23 Great Songs About Memories [Updated 2023]

Life is made of moments. 

Time after time; experience after experience; want from want. 

However, once those moments are gone, we do nothing but keep reviving them, but in our minds. 

Naturally, memories are precious gems that make us feel happy, sad, and more often than not, a combination of both. 

Here you’ll find 23 songs about memories. Which one resonates with your life the most? 

1. Summer of ‘69 – Bryan Adams 

The “69” in the title doesn’t refer to the real 1969’s summer. It’s just a form of making a song about sex even more sexual. 

However, it does recall the first sexual experiences during the summer season, so it’s a song about memories in the end. 

2. Memories – Maroon 5 

More often than not, memories are packed with bittersweet feelings. 

After having a few drinks, singer Adam Levine remembers the special moments he spent with his loved one, who’s no longer with him. 

3. I Remember You – Skid Row 

The worst memories of them all are those that hurt us the most, yet we refuse to let go

4. Photograph – Nickelback 

Written after real events from singer Chad Kroeger’s childhood. 

Photograph is a Nickelback classic off the 2005 album All The Right Reasons

5. Memories – Weezer 

Dozens of artists narrate in their songs how much they miss home while touring. Weezer did the exact opposite. 

Memories is about the empty gap that takes place between finishing a tour and starting to work on the next album. It’s about missing life on the road and playing with your friends

6. Wasted Years – Iron Maiden 

Although Wasted Years’ lyrics have a strong focus on the present moment, it derives from the feeling of “not wanting to be here” that haunted guitarist Adrian Smith. 

There’s a melancholic aura to this one, where bitter memories from life at home resonate strongly. 

7. Do Your Remember Rock N’ Roll Radio? – The Ramones 

The “Back in the day, music was better” belief did not emerge after the 2000s. 

The Ramones were already claiming that in 1980! And to think so many great artists emerged during that decade… 

One way or another, this track is about remembering the good old days, listening to the radio, and lying in bed with the covers pulled up over one’s head. 

8. When We Were Young – Adele 

Written by Adele and Tobias Jesso Jr. 

When We Were Young provides that strange feeling you get when you meet years later with people from your youth

Those you loved, those you argued with, those who used to be best friends with, and so on. 

9. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) – Green Day 

First acoustic ballad made by Californian group Green Day (one of the many that would come, naturally). 

The reason Billie Joe Armstrong wrote the song was after her girlfriend departed to Ecuador to continue her studies.  

10. Dead Memories – Slipknot 

A metal classic from the 2008 album All Hope is Gone

11. Sarah McLachlan – I Will Remember You 

I Will Remember You emerged as an inspiration after another song about memories. More precisely, a song by Séamus Egan, which you’ll find below on the list. 

Considering that the original is an instrumental, McLachlan and other musicians added lyrics, changed the title, and altered the melody to make a brand-new song. 

The first appearance of the song was in the movie The Brothers McMullen

12. Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen  

The good old days are what everyone thinks about at some time in their lives. 

We are no longer young, we are no longer strong. We have no more free time or happy days. 

In those cases, it always feels nice to recall our memories and have a big laugh. 

Nonetheless, I strongly believe every age has its good and bad days, so it’s wise to take the most out of it, to avoid regrets in the future.  

13. Memory – Barbra Streisand 

Originally made by The Cats, this song is an adaptation of a poem by T.S. Eliot called Rhapsody On A Windy Night

14. I Still Miss Someone – Johnny Cash 

Off from Cash’s second studio album The Fabulous Johnny Cash, the song I Still Miss Someone was written both by Johnny and his nephew Roy Cash Jr.  

15. I Won’t Forget You – Poison 

Indeed, the 80s were packed with power ballads, mostly about missing a loved one and wanting to travel back in time to keep sharing moments with that person.  

16. So Far Away – Avenged Sevenfold 

A song with sad connotations. 

So Far Away is about missing a loved one who has passed away

In the case of the band, the lyrics are dedicated to the former drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, who died in 2009. 

Sadder still is seeing the music video, with children playing, rehearsing, and drinking their first beers, to remember all the memories spent with that person. 

17. It’s Just a Burning Memory – The Caretaker 

An instrumental that became the most characteristic song for “Trollge”, an old meme revived some years ago, most commonly seen on the Youtube “incidents” videos. 

18. Just A Memory – Escape The Fate 

A “spicy” tune from the metalcore band Escape The Fate. 

The music clearly reflects a type of “no-more-second-chances” feeling, full of hatred and dismay. 

19. Yesterday – The Beatles 

Yesterday is a classic, but it’s not the first song that we think about when talking about memories, isn’t it? 

Well, the truth is that McCartney’s song is about missing the past, which of course, has to do with remembering and yearning for the old days. 

20. Weep Not For The Memories – Séamus Egan 

The instrumental on which McLachlan’s song was based. 

Music is so interesting that it doesn’t need lyrics to recall a memory. 

Sometimes, a title and a melody are more than enough. 

21. Take Your Memory With You – Vince Gill 

22. Memories – David Guetta (feat Kid Cudi) 

23. (You Want To) Make A Memory – Bon Jovi