100 great songs composed by teenagers

57. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers

58. From salsa, "Che Che Colé," Willie Colón
59. "Der Erlkönig," and a few others, Franz Schubert

60 Nas "The World is Yours"

61. "Creation" by Creation
One of my all time favourite Norwegian songs, penned by the then 16YO Geir Olav Bøkestad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRD8sh8z8uI

Let's do this for PROGGE

Cardiac Arrest - A Balloon For Bertie's Party
Kiran Leonard - Pink Fruit
The Electric Soft Parade - Silent To The Dark
like all of Bergtatt by Ulver and loads of other BM kinda

YOUNGE PROGGE

A modern day Riquelme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDG6FibIkwY

How Mozart's compositions are listed[edit]
The indication "K." or "KV" refers to Köchel Verzeichnis (Köchel catalogue), i.e. the (more or less) chronological (i.e. by composition date) catalogue of Mozart's works by Ludwig von Köchel. This catalog has been amended several times, leading to ambiguity over some KV numbers (see e.g. Symphony No. 25).
The compositions of Mozart listed below are grouped thematically, i.e. by type of composition. Not all thematic groups of Mozart's works have a separate numbering that is generally accepted: Köchel only numbers symphonies (1 to 41), piano concertos (1 to 27, leaving out some early transcriptions by Mozart) and a few other groups. On the other hand, for most chamber music and vocal music there is no such numbering (or at least no generally accepted one).
Only relatively few of Mozart's compositions have opus numbers, as not so many of his compositions were published during his lifetime, so numbering by opus number proves quite impractical for Mozart compositions.
Symphonies[edit]
Main article: List of symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart's symphonic production covers a 24-year interval, from 1764 to 1788. According to most recent investigations, Mozart wrote not just the 41 symphonies reported in traditional editions, but up to 68 complete works of this type. However, by convention, the original numbering has been retained, and so his last symphony is still known as "No. 41". Some of the symphonies (K. 297, 385, 550) were revised by the author after their first versions.

Childhood symphonies (1764–1771)[edit]
These are the numbered symphonies from Mozart's early childhood.

Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major, K. 16
Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major, K. 17 (spurious, attributed to Leopold Mozart)
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, K. 18 (spurious, by Carl Friedrich Abel)
Symphony No. 4 in D major, K. 19
Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, K. 22
Symphony No. 6 in F major, K. 43
Symphony No. 7 in D major, K. 45
Symphony No. 8 in D major, K. 48
Symphony No. 9 in C major, K. 73/75a
Symphony No. 10 in G major, K. 74
Symphony No. 11 in D major, K. 84/73q
Symphony No. 12 in G major, K. 110/75b
Symphony No. 13 in F major, K. 112
There are also several "unnumbered" symphonies from this time period. Many of them were given numbers past 41 (but not in chronological order) in an older collection of Mozart's works (Mozart-Werke, 1877–1910, referred to as "GA"), but newer collections refer to them only by their entries in the Köchel catalogue. Many of these cannot be definitively established as having been written by Mozart (see here).

Symphony in F major, K. 75 (GA 42)
Symphony in F major, K. 76/42a (GA 43: doubtful)
Symphony in D major, K. 81/73l (GA 44: doubtful)
Symphony in D major, K. 95/73n (GA 45)
Symphony in C major, K. 96/111b (GA 46)
Symphony in D major, K. 97/73m (GA 47)
Symphony in F major, K. 98/Anh.C 11.04 (GA 48/56: doubtful)
Symphony in B-flat major, K. Anh. 214/45b (GA 55: doubtful)
Symphony in B-flat major, K. Anh. 216/74g/Anh.C 11.03 (GA 54: doubtful)
Symphony in G major, "Old Lambach", K. Anh. 221/45a
Symphony in F major, K. Anh. 223/19a
Symphony in A minor, "Odense", K. Anh. 220/16a (doubtful)
Salzburg-era symphonies (1771–1777)[edit]
These symphonies are sometimes subcategorized as "Early" (1771–1773) and "Late" (1773–1777), and sometimes subcategorized as "Germanic" (with minuet) or "Italian" (without minuet). None of these were printed during Mozart's lifetime.

Although not counted as "symphonies" the three Divertimenti K. 136–138, in 3-movement Italian overture style, are sometimes indicated as "Salzburg Symphonies" too.

Symphony No. 14 in A major, K. 114 (1771)
Symphony No. 15 in G major, K. 124 (1772)
Symphony No. 16 in C major, K. 128 (1772)
Symphony No. 17 in G major, K. 129 (1772)
Symphony No. 18 in F major, K. 130 (1772)
Symphony No. 19 in E-flat major, K. 132 (1772)
Symphony No. 20 in D major, K. 133 (1772)
Symphony No. 21 in A major, K. 134 (1772)
Symphony No. 22 in C major, K. 162 (1773)
Symphony No. 23 in D major, K. 181/162b (1773)
Symphony No. 24 in B-flat major, K. 182/173dA (1773)
Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183/173dB (1773)
Symphony No. 26 in E-flat major, K. 184/161a (1773)
Symphony No. 27 in G major, K. 199/161b (1773)
Symphony No. 28 in C major, K. 200/189k (1774)
Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201/186a (1774)
Symphony No. 30 in D major, K. 202/186b (1774)
There are also several "unnumbered" symphonies from this time period that make use of music from Mozart's operas from the same time period. They are also given numbers past 41.

