Each song title links to a YouTube video. Hope you find a few gems to add to your playlist.
None of us draws most of our wisdom from songs, but we listen to our favorite songs so often that we soak up whatever wisdom is in them. So our songs should help us get there, especially in our forties and fifties.
It’s subjective, of course: a song that makes us feel wiser and more mature.
However, I did set some criteria:
It should share some wisdom about the universal human experience.
It should be open to everyone. So none of these are religious or even spiritual. I’ll get to that in my next post.
It should take us into a psychologically mature space.
It should be about personal wisdom, not about relationships or society. (I let Sting’s “Fortress” slide cuz it’s also about our internal psychological dynamics.
And it should be mature wisdom for those of us in midlife, not a song of advice to younger people. (Although I kinda let Christina Aguilera’s songs slide by on this cuz they are also wisdom for midlifers.)
What I’ve discovered is that the wisdom in the lyrics is the key, but we have to enjoy listening to the music. (These calls were even more subjective.) And I discovered that some songs make me feel wiser and more mature without me quite knowing why — and even when the lyrics are a bit of a mystery to me.
Almost all of these songs were written by people in their twenties and thirties. Which is a surprise, at least to me. We don’t expect a 20-year-old to be wise, but we do expect a 60-year-old to be. However, most songs are written by rising adults, and some of their songs have wisdom that works for us midlifers.
Here are my 40 songs of wisdom and psychological maturity.
1972
“I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash
“I Can See Clearly Now” cover by Jimmy Cliff
“Doctor My Eyes” by Jackson Browne
1973
“Simple Man” by Lynnyrd Skynnrd, lyrics by Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington
1977
“Here Comes the Flood” by Peter Gabriel
1985
“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears
“Holding Back the Years” by Simply Red, lyrics by Mick Hucknall
“These Dreams” by Heart, lyrics by Bernie Taupin
“This Is the Sea” by the Waterboys, lyrics by Mike Scott
1986
1987
“Where the Streets Have No Name” by U2, lyrics by Bono
1988
“Evening Falls” by Enya, lyrics by Roma Ryan
“End of the Line” by The Traveling Wilburys, lyrics by George Harrison
1990
“Silent Lucidity” by Queensryche, lyrics by Chris DeGarmo
1991
1992
“Here’s to Life” by Shirley Horn, lyrics by Phyllis Molinari
1993
1994
“The Child in Us” by Enigma, lyrics by Michael Cretu
1999
2000
“Only Time” by Enya, lyrics by Roma Ryan
2002
“Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera, lyrics by Linda Perry
2003
“The Voice Within’’ by Christina Agilera
“Clocks” by Coldplay, lyrics by Chris Martin
2004
“Live Like You’re Dying” by Tim McGraw, lyrics by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman
2007
“Stop and Stare” by OneRepublic
2008
2009
“After the Storm” by Mumford & Sons
2011
“Down in the Valley” by The Head and the Heart
2012
“Not Even the King” by Alicia Keys, lyrics by Alicia Keys and Emilie Sade
“Dirty Paws” by Monsters and Men
2016
2018
2023
Great list! Some real good ones here.
There are a couple I don't recognize. I'm going to check them out. Thanks for the excellent list.