{"id":719508,"date":"2026-06-22T16:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/719508\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T16:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:53:11","slug":"4-songs-from-the-1970s-that-have-solid-life-advice-worth-taking-decades-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/719508\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Songs From the 1970s That Have Solid Life Advice Worth Taking Decades Later"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world of today looks virtually unrecognizable from the world of the 1970s, in terms of popular songs, social norms, traditions, technology, and beyond. But some life advice never changes, no matter how much time has passed, and these four songs from the 1970s prove it. Sure, life might look different in the 2020s.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the advice from these hit tracks still holds up.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tVideos by American Songwriter\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gambler\u201d by Kenny Rogers<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

What better way to kick off a list of 1960s and 70s songs with life advice than \u201cThe Gambler\u201d<\/a>,\u00a0 a 1978 track about an old gambler offering guidance to a wayward narrator in exchange for some booze? Even all these years later, the advice the gambler provided rings true.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to know when to hold \u2018em, know when to fold \u2018em, know when to walk away, know when to run \/ You never count your money when you\u2019re sittin\u2019 at the table \/ There\u2019ll be time enough for countin\u2019 when the dealin\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStairway To Heaven\u201d by Led Zeppelin<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cStairway To Heaven\u201d<\/a> might be one of those songs that grew tiresome for Led Zeppelin after it became a gargantuan hit in the early 1970s. But for everyone else, this rocking ballad\u2014and the life advice that Robert Plant hides among the lyrics\u2014never gets old.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s a bustle in your hedgerow, don\u2019t be alarmed now \/ It\u2019s just a spring clean for the May queen \/ Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run \/ There\u2019s still time to change the road you\u2019re on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVienna\u201d by Billy Joel<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

As someone who has felt burnt out since freshman year of high school, this writer can attest to using \u201cVienna\u201d<\/a> by Billy Joel as my own musical pep talk countless times. No matter how old I get, the lyrics still feel like Joel is singing them straight to me, offering me patient guidance while I work through my frazzled emotions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got your passion, you\u2019ve got your pride \/ But don\u2019t you know that only fools are satisfied? \/ Dream on, but don\u2019t imagine they\u2019ll all come true \/ When will you realize Vienna waits for you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet It Be\u201d by The Beatles\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cLet It Be\u201d<\/a>, the title track to the final Beatles album, will close out this list of 1970s songs with great, timeless life advice. Paul McCartney later said he wrote the song after his late mother, who died when McCartney was only a young teen, visited him in a dream. Although this experience was undoubtedly ultra-personal, McCartney managed to craft a universally relatable song out of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me \/ Shine until tomorrow, let it be \/ I wake up to the sound of music \/ Mother Mary comes to me \/ Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo by Jasper Dailey\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world of today looks virtually unrecognizable from the world of the 1970s, in terms of popular songs,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2616,12013,88,216,17172,2156],"class_list":["post-719508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-1970s","tag-country-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-pop-music","tag-rock-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}