Symphony in D major, K. 111+(120/111a) (GA 48)
Symphony in D major, K. (126+(161/163))/141a (GA 50)
Symphony in D major, K. 196+(121/207a) (GA 51)
Symphony in C major, K. 208+(102/213c) (GA 52)
Symphony in D major, K. 135+61h
There are also three symphonies from this time period that are based on three of Mozart's serenades:

Symphony in D major, K. 204 (based on the Serenade No. 5)
Symphony in D major, K. 250 (based on the "Haffner" serenade)
Symphony in D major, K. 320 (based on the "Posthorn" serenade)

Violin concertos[edit]
Mozart's five violin concertos were written in Salzburg around 1775. They are notable for the beauty of their melodies and the skillful use of the expressive and technical characteristics of the instrument, though Mozart likely never went through all the violin possibilities that others (e.g. Beethoven and Brahms) did after him. (Alfred Einstein notes that the violin concerto-like sections in the serenades are more virtuosic than in the works titled Violin Concertos.)

Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, K. 207 (1775)
Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major, K. 211 (1775)
Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216 (1775)
Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218 (1775)
Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 (1775)
Mozart also wrote a concertone, an adagio and two stand-alone rondos for violin and orchestra.

Concertone in C major, for Two Violins and Orchestra, K. 190/186E (1774)

"It Doesn't Matter Anymore," sung by Buddy Holly, is a Paul Anka composition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7kpgFwXCMg

wendy n bonnie

Animal Collective - "Penny Dreadfuls"

avey tare wrote that when he was 16

the entirety of Before the World Was Big by Girlpool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6lYDZ8xGVY

oh man, so otm ^

^ That song was written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein

Everything on the first Violent Femmes album was written by Gordon Gano when he was 18. Blister in the Sun, Gone Daddy Gone, etc.

imago mentioned black metal upthread but I'll spell it out: the entirety of Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse.

Free- All Right Now

Andy Fraser was 18 when he co-wrote this hit with Paul Rodgers who was an over the hill 21 at the time.

I believe Todd Rundgren was 19 when he wrote "Hello It's Me"

Robin Gibb (b. 22/12/49) had a hand in a fair few. As did Maurice, for that matter. (Andy Fraser was 17 when we wrote "All Right Now btw).

Christian Wolff was 17/18 when wrote this ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDKXlMnhdT4

Elliott Smith - Condor Avenue

Ha, I compiled a similar list a few days ago.

Oh I bumped this thread because I saw your list but wanted to expand the idea beyond pop! Good list though

Cardiac Arrest - A Balloon For Bertie's Party

I've read that As Cold As Can Be In An English Sea was written in 1976 so he would have been around 14. It's one of my favourite songs.

The 2005 'rehearsal' version if anyone needs evidence. Also one of the best things on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/N5QYijFfOaQ

Felix Mendelssohn and George Enescu's string octets, written when they were 16 and 19, respectively. Here's a quality performance of the latter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugv_o2XsJoE

nobody mentioned Rowland S Howard's 'Shivers'?!?!

George Michael was 17 when he wrote "Careless Whisper."

McCartney wrote « When I’m 64 » when he was 15. It might not be « great » though!

It isn't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rfGKIMwpJk

That album by Jethro Tull, written by Gerald Bostock..

:-)

entirety of Fiona Apple's Tidal, but especially "Sleep to Dream" and "Shadowboxer".

totally otm Roz

Just realised Matt Johnson wrote Icing Up when he was still a teenager. I think it's one of the greatest songs ever written tbh

Billy Nicholls wrote Daytime Girl when he was 18

(by contrast, "boy genius" Brian Wilson was 20 when he wrote the enduring surfpop masterpieces 'Cuckoo Clock' and 'Heads You Win, Tails I Lose')

those are my favorite songs on Pet Sounds

Kate Bush wrote The Man With The Child In His Eyes when she was 13. Beat that.

</simon day voice>

40. To Know Him is to Love Him - Teddy Bears

Still my choice for the eeriest no. 1 single. A teenage love song inspired by the words on a father's gravestone after he commits suicide. Also the fact that Spector's father killed himself in 1949 in NY and the Teddy Bears released the song in LA in 1958, so Spector must have had the words rattling around in his head for all those years...and suddenly he turns it into a song of teenage angst amid the California sunshine.

Most of the first Supergrass album.