50 Best Rock Songs About Turning 20
Rock Tracks That Capture the Chaos of Turning Twenty
There’s a strange shift that happens when twenty hits. You’re technically an adult, but everything still feels half-built. Nights stretch too long, mornings feel unfinished, and you keep trying to convince yourself you’ve got time to figure it out. The right rock track hits and suddenly it all clicks in a messy kind of way. That mix of freedom and confusion, of wanting to grow up and wanting to stop time for a second. These songs sit in that space—wired, restless, and still reaching for something that hasn’t fully taken shape.
Some tracks might not literally tackle turning twenty, but they carry the pulse of it. The sound of nights that end with half-empty bottles and quiet panic. The kind of energy that finds you on the floor with friends you might not know next year. It’s there in a lyric that hits too close, or a riff that somehow feels like being stuck in between versions of yourself. Pop, rock, country, and R&B songs have all tried to pin down that feeling, but rock gets the static right—the noise that comes when you’re too young to settle and too old to fake it.
These songs aren’t tidy reflections. They stumble, they shout, they keep looping the same line like they’re trying to make sense of it all. Some sound reckless, some cracked open, some weirdly calm. They mirror that messy in-between in a way that feels too real to scroll past. Here are the best rock songs for turning twenty.
Top 10 Twenty-Something Rock Songs
1. 'What's My Age Again?' by Blink-182
2. 'Not Nineteen Forever' by The Courteeners
3. 'Twenty Years' by Placebo
4. 'Twentytwo' by Sunflower Bean
5. 'I'm 20' by Frankie Cosmos
6. 'Twenty Years' by Bad Suns
7. 'Ninety-Four' by Columbus
8. 'Summer of '69' by Bryan Adams
9. 'Vienna' by Billy Joel
10. '23' by Jimmy Eat World
Rock Music About Coming of Age and Adulthood #11 to 20
11. 'All the Young Dudes' by Mott the Hoople
12. 'Growing Up' by Fall Out Boy
13. 'Kids' by MGMT
14. 'When You're Young' by The Jam
15. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana
16. 'The Middle' by Jimmy Eat World
17. 'Wake Up' by Arcade Fire
18. 'Time' by Pink Floyd
19. 'My Generation' by The Who
20. 'Baba O'Riley' by The Who
Essential Rock Tracks for the Early Twenties #21 to 30
21. 'I Don't Want to Grow Up' by Ramones
22. 'Young, Wild & Free' by Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa featuring Bruno Mars
23. 'Young Blood' by The Naked and Famous
24. 'Youth' by Foxes
25. 'Roaring 20s' by Panic! At The Disco
26. 'Nothing Left to Lose' by Transit
27. 'Weightless' by All Time Low
28. 'Losing Days' by Frank Turner
29. 'When You Were Young' by The Killers
30. 'Coming of Age' by Foster The People
Indie and Pop-Punk Rock Songs About Youth #31 to 40
31. 'Seventeen' by Sharon Van Etten
32. 'This Is The Life' by Amy MacDonald
33. 'Where Have All the Good Times Gone' by The Kinks
34. 'Dakota' by Stereophonics
35. 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' by Bob Dylan
36. 'I'm Just a Kid' by Simple Plan
37. 'Young Man Blues' by Mose Allison
38. 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' by Green Day
39. 'Young' by Hollywood Undead
40. 'I'm Eighteen' by Alice Cooper
Alternative Rock Songs Reflecting on Growing Up #41 to 50
41. 'Detroit' by Fireworks
42. 'The Kids Aren't Alright' by The Offspring
43. 'Young Turks' by Rod Stewart
44. 'Young Hearts' by The Menzingers
45. 'Forever Young' by Youth Group
46. 'Young and Lovely' by The Cure
47. 'Schoolin' Life' by Beyoncé
48. 'We Are Young' by Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe
49. 'Young Man' by Badflower
50. 'Sweet Sixteen' by Billy Idol
© 2025 Carson McQueen
