Editor's note: The list below, put together by best-selling author Jacquelyn Mitchard, prompts us to wonder: what are your favorite songs? If you were to put together a list of your favorite 16 songs — or favorite 6, or favorite 26, or even a number without a 6 in it — what would be on it? Let us know! Join the conversation in the "tell us what you think" box below, and be sure to include a list — of any length — of the songs you think everyone over 50 should own. Here's a summary of your responses so far.

Music stokes my mood, keeps me spinning, on the bike and in life, and recalls for me irreplaceable moments we get to experience once, if we’re lucky. 

So I’ve compiled a list of favorites from every genre, each of which speaks in some important way to our generation.