Songs about nostalgia

Lakeside Park - Rush

 

I was hoping someone would beat me to that one.

Some country ones:

"Coat Of Many Colors" - Dolly Powers

"Papa Was A Good Man" - Charlie Rich

"Life's Too Short (No Matter How Long It Lasts)" - Conway Twitty

"Southern Nights", "Gentle On My Mind" - Glen Campbell

"To All The Girls I Loved Before" - Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson

 

What a great song.
Nostalgia & love is a powerful combo in Eddie's "Fall In Love Again".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGgnhC8YGHQ&feature=artistob&playnext=1&videos=qPOnTuNOMcc

 

Also by them, "The Class Of '57". I think they were both on the same album.

Fred Clemens

 

"Dubuque Blues" by The Association.

 

"That Close" - Madness
"Deep Kick" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

And there's this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZKiLx9X320

 

Wonderful Summer by Robin Ward, in a romantic and not-too-distant context.

 

"Try To Remember/The Way We Were" - Gladys Knight & The Pips

 

Lets throw in Strawberry Fields in too for good measure!

 

Not forgetting The Boston Rag from Countdown To Ecstasy.

"Lonnie was the kingpin
Back in nineteen sixty-five
I was singing this song when lonnie came alive"

Beach Boys -Disney Girls (1957)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD-y6JqXjQQ

The Proclaimers...Lulu Selling Tea

 

This Time of Year by Better than Ezra is really great

 

"December 63 (Oh What A Night)"- Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

 

"Do you know what time it is?" P-Nut Gallery

 

"100 Years Ago" by the Rolling Stones.

 

"Main Street" by Gretchen Peters, I think it's one of the most beautiful lyrics she ever wrote:

Right through the middle of our town
A two lane, two way highway comes rollin’ down
It used to be quite busy around here
But then they put a mall out there
And the freeway came last year
Nobody stops here anymore, they’re only passing through
There’s nothing much to look at
And there’s nothing here to do
Just an old newspaper blowin’ at my feet
Down on main street

Old Mr. Arnold finally sold the store
He started out on main street back before the war
He says business wasn’t booming anyway
He says he and that old neighborhood
Have seen their better days
But he remembers how it was in 1945
When they marched out all the boys who made it home alive
And the girls were throwin’ roses at their feet
Down on main street

Down on main street they’re sellin memories real low
Goin’ out of business - everything must go

Like old forgotten faces without names
The storefronts and the sidewalks
And the boarded window frames
And there’s the corner record store
Where I discovered rock n’ roll so many hears before
But now I walk these empty streets
And I listen for the sound
I listen for the rhythm in the heart of this old town
I listen for the slow and steady beat
Down on main street

 

"1985" - Bowling For Soup
"1995" - The Radio Dept
"Memories" - Weezer

 

Try listening to this without bursting into tears: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47DtisBGB5A

See? You can't.

 

...How come nobody mentioned Wish You Were Here?

 

Pretty much the entire Paradise Theater concept album is nostalgic, albiet for a time before they were even born.

 

His buddy, Jello's nostalgia song was even harsher:

Fake '50s clothes
Fake '50s food
Classic gas-guzzling dream cars
In more ads on the tube

Fake home-made cookies
Like mommy usedto make
Nostalgia for an age
That never existed

Do you remember
Art-deco knick-knacks and flings
The stars on the silver screen
Made you forget Hooverville

View the world
Through Time-Life and Nick at Nite
Nostalgia for an age
That never existed

All the stars had a pretty face
Children and Negroes knew their place
Blocks of happy families
With moms and dads all in love
Or are these wholesome memories
Really from reruns on TV
ANd ads in old garage sale magazines

Fake sixiteis
Mask our leaders' sleaze
Is it really a new beiginning
With confederate Kennedys?

Fake Camelot
Before everything went wrong
Nostalgia for an age
That never existed

Do you remember
The Summer of Love
Vietnam, mini-skirts and drugs
Rebellion was so much fun

Tell your own kids

Just Say No to that
Nostalgia for an age
That never existed

Turn that MTV racket off
So your folks can listen to "classic" rock
Mellow out to the same old songs
Again and again and again

Do you wonder or even care
How you wound up such a square
If ya can't stand the Big Chill
Get out of the freezer

Can't stand the Big Chill
Get out of the freezer

everything old is new again
It all comes back, jsut wait your turn
But somehow the magic's always missing

Giving up on future dreams
To dwell on rosy memories
Will make sure your best days
Are in the past

Nostalgia for an age that never existed
Nostalgia for an age that never existed

Do yo uremember
Being the first punk in your town
Outlaw #1
For the t-shirt you had on

Now you stay home
Mad at the whole scene
For refusing to freeze
In 1983

Why can't all the old bands reform
Stick to playing their old songs
It ain't punk
If it ain't just like the old days

That was then, this is now
Suckling up to the sacred cow
Can leave ya stuck in the mud
With its remains

Nostalgia for an age that never existed
Nostalgia for an age that never existed

 

Thank you. Best song ever.

 

O How The Years Go By - Amy Grant
Picture Show - John Prine (has the lyric "James Dean went out to Hollywood to put a picture in a picture show")

 

I'm not that familiar with country songs, but I happened to be listening to a Charley Pride collection this past weekend. "Burgers and Fries" was a #2 country hit for him in 1978:

"Burgers and fries and cherry pies, it was simple and good back then
Walkin’ in the sand, hand in hand, never thinkin’ that it could end
Makin’ our love with the moon above at the drive-in picture show
And it was burgers and fries and cherry pies in a world we used to know"

 

Not sure if these were mentioned:

"Keeping the Faith" - Billy Joel
"This Used to Be My Playground" - Madonna
"My Back Pages" - The Byrds
"Grandpa (Tell Me About the Good Old Days)" - The Judds
"Come Dancing" - The Kinks
"When I Was Young" - Eric Burdon & the Animals
"White Christmas" - Bing Crosby
"My Way" - Frank Sinatra
"Make Me Lose Control" - Eric Carmen
"Traces" - Classics IV
"My Eyes Adored You" - Frankie Valli