15 Best Rock Songs About Growing Up

I Don't Want to Grow Up is a song that is so simple, yet incredibly meaningful. The instrumental is rather simple, true to form in regards to the iconic Ramones. Why it ranks so high, however, are its lyrics and their implications.

Released as the opening track of the band's final studio album, this song is sung from the perspective of a young child having an internal crisis. He fears what will come his way when he enters adulthood, such as financial responsibilities and white-collar work the, as well as the social conformity that typically goes hand-in-hand with the latter. He worries about the more personal aspects of adulthood as well, most notably; despising the prospect of ending up like his bickering, alcoholic parents.

Basically, this kid took one long look at everything adulthood has to offer and said "no thanks." The idea of staying young has been a common theme throughout this list, but what sets this song apart is that the narrator doesn't appear to even remotely entertain the idea of an alternative. Moreover, this is all done with the incomparable musical styling that made the Ramones not only iconic, but also Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.