We were sad of getting old it made me restless/
Oh I’m so mad I’m getting old it makes me reckless.

“When We Were Young” is one of Adele’s newer songs, but it is one of her best. It is hard for a newer song to make this list. You (I) feel unsure if the song is truly great or if it is just good because It hasn’t grown stale from hearing it a thousand times. But I am confident with this pick and placement.

Adele’s “When We Were Young” tells a great story of the narrator at a party and she sees an old boyfriend who seems to have aged well. She pulls him away at the end of the party and begins to talk to him. Interestingly, she asks if she could take his picture. The light is just perfect, and she knows both of them will never be this young and good-looking again. More so, she wants to capture the moment of this happy time…before they do something stupid like hookup.

In her mind this is only a possibility because she is sad–she’s getting old and wants a fling and a memory. She knows this won’t last as she’s been with him before.

The chorus is amazing—both the melody and the lyrics. And of course, Adele has one of the best female (or male) voices in the past twenty years. Her voice manages to convey the (almost) ineffable emotion as she ponders her own mortality while lusting for a new experience.

When We Were Young Lyrics
Everybody loves the things you do-
From the way you talk
To the way you move.
Everybody here is watching you-
‘Cause you feel like home;
You’re like a dream come true.
But if by chance you’re here alone,
Can I have a moment
Before I go?
‘Cause I’ve been by myself all night long,
Hoping you’re someone I used to know.

You look like a movie,
You sound like a song;
My God, this reminds me
Of when we were young.

Let me photograph you in this light,
In case it is the last time
That we might be exactly like we were
Before we realized-
We were sad of getting old
It made us restless.
It was just like a movie,
It was just like a song.

I was so scared to face my fears.
Nobody told me that you’d be here.
And I swear you’d moved overseas,
That’s what you said, when you left me.

You still look like a movie,
You still sound like a song;
My God, this reminds me,
Of when we were young…

Let me photograph you in this light,
In case it is the last time
That we might be exactly like we were
Before we realized-
We were sad of getting old
It made us restless.
It was just like a movie,
It was just like a song.

When we were young.
When we were young.
When we were young.
When we were young.

It’s hard to admit that
Everything just takes me back
To when you were there.
To when you were there.
And a part of me keeps holding on
Just in case it hasn’t gone,
‘Cause I still care.
Do you still care?
It was just like a movie.
It was just like a song.
My God, this reminds me
Of when we were young.

When we were young.
When we were young.
When we were young.
When we were young.

Let me photograph you in this light,
In case it is the last time
That we might be exactly like we were
Before we realized-
We were sad of getting old
It made us restless.
Oh, I’m so mad I’m getting old
It makes me reckless.
It was just like a movie.
It was just like a song.
When we were young.

Songwriters: Adele Laurie Blue Adkins / Tobias MacDonald Jesso

Set me free, leave me be/
I don’t want to fall another moment into your gravity.

Originally, Sara Bareilles released “Gravity” on her first album. It had the makings of a great song, but the production was off. On her second album she re-recorded “Gravity” and it became the amazing song it was meant to be.

I love songs with a good concept-and “Gravity” is a great concept for a song. The fact that no one had used the idea of gravity to describe another person’s impact on them is surprising.  Bodies attract bodies to create gravity.

Sara explains, regardless of whether I want to escape the laws of gravity, I cannot. Even though there doesn’t appear to be physical chains that bind us together—there is a stronger force—gravity. That is a good way to describe the way you are drawn to certain people; you can’t escape their orbit. It is a perfect metaphor.

Sara

The piano part on Bareilles’ “Gravity” is not complex, but it is right for this song. The added strings for the later verses and chorus are formulaic, but it works. The light instrumentation is perfect because what we really want to hear is her voice. What makes this song great is her voice, combined with the concept and the melody. I always wondered why this song wasn’t a bigger hit. It seems perfect for an easy listening station.

Bareilles’ career is interesting in that she is known and defined by a couple of her pop songs, but the rest of her catalog contains tons of great songs that blow those away.

Gravity Lyrics

Something always brings me back to you,
It never takes too long.
No matter what I say or do,
I’ll still feel you here ’till the moment I’m gone.

You hold me without touch,
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much,
than to drown in your love and not feel your reign.

Set me free, leave me be.
I don’t want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am, and I stand, so tall,
Just the way I’m supposed to be,
But you’re on to me and all over me.

Oh, you loved me ’cause I’m fragile,
When I thought that I was strong.
But you touch me for a little while,
And all my fragile strength is gone.

Set me free, leave me be.
I don’t want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am, and I stand, so tall,
Just the way I’m supposed to be,
But you’re on to me and all over me.

I live here on my knees as I try to make you see
That you’re everything I think I need here on the ground.
But you’re neither friend nor foe though I can’t seem to let you go.
The one thing that I still know is that you’re keeping me down.
You’re keeping me down, yea.
You’re on to me, on to me, and all over.

Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long.

Written By: Sara Bareilles

She might think that I’ve forgotten her/
Don’t tell her it isn’t so.

Bob Dylan is one of the biggest hard-asses of all-time. In “If You See Her, Say Hello” we see a different side of him. He seems regretful of a lost love—though he never comes right out and says that. He speaks of this woman quite tenderly, and we can tell that he misses her.  Compare this with other songs about women in which is downright scornful like Just Like A Woman, You’re A Big Girl Now or It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.

In “If You See Her, Say Hello” he is speaking with a friend that he and his ex had in common. He says to say “hello” to her and to look me up, but don’t make it seem like I am too eager. Dylan was prideful. We all are.

This is from Dylan’s album Blood on the Tracks, which may be his best album. There are several different versions of this song you can check out, all of them good. The one from The Bootleg Series might be the best as it is a little faster paced and more striped down, but the album version is great too. Dylan’s voice sounds good here, and the mandolin is mixed in to make the song feel more solemn.

If You See Her Say Hello Lyrics

If you see her, say hello
She might be in Tangier
She left here last early spring
Is livin’ there, I hear
Say for me that I’m all right
Though things get kind of slow
She might think that I’ve forgotten her
Don’t tell her it isn’t so

We had a falling-out
Like lovers often will
And to think of how she left that night
It still brings me a chill
And though our separation
It pierced me to the heart
She still lives inside of me
We’ve never been apart

If you get close to her
Kiss her once for me
I always have respected her
For doin’ what she did and gettin’ free
Oh, whatever makes her happy
I won’t stand in the way
Though the bitter taste still lingers on
From the night I tried to make her stay

I see a lot of people
As I make the rounds
And I hear her name here and there
As I go from town to town
And I’ve never gotten used to it
I’ve just learned to turn it off
Either I’m too sensitive
Or else I’m gettin’ soft

Sundown, yellow moon
I replay the past
I know every scene by heart
They all went by so fast
If she’s passin’ back this way
I’m not that hard to find
Tell her she can look me up
If she’s got the time

written by Bob Dylan