10 Best Songs About Becoming An Adult

There's always a certain level of intimacy you get when listening to Joni Mitchell's songs. Whether it's the stern messages behind "Big Yellow Taxi" or the heartache you get across "Blue," every song Mitchell sings sounds like it's being ripped out of her heart for the world to see. For as much introspection as she puts in her material, it's strange that her best coming of age story started out as an act of revenge.

After hearing the song "Sugar Mountain" by Neil Young, Mitchell was a bit disheartened to hear the protagonist in Young's story growing into a jaded adult. Though Young's song claimed that the best parts of your life end after your 20s, Mitchell offers her retort by depicting her character from one stage of life to the next, as he moves from catching butterflies to finally reaching the two decade mark.

While Mitchell doesn't deny that the dreams you once had may be a distant vision at 20, she instead suggests that new dreams will be put in their place, with the rest of life going around in one big circle. No one may be able to stop the carousel of time, but if we learn anything from Joni Mitchell, it's that we can control what we do with that time.