Songs About Aging for Elder Fans Quiz

Answer: Bill Withers

Bill Withers wrote "Grandma's Hands" as a salute to his grandmother. His maternal grandmother had been born into slavery in 1855. He grew up feeling very protected and nurtured by her and expressed his love for her in this song. The lyrics talk about how she picked him up and gave him candy when he was young.

Then, he expresses how he no longer has his grandmother with him, but he will look for her and her hands when he gets to heaven. This song was placed on Withers' first album, "Just as I Am" (1971).

It was also released as a single where it reached number 18 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart and 42 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Dodge

"The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" was used by the Dodge company in a very successful ad campaign that started in 1964. The commercials showed an elderly woman speeding around the streets of Pasadena in a modified Dodge. She would stop and look out the window and say, "Put a Dodge in your garage, Hon-ey!".

The musicians on the commercial were known as the Wrecking Crew, but the song was recorded by both Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys.

Answer: Harry Chapin

Harry Chapin was a great storyteller in his time as a songwriter. He released "Cat's In the Cradle" in 1974. It is a story of a young man who has a son, but never has much time to spend with his child as the boy grows up because of his job and other life stressors.

His son repeatedly lets his dad know that he is going to be just like his dad when he grows up. When his son graduates from college, his dad wants to sit with him for a while, but the son just wants the car keys. Finally, the father retires and calls his son to ask if they can spend some time together.

The son uses all of the excuses that he used as the boy was growing, and they don't get to hang out together. It's a great reminder that we need to hold the important things dear as we grow older.

Answer: In My Eyes

Barbara Wyrick was the songwriter who penned this lovely song about a couple growing old together. Conway Twitty was the first to record it. The song was on his "Dream Maker" album in 1982. In 1983, country music singer John Conlee took this song to Number One on the US Hot Country Songs chart. It is a lovely song about how aging doesn't matter in a relationship that is based on love.

Answer: 2

"When I'm Sixty-Four" is a song about a young man who is asking his young girlfriend if she will still feed and care for him when he gets older. The song was written by Paul McCartney, and recorded in 1966 when all four of the Beatles were relatively young men.

Unfortunately, only two of the four original Beatles lived to be 64 years of age. John Lennon was killed by a deranged fan in 1980 when he was only 40 years of age. George Harrison passed away in 2001 at the age of 58 after a battle with cancer. Paul McCartney was born in June, 1942, so he celebrated his 64th birthday in 2006. Ringo Starr was born in July, 1940, so he celebrated his 64th birthday in 2004.

Answer: Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan

Rod Stewart recorded "Forever Young". The song was released as both a single, and was placed on his "Out of Order" album in 1988. When he recorded it, his manager realized that although it wasn't identical to any Bob Dylan song, it was similar to some of the music that Bob Dylan had created. Stewart's manager reached out to Dylan before the song was released. Dylan requested a share of the royalties, and Stewart agreed.

It was a nice way to proactively avoid any future litigation for a similar-sounding song.

It is a lovely song about not wanting to get old, something that really is unavoidable.

Answer: We'll Meet Again

"We'll Meet Again" was originally made famous by Vera Lynn in 1939. It is a song about friends who are parting, but who will meet again at some point in the future when they are older. Johnny Cash does an amazing version of the song on his 2002 album "American IV: The Man Comes Around".

It sounds as though he was talking to June Carter because at one point, he inserts a "honey, keep on smiling through . . ." into the spoken portion of the song. The word "honey" is not in the original lyrics. His wife June Carter Cash died in May, 2003, only a few months after the album was released in November, 2002.

Then, Johnny Cash passed away about four months after that.

Answer: Old Friends

The song "Old Friends" was on Simon & Garfunkel's fourth studio album that was called "Bookends". Released in 1968, the song tells the story of two older men sitting on a park bench. They recognize that their lives are coming to an end, so they spend some time reminiscing what it was like when they were younger.

They seem to wonder what it will be like when they reach the end of their days. This is another lovely song about growing older with friends to share memories.

Answer: Glory Days

"Glory Days" was released in 1985 by Springsteen as the fifth single from his "Born in the USA" album that had been released in 1984. The song's lyrics are reminders from a variety of perspectives about how quickly life passes. It is actually a bit of a sad song despite its upbeat tempo. Each verse of the song tells a brief story about how life isn't what it once was for a number of people. The chorus states that "glory days, well they'll pass you by; Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye", a definite reminder about how fast life passes.

Answer: The caretaker on his ranch

Neil Young wrote "Old Man" for inclusion on his 1972 album "Harvest". It was released as a single that year when it went to Number Four on the Canadian charts and Number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The song tells of how both the young man and older man have similar needs, about how they are a lot like one another. Neil Young had purchased his ranch called the Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California around the time that he was working on "Harvest". Young stated in the 2006 documentary "Heart of Gold" that he wrote the song "Old Man" for the caretaker who lived at the ranch and looked after things there for him. James Taylor sang and played banjo on the recording, while Linda Ronstadt also provided background vocals.