Every Baby Boomer Alive Has a Core Memory To Go With These 5 Songs From 1972

Core memories look, sound, and feel different to all of us, but one thing remains consistent across virtually all demographics: music helps lock these memories in for years, even decades, to come. Many of these core memories are experiences, feelings, and ideas we encountered in our youth. For baby boomers, that often means developing core memories around music of the 1960s and 70s, including these five timeless songs from 1972.

“School’s Out” by Alice Cooper

There were plenty of baby boomers already out of school, and in the adult workforce by the time Alice Cooper released “School’s Out”. Still, everyone can relate to those precious moments full of anticipation that would arrive in the remaining few minutes of the school year. The shrill ring of the school bell never sounded so sweet as it did in those early summer days.

“Heart Of Gold” by Neil Young

Neil Young’s “Heart Of Gold” (and the rest of the album on which it appears, Harvest) has melancholy nostalgia down to a science. The wayward wandering Young presents in the song’s narration is a poignant soundtrack to a time when the world still felt open and full of possibility. And with each new search for a heart of gold we encounter, the staying power of this song just becomes stronger. 

“Coconut” by Harry Nilsson

Every baby boomer alive can likely remember singing along to this Harry Nilsson track in 1972, fake Caribbean accent included. “Coconut” isn’t necessarily the most emotionally moving song of all time. But that doesn’t stop it from rattling around the heads of everyone who was there to see Nilsson Schmilsson first come out.

“I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” by The New Seekers

Commercial jingles have a way of sticking with us long after the advertisement stops airing on radio or television, which is why most baby boomers can still recall hearing “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” in many, many Coca-Cola commercials in the early 1970s. After all, it’s not every day that a television jingle is so popular that it becomes a legitimate hit in the mainstream music world.

“Saturday In The Park” by Chicago

Chicago’s 1972 hit “Saturday In The Park” is full of descriptive and specific imagery, right down to the holiday around which this entry on our list of songs centers. But even if you can’t relate to these details directly, it’s the feeling that really sticks with you, sending every baby boomer back to lazy afternoons spent hanging out with friends and not worrying about things like mortgages, 401ks, and grandkids.

Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns