50 Best Rock Songs About Turning 60

Rock Songs That Capture Turning 60

There’s a strange calm that drifts in when sixty rolls around. Not the kind of milestone that comes with confetti or panic, but the slow burn of knowing a few things you didn’t before. You might still crank the stereo, still feel that spark in your chest when a guitar riff lands just right, but it hits different now. The volume carries years in it. Some tracks feel like glances back through a cracked window, others sound like a quiet nod to the road still stretching out ahead. These tunes don’t smooth out the wrinkles in the story. They let them hum right through the chorus.

There’s something grounding about songs that don’t pretend to reinvent anything. They sprawl, they ache, they lean on familiar chords the way old friends lean on each other. A few of these tracks might not be literally tied to turning sixty, but they sit comfortably in that space. The lyrics catch the weight of time without making it heavy. The drums know how to breathe. You can hear the same fight that was there in your twenties, but it’s tempered, a little slower, with the edges sanded down by experience. These aren’t nostalgia trips. They’re proof that rock still grows up without losing its bite.

The mix threads through pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that carry that restless, resilient pulse. Some reach for reflection, some lean toward freedom, a few shrug at the whole thing and keep moving. It’s messy, brave, and still loud enough to wake the neighbors. Here are the best rock songs for turning 60.

1. 'When I'm Sixty-Four' by The Beatles

2. 'Time' by Pink Floyd

3. 'Against the Wind' by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

4. 'Landslide' by Fleetwood Mac

5. 'Changes' by David Bowie

6. 'Old Man' by Neil Young

7. 'Old Before I Die' by Robbie Williams

8. 'In My Life' by The Beatles

9. 'Forever Young' by Bob Dylan

10. 'Jack & Diane' by John Cougar Mellencamp

11. 'The Circle Game' by Joni Mitchell

12. 'These Days' by Jackson Browne

13. 'A Pirate Looks at Forty' by Jimmy Buffett

14. 'He Went to Paris' by Jimmy Buffett

15. 'The Longest Days' by John Cougar Mellencamp

16. 'Touch of Grey' by Grateful Dead

17. 'Old and Wise' by The Alan Parsons Project

18. '60 Years On' by Elton John

19. 'Growing Older But Not Up' by Jimmy Buffett

20. 'Run' by Foo Fighters

21. 'Summer of '69' by Bryan Adams

22. 'Cat's in the Cradle' by Harry Chapin

23. 'Golden Years' by David Bowie

24. 'Kodachrome' by Paul Simon

25. 'My Next Thirty Years' by Tim McGraw

26. 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free' by Nina Simone

27. 'The Sound of Silence' by Simon & Garfunkel

28. 'Running on Empty' by Jackson Browne

29. 'Roll Me Away' by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

30. 'The River' by Bruce Springsteen

31. 'It Was a Very Good Year' by Frank Sinatra

32. 'Don't Stop Believin'' by Journey

33. 'Born to Run' by Bruce Springsteen

34. 'The Times They Are a-Changin'' by Bob Dylan

35. 'Young at Heart' by Frank Sinatra

36. 'Vienna' by Billy Joel

37. 'September Song' by Willie Nelson

38. 'Veronica' by Elvis Costello

39. 'Where Do the Children Play?' by Cat Stevens

40. 'I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair' by George Jones

41. 'Long May You Run' by The Stills-Young Band

42. 'The Best Is Yet to Come' by Frank Sinatra

43. 'Simple Man' by Lynyrd Skynyrd

44. 'Yesterday' by The Beatles

45. 'Help the Aged' by Pulp

46. 'Grow Old with Me' by John Lennon

47. 'Hello In There' by John Prine

48. 'Nick of Time' by Bonnie Raitt

49. 'These Are the Days of Our Lives' by Queen

50. 'Don't Let the Old Man In' by Toby Keith