never like it seems.
  Things get complicated when you get past eighteen"

• 
  The House That Built Me
  Miranda Lambert
• 
  The Way We Were
  Barbara Streisand

  "Can it be that it was all so simple then
  or has time rewritten every line?"

• 
  This Used to Be My Playground
  Madonna
• 
  Those Were The Days
  Mary Hopkin

  "Just tonight I stood before the tavern
  Nothing seemed the way it used to be
  In the glass I saw a strange reflection
  Was that lonely woman really me"

• 
  Through the Years
  Kenny Rogers
• 
  Tired
  Stone Sour
• 
  Trouble
  Coldplay
• 
  Valentine's Day
  Linkin Park
• 
  Wake me Up When September Ends
  Green Day
• 
  Welcome to the Black Parade
  My Chemical Romance
• 
  Yesterday When I Was Young
  Dusty Springfield

  "I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out,
  I never stopped to think what life was all about
  And every conversation I can now recall
  concerned itself with me, and nothing else at all"

• 
  You're Gonna Miss This
  Trace Adkins
• 
  Young
  Chainsmokers, The

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