50 Best Rock Songs About Leaving the Past Behind
Rock Anthems for Letting Go of the Past
There’s a weird ache that comes with moving on. Not the cinematic kind with teary smiles and slow fades, but the quiet kind that hits when an old version of yourself starts slipping out of reach. You can feel it in the backseat silence after a long drive or in the second verse of a song that sounds too familiar. Rock has always had a knack for catching that pulse—the mix of regret and release that doesn’t quite line up cleanly. These tracks feel like stepping out of your own shadow, half-ready, half-shaking it off.
Some of them spell it out. Others only hint at it between guitar feedback and cracked vocals. The point isn’t always to make peace. Sometimes it’s enough to throw the memory in the rearview and keep the engine running. You’ll find echoes of that feeling in pop, rock, country, and R&B songs too—each one circling the same truth from a different corner. Not every track tells the story outright, but they land in that space where leaving something behind feels both freeing and slightly wrong.
You can feel the grit under the melodies, the way the riffs lean forward like they’re daring you to follow. It’s not clean, not easy, but there’s something electric in that motion. These songs catch that push to move, to burn through what’s over and not look back too long. Here are the best rock songs for letting go of the past.
Top 10 Moving Forward Rock Songs
1. 'Start Today' by Gorilla Biscuits
2. 'Go Your Own Way' by Fleetwood Mac
3. 'Don't Look Back' by Boston
4. 'Changes' by David Bowie
5. 'It's All Over Now' by The Rolling Stones
6. '(Just Like) Starting Over' by John Lennon
7. 'New Skin' by Incubus
8. 'Roll With The Changes' by REO Speedwagon
9. 'Time To Move On' by Tom Petty
10. 'The Road Goes On' by Toto
Songs About Embracing New Beginnings #11 to 20
11. 'Don't Stop' by Fleetwood Mac
12. 'Right Now' by Van Halen
13. 'Fresh Start Fever' by You Me At Six
14. 'Breakaway' by Kelly Clarkson
15. 'Every Day Is a Winding Road' by Sheryl Crow
16. 'Let Go' by Frou Frou
17. 'Already Gone' by Eagles
18. 'Moving On' by The Zombies
19. 'Let It Ride' by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
20. 'I Will Buy You a New Life' by Everclear
Rock Songs About Positive Life Change #21 to 30
21. 'Here Comes the Sun' by The Beatles
22. 'Landslide' by Fleetwood Mac
23. 'New Beginning' by Tracy Chapman
24. 'Solsbury Hill' by Peter Gabriel
25. 'Closing Time' by Semisonic
26. 'I'm Still Standing' by Elton John
27. 'Since U Been Gone' by Kelly Clarkson
28. 'The End of Heartache' by Killswitch Engage
29. 'I Will Rise' by Benjamin Tod
30. 'Last Goodbye' by Jeff Buckley
Rock Songs for New Chapter Motivation #31 to 40
31. 'The End of the Line' by The Traveling Wilburys
32. 'Don't Think Twice It's All Right' by Bob Dylan
33. 'I Can See Clearly Now' by Johnny Nash
34. 'No One to Run With' by The Allman Brothers Band
35. 'Never Go Back' by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
36. 'Stronger' by Kanye West
37. 'New Day' by Bon Jovi
38. 'The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' by R.E.M.
39. 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra
40. 'Let It Grow' by Eric Clapton
Rock Songs About Leaving the Past Behind #41 to 50
41. 'Dog Days Are Over' by Florence + The Machine
42. 'The Middle of Starting Over' by Sabrina Carpenter
43. 'Start of Something Good' by Daughtry
44. 'Pack It Up' by The Pretenders
45. 'Unwritten' by Natasha Bedingfield
46. 'Begin Again' by Purity Ring
47. 'Start All Over' by Miley Cyrus
48. 'The Art of Starting Over' by Demi Lovato
49. 'Leaving My Old Life Behind' by Franz Ferdinand
50. 'Dust in The Wind' by Kansas
© 2025 Carson McQueen
