A recent piece from American Songwriter looks back at three folk songs from the 1980s, arguing that their lyrics have gained extra resonance now that the artists who wrote them have grown older. The article suggests that ageing has retrospectively deepened the emotional weight of these tracks, which originally tackled themes such as longing, midlife anxiety and loneliness.

The three songs highlighted are Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" (recently revived by Luke Combs), Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" from his 1986 album Graceland, and John Prine's "Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness". The piece notes that Simon, now 84, wrote about a midlife crisis long before reaching old age himself, while Prine's song about loneliness is described as timelessly relatable across generations.