"Darling Be Home Soon," The Lovin' Spoonful (1967)

A tentative, beautiful love song

Peak: #15 on the Hot 100
Streams: 8.7 million

It’s the “quarter of my life” part that gets me. John Sebastian wrote “Darling Be Home Soon” when he was 22, and the song aches with a young man’s realization that real love reorganizes you in ways you can’t predict. “A quarter of my life has almost passed,” he sings. “I think I’ve come to see myself at last.”…