Coming of Age in Songs

Doug: So a couple of weeks ago my 8-minute commute to school featured Paradise by the Dashboard Light from Meat Loaf. It's a rocker all the way through (with the exception of course of the baseball [ahem...] play-by-play during the bridge). And so as I walked into the building (being an old guy, I have a close parking spot so it was definitely a short trek) I was struck with that moment of inspiration. "We can do something with this!"

Doug: As I got up to my classroom on the second floor, overlooking our beautiful athletic grounds -- which includes one of the nicest-looking baseball fields in the state of Illinois -- I fired up the computer and made a few mental notes. How many artists have expressed the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of the teen and young adult years through their music? Instantly Bob Seger's Night Moves came to mind. Later that day, with the iTunes player set on shuffle, Bruce Springsteen's The River came across. So I'll stop with those as my contributions to today's conversation, at least for now. After all, our readers are pretty well-drilled at this sort of thing. Have at it, friends!