10 Youthful Tunes About Being Seventeen

Ah, 17, that unbothered age in which approaching adulthood seems so distant, a time when being wild and free is expected, encouraged even.

The world is at your fingertips then – everything seems possible, every feeling is amplified, and time feels infinite. It’s no wonder songs are written about such a fleeting, but wondrous year. Here are 10 of them that make us feel young again.

1. “17” – Avril Lavigne

We were on top of the world, back when I was your girl / We were living so wild and free / Acting stupid for fun, all we needed was love / That’s the way it’s supposed to be / Seventeen, plays the chorus of Avril Lavigne’s 2013 hit “17.”

In the song, the pop-punk prodigy and longtime teenage spokesperson reflects on young love and the feeling of kissing in parking lots, sneaking onto rooftops, and breaking all of the rules.

2. “Strawberry Wine” – Deana Carter

Like strawberry wine and seventeen / The hot July moon saw everything / My first taste of love, oh bittersweet / The green on the vine like strawberry wine, Deana Carter sings in her country chart-topper “Strawberry Wine.”

Another hit about being 17 and drunk on first love, “Strawberry Wine” is a pouring out of youthful affection followed by the heavy blow of heartache, but still a celebration of a time long since gone.

3. “Seventeen” – Sharon Van Etten

Downtown hotspot halfway up the street / I used to be free, I used to be seventeen / Follow my shadow around your corner / I used to be seventeen, now you’re just like me, plays Sharon Van Etten’s moody aria “Seventeen.” The 2019 tune is not so much a recollection of youth as it is a love letter to the city that shaped her during such an impressionable time.

4. “Tree by the River” – Iron & Wine

Mary Ann, do you remember / The tree by the river / When we were seventeen?, Sam Beam of Iron & Wine reminisces in the bittersweet “Tree by the River.” The song is one big nostalgia fest, bringing about fond memories of teenaged love lost to time.

5. “Let’s Go” – The Cars

I like the nightlife baby, The Cars roar in their 1979 bop “Let’s Go,” a tune about a teen with an appetite for a good time. The synth-ridden chart-topper follows a fiery seventeen-year-old who refuses to settle for anything less.

6. “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” – Meat Loaf

Though it’s cold and lonely in the deep dark night / I can see paradise by the dashboard light, plays the 1977 Meat Loaf classic, “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” Ain’t no doubt about it we were doubly blessed / ‘Cause we were barely seventeen and we were barely dressed. The theatrical tongue-in-cheek tune is an over-the-top ode to being young and in lust.

7. “The Rock Show” – blink-182

When we said we were gonna move to Vegas / I remember the look her mother gave us / Seventeen without a purpose or direction / We don’t owe anyone a fuckin’ explanation, blink-182 sings in the angst-filled hit, “The Rock Show.” A song about falling in love and pissing off your parents in the interim, “The Rock Show” is a win-win teen anthem.

8. “It Was a Very Good Year” – Frank Sinatra

When I was seventeen / It was a very good year / It was a very good year for small town girls / And soft summer nights / We’d hide from the lights / On the village green / When I was seventeen, croons Frank Sinatra on “It Was a Very Good Year,” a lullaby in which he reflects on the eventful years of his youth.

9. “Dancing Queen” – ABBA

You are the dancing queen / Young and sweet, only seventeen, plays the ABBA classic “Dancing Queen,” encouraging listeners to have the time of their lives simply jiving to a beat. The song is not only the perfect celebration of youth but also of life.

10. “Edge of Seventeen” – Stevie Nicks

But the moment / That I first laid / Eyes on him / All alone on the edge of seventeen, Stevie Nicks chants in her haunting hit, “Edge of Seventeen.” The 1984 tune is a mystifying slop of white-winged doves, broken hearts, and searching for answers in the shifting seas. It doesn’t make much sense, but it also makes perfect sense, a lot like being 17.

Photo by Gus Stewart/Redferns