What songs for someone turning fifty?

August 1, 2006 4:04 PM

What songs should I put on a CD for someone turning fifty?

My brother's turning fifty this year. I'd like to make him a CD or two to commemorate. He likes classic rock and country type of music, not hip hop/electronic/pop type stuff. Do you have any song suggestions? I'll take anything from silly to serious.

posted by Addlepated to media & arts (22 answers total)

As examples, some of the songs I have so far are Birthday (The Beatles), If Tomorrow Never Comes (Garth Brooks), The Man Comes Around (Johnny Cash), Staying Alive (The Bee Gees), What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong), and Changes in Latitudes (Jimmy Buffett).
posted by Addlepated at 4:20 PM on August 1, 2006

I know I recommend this in every music thread and I'm a total unabashed fanboy for these guys, but if he likes classic rock and country you can't do any better than the Drive-By Truckers. At the very least, put "Gravity's Gone" on there. You can find it for free (legally!) here.
And turning fifty has to be sorta melancholy. Put in some George Jones for catharsis, some Waylon for righteousness, some Willie to soothe the spirit and some Wilco to round things out.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 4:22 PM on August 1, 2006

They Might Be Giants - "How I get Old Before I Die"
posted by nathan_teske at 4:28 PM on August 1, 2006

"The Man Comes Around"? - ooooo, that is cold.

How about "My Generation" (hope I die before I get old)?
posted by caddis at 4:31 PM on August 1, 2006

It would also be nice to put on the track that was No.1 on the day your brother was born.
posted by Lucie at 4:36 PM on August 1, 2006

The Bee Gees and Jimmy Buffett aren't classic rock or country, either one of 'em would make me want to jump out a window. I'd get off the 'aging' theme (the joke will get old faster than the guest of honor) and remember the man's not ready for the nursing home yet, think more like Bad to the Bone, Mercury Blues, Pink Cadillac...
posted by scheptech at 4:37 PM on August 1, 2006

Blue Oyster Cult (Don't Fear) "The Reaper".
posted by 6:1 at 4:38 PM on August 1, 2006

BitterOldPunk, I saw the Drive-By Truckers in Charlottesville earlier this year. They are good. No doubt. But, If his brother is turning 50, he is unlikely to know any of the music. I am 44 and went to the show to see The Robert Randolph Family Band. That is worth seeing!!!

I would put some of the Who such as "My Generation" (previously noted) or "Won't get Fooled Again", Neil Young, "Sugar Mountain", Grateful Dead, "Touch of Grey", The Outlaws, "Green Grass and High Tides" and something from the New Riders of the Purple Sage.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 4:54 PM on August 1, 2006

i second neil young. timeless.
posted by londongeezer at 5:06 PM on August 1, 2006

Smoke On the Water
Frankenstein
Fire & Rain
Convoy (classic, but awful, country)
Dust in the Wind
Levon

as one who was there. The getting old & dying stuff really WILL get old - but Don't Fear the Reaper & My Generation are good.
posted by clarkstonian at 5:13 PM on August 1, 2006

Creedence?
posted by b33j at 5:17 PM on August 1, 2006

"Blue Oyster Cult (Don't Fear) "The Reaper".
posted by 6:1 at 7:38 PM EST on August 1

AFAIK, that's a song about a guy trying to convince a young woman to join him in a suicide pact.

My nominees:

"Old Man" - Neil Young
"Fifty" - Bill Morrissey
"As Good As I Once Was" - Toby Keith
"Too Old to Cut the Mustard" - Buck Owens
posted by paulsc at 5:24 PM on August 1, 2006

At the very least, put "Gravity's Gone" on there. You can find it for free (legally!) here.

O rly?

Either it's been taken down or Firefox doesn't like the link. Least for me, anyway.
posted by chrissyboy at 5:35 PM on August 1, 2006

Give him something to look forward to:

The Beatles - When I'm 64,
Simon and Garfunkel - Old Friends,
Tom T. Hall - Old Dogs and Children and Watermelon Wine;


and some memories of an era when we thought we could change the world:

Jefferson Airplane - Crown of Creation,
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Chicago,
Country Joe and the Fish - Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag;

and this 56 year old's personal favorite, Harry Chapin's tour de force, There Was Only One Choice!!
posted by MiamiDave at 6:52 PM on August 1, 2006

From a friend:

TISM's "Forty Years - Then Death"
posted by The White Hat at 8:43 PM on August 1, 2006

C'mon, the whole point is to give the guy something he HASN'T heard before, but sounds like he should've. I think Robert Randolph is a great idea.

chrissyboy: dunno. link works fine in my browser (Firefox 1.5.0.5)

And some Ramones. Because everyone loves The Ramones.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:46 AM on August 2, 2006

How about 50 songs, one from every year since 1956, from his favourite genre?
posted by essexjan at 1:52 AM on August 2, 2006

Ya GOTTA have some Van Morrison on there.

"C'mon, the whole point is to give the guy something he HASN'T heard before, but sounds like he should've."

Are you sure? I don't get that from the OP.
posted by bricoleur at 3:23 AM on August 2, 2006

TMBG "Older".
posted by twine42 at 4:35 AM on August 2, 2006

"Only The Good Die Young" - Billy Joel
"Final Countdown" - Europe

Haha, I am very funny.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:22 AM on August 2, 2006

Great suggestions so far! He's definitely on the more conservative side of things, and at one point he fussed at me for putting on Loreena McKennitt because he said she sounded like Joan Baez, so I don't think he's into the folk stuff or Country Joe much (although I am putting a Grateful Dead song on there... I figure he has a "Skip Song" button if he hates it).

I'm actually thinking about mixing up "Looking Back" and "Looking Forward" songs - like, Pink Floyd's Time followed by Sinatra's The Best is Yet to Come. Stuff like that. Sprinkled in with some fun ones like Too Old to Cut the Mustard (I have a great version with Rosemary Clooney and Marlene Dietrich).

By the way, my husband pointed me to a neat site that the posters in here might appreciate - What was #1 on the day you were born?
posted by Addlepated at 12:35 PM on August 2, 2006

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes versions of 60s and 70s songs, from Blow in the Wind and Have a Ball.
posted by EllenC at 4:26 PM on August 2, 2006