41. ‘Losing My Edge’ – LCD Soundsystem
Key lyrics: “I’m losing my edge / The kids are coming up from behind”
What it encapsulates: Getting old(er).
42. ‘Expectations’ – Belle & Sebastian
Key lyrics: “Tell Veronica the secret of the boy you never kissed/ she’s got everything to gain ’cause she’s a fat girl with a lisp”
What it encapsulates: How tough it is being at school
43. ‘Disco 2000’ – Pulp
Key lyrics: “I never knew that you’d get married / I would be living down here on my own / On that damp and lonely Thursday years ago”
What it encapsulates: The whole future being ahead of you – and the point when it isn’t any more.
44. ‘When I Was A Boy’ – ELO
Key lyrics: “When I was a boy, I had a dream”
What it encapsulates: Youthful drive – and less obviously, the loss of it.
45. ‘In My Room’ – The Beach Boys
Key lyrics: “In my room / Do my dreaming and my scheming lie awake and pray / Do my crying and my sighing laugh at yesterday / Now it’s dark and I’m alone / But I won’t be afraid / In my room”
What it encapsulates: Locking yourself in your room as a teen.
46. ‘Grew Up at Midnight’ – The Maccabees
Key lyrics: “We grew up at midnight / We were only kids then / but that night we knew”
What it encapsulates: The moment. You know the one.
47. ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ – Future Islands
Key lyrics: “When people change / They gain a piece, but they lose one too”
What it encapsulates: Irreversible change.
48. ‘Mistaken For Strangers’ – The National
Key lyrics: “You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends / When you pass them at night”
What it encapsulates: A proper ‘yikes’ moment: not being recognised by your old friends.
49. ‘Station Approach’ – Elbow
Key lyrics: “Coming home I feel like I designed these buildings I walk by”
What it encapsulates: The nostalgic clout of places from your youth.
50. ‘Teenage Talk’ – St Vincent
Key lyrics: “How do you see me now, now that I’m a little bit older, older? Never mind the albatross smouldering on my shoulder”
What it encapsulates: The insignificance of teenage problems versus adult ones.