- Become a Member
- Join Now
- Sustaining Members
- Member Benefits
- Match Your Contribution
- FAQ
- Existing Members
- Member Discounts
- Member Benefits
- Change of Address
- Tax Information
- Newsletters
- /
- Podcasts
- /
- RSS Feeds
- /
- Mobile
Got Any Graduation Advice?
Posted at 8:43 PM on May 19, 2008
by Mark Wheat
(14 Comments)
Thanks for all the calls and emails from those of you who are graduating!
CONGRATULATIONS!!
At this time of year with Colleges and High Schools wrapping up for the summer, I always want to play my fave graduation advice song. We'll feature it around 8.30pm Thursday and if you have any songs that you think do a good job of giving advice for graduates I'd love to expand the set!
If you had to make a commencement speech, which song would you tell the students to listen to, intending to give them a guide for life?
Comments (14)
At this moment, my favorite song concerning good advice for someone about to graduate is "Old Dogs Never Die" by The Lawrence Arms. (by the way - I think the Current needs to be playing this band, as well as more punk in general. The Lawrence Arms are the most intellegent band I've heard in a LONG time!)
Be it high school or college, there's probably gonna be many things you regret after graduation, and not be able to change or take back. I know that's the truth for me! This song's message is pretty clear: F*** regret! You can't change your past! Move on!!
(Jean-Paul Sartre would be proud)
Anyway, the song ends this way:
"So just forget all the regrets that keep haunting you/
They aren't worth your time/
And just forget all the days that dragged out for miles and miles/
Leave them all behind..."
It's true. Check it out.
Hey Mark,
I think it's a great idea to play graduation songs for high school and college graduates. I've got a perfect one:
Mother, Mother by Tracy Bonham.
I'm 41 and I still feel that way sometimes. :)
Good luck, graduates! You'll be fine. Eventually.
this night be a little off beat but Dogma By K.M.F.D.M.
Its one of the songs I think of when i think back to when I graduated. It's a little harsh but it makes you think
my high school graduating class chose 'in my life' by the beatles as our class song.
There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all
But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more
Don't forget about Advice to the Graduate by The Silver Jews. Great song & so very true.
Don't forget about Advice to the Graduate by The Silver Jews. Great song & so very true.
Even if only for the last line, I would say "Stay Free" by the Clash....
Go easy. Step lightly... Stay Free.
And although it doesn't necessarily offer advice, i would say "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop reflects that wide-eyed world conquering exuberance that could/should accompany graduating.. "..And everything was made for you and me.."
um...Cubicle by Rinocerose...Not sure if that's advice or a glimse into the future.
:)
I get so nostalgic for college at this time of year. Great songs that come to mind are:
Waiting for my Real Life to Begin- Colin Hay
Wild World- Cat Stevens or Beth Orton
Can't Hardly Wait- Replacements
Massive Nights- The Hold Steady
Young Folks- PB&J
What's the World Got in Store- Wilco
I listened to these songs a lot when I was getting ready to graduate. The best advice I can pass on would to be to not worry so much. Take your time. Now's the time to learn about yourself.
The goofy side of me says, why not Alice Cooper's "School's Out"
The cynical, dark poet side of me says to choose "I've Been Waiting For Tomorrow All of My Life" by The The
Don't take any wooden nickels
When you sell your soul
- eels
Go tell the women that we're leaving
- grinderman
Facts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to
Facts just twist the truth around
Facts are living turned inside out
Facts are getting the best of them
Facts are nothing on the face of things
Facts don't stain the furniture
Facts go out and slam the door
Facts are written all over your face
Facts continue to change their shape
-talking heads
ps.
“Never eat at a place called Moms, never play cards with a man named Doc, and never go to bed with anyone who has more troubles than you.”
Nelson Algren
Baz Luhrman's Sunscreen Speech.
That song is based off of a graduation speech, so it suits the subject quite well, I think.
I'm ashamed to say it still makes me misty eyed when I hear it. And I think I was well into my twenties when it came out.
But, I get misty a lot... at lots of things... Anyway... I love the entire thing, but this is so true:
"Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary...what ever you do, dont congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either - your choices are half chance, so are everybody elses."
So Mark, I just checked out your favorite graduation advice song.
Do you think I should've done that before my original post? Me thinks yes, yes I should've.
But great minds do think a like.
Thanks for playing one of my songs last night!
What a great idea for a set. I hadn't heard the Sunscreen song in ten years and it means so much more to me now than when I was a teenager.
| May 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Master Archive
- Monday Coffee Break: Short and Sweet
- Today In Music History: A Salute To Roy Acuff
- Honey-do: Power Pop tunes
- Random Vinyl 11/16-11/20
- Friday Coffee Break: Viernes No Ingles!
- Today In Music History: He Wrote The Religious Song That Wasn't
- The Chart Show Top 20 11-19-09
- Thursday Coffee Break: Second At The Mic
- Today In Music History: The Original Blue Suede Shoes
- New Music Added To The Current This Week!
- Become a Member
- Leadership Circle
- Sustaining Members
- Member Discounts
- Become a Sponsor
- Tax Information
- Planned Giving
- Fundraising Credentials
- Vehicle Donation
- Donate Stock