Spanning the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, the Eagles, the Alarm, and cranky Irish couch sitters the Cranberries all had songs called “21,” while the regrettable U.S. outfit Marry Me Jane got all contrary with “I’m Not 21,” which I must confess, once played in my head on a snowy birthday night, as I scurried along St. Mark’s Place to retrieve something of critical importance from my Astor Place apartment. With snow and beer pixelating my senses, the song’s melancholy melody seemed the perfect soundtrack for both my ill-advised excursion and for turning a year older, yet now I cringe to think of it, even as I gain a certain peace in divulging the episode. A pair of lesser known, first-wave English punk bands also weigh in on 21: The Adverts give us “No Time to Be 21,” which offers the cheery assessment, “No chances/no plans/I think I’ll be somebody else/or else a madman” and “We’re 21 Today” by Toy Dolls, which doesn’t even last 21 seconds. Modern-day punks the Paddingtons charted in the UK with the snide and sassy “21,” while Bobby Conn, a Chicago native and a member of the exclusive ex-convict school of rock (see Leadbelly, Johnny Cash, et al) offers up some sweet, brass-tinged porno funk in his song named for today’s numeral.

“Just Twenty One,” by Scottish prog rock outfit Beggar’s Opera, is what happens when young guys in the early ‘70s—moved to make the complex arty music of their heroes—utterly fail. It takes a certain level of skill to make progressive rock lyrics work, and Beggar’s Opera ensured that they would never make it to the next celestial stratosphere with earthbound lyrics like, “There’s a woman/looks like over 30/But she’s just 21/Aint that a pity?” The song’s raunchy Zappa-esque groove is similarly at odds with the spacey, drum-less excursion in the middle, which is really the only proggy thing about it. Listening to this track gave me a renewed respect for classic prog rock’s fine lyrical tradition, a tradition that tells that mountains do occasionally come out of the sky, and they stand there. But only if you really listen. Also from the ‘70s comes Marc Bolan’s “21st Century,” which is no “20th Century Boy,” and King Crimson’s party favorite, “21st Century Schizoid Man.” And lest we forget, just last year the Red Hot Chlli Peppers made their own “21st Century.”

We can thank our lucky stars that there is indeed a 21 song that is solid in every respect and makes sense on every level. It was released the same year as “Mr. Twenty-One” by the Orlons, a sort of “16 Candles” sung for a 21-year-old who is now old enough to get hitched. But to the singer of the 21-slot winner, turning 21 has far less virtuous implications than the Orlons song. Which is how it should be, for what does turning 21 signify? Adulthood. And what does adulthood signify? That’s right. Sex. What song by a classic group says, “21 is when I get to do what I want, with whom I want, whenever I want?” That would be “Twenty One” by the Shirelles.

As if they needed any greater testament to their rock & roll bona fides, the Shirelles, a quartet of young women who in the early ‘60s made hits out of songs by a young Burt Bacharach and the great Goffin-King, among others, were a favorite of the Beatles, who covered the Shirelles twice on their first LP, with “Boys” and “Baby It’s You.”

It’s true that women don’t generally save themselves until they reach 21 anymore, but there’s something about the undisguised desires being expressed herein that render this song timeless. Anyway, all you have to do is substitute a much lower number for 21 for “Twenty-One,” which was released in 1961, to make 21st century sense. True to its era, the song’s final verse tamps down the air of sexual excitement —the singer imagines having a daughter and telling her she must also wait till she’s 21—but the overriding sentiment is the one packed into the first verses, namely, When I’m 21, I’m gonna have some grown-up fun. And I can’t wait.

Can’t go steady, can’t even have a date/21

How in the world will I ever find a mate?/21

One of these days I’ll be 21

Look out boys, here I come

Wo wo wo wo wo

21.

the Shirelles - "Twenty-One"

Numerology is our pal Dave's ill advised quest to find the definitive song for every number from one to a hundred. The plague of self absorbed twenty-something songwriters should see him through for now, but there are rough times ahead.

Previously: No. 1, 2-4, 5-7, 7 (counterpoint), 8, 9, 10/11, 12/13. 13 (counterpoint), 14/15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20