It’s that time of year when spring is springing again — the flowers are blooming, the weather is perfect, and on your daily walks to classes, you see graduates getting their photos done, with their sashes and bottles of champagne. It’s a happy time of year, but also a very nostalgic one, and it’s important that graduates celebrate this time of life. And what better way to celebrate graduation and entry into the next chapter of life than curating the perfect graduation day playlist?
Graduating and moving on to different seasons of life is difficult to do, and we need outlets like music that allow us to express how it feels to experience this, and in turn, rely on it as an outlet of comfort. Here are 20 songs to add to your graduation playlist to help capture all the happiness and emotionality of graduation season. Each of these songs — from all different music eras and genres — offer different messages about what it means to move forward into a new chapter of life. Play them while you’re decorating your cap, getting ready for your ceremony, or celebrating afterwards with all your closest people. You deserve it!
“home” by phillip phillips
When I think of a song that fills me with nostalgia, it’s this one. Four years ago, you were moving into the dorms, carrying all of your bedding and favorite framed pictures, while also carrying a mix of emotions of excitement and fear for the chapter that awaited you. Now, you look back on your four years, and you see you really did make this place a home. There’s no better way to say it than this song does.
“Unwritten” By Natasha Bedingfield
We often think of graduation as a close of one chapter, but we forget it also signifies the opening of another. Yes, there are tears in goodbyes, but there are also smiles with new beginnings. This song reminds graduates that this is a time of opening a new chapter of life and “staring at the blank page before you” to dream up what you want to accomplish in your future.
“Never Grow Up” By Taylor Swift
If you’re in the mood to feel all the nostalgia and sadness of graduation, this song is definitely for you. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say this one’s a tear-jerker. Realizing that you’re older than the person you once were is a difficult reality to grasp, and graduation reminds us of this reality. We will never be as young as we once were, and while this can be an emotional thing to come to terms with, it should empower us to make the most of every little moment because they don’t last forever. We are not confined to living one chapter of life– a lot of times, once we feel like we are getting used to one chapter, it closes and another one opens.
“Lean On Me” By Bill Withers
When you think about the past four years, you’re not only going to think about the good and happy things that happened, because reality is, life is not perfect. There are obstacles and challenges we face daily as part of being human. But what makes these challenges easier are the people who help us endure them. We’re not expected to be strong all the time, and we’re not expected to be strong enough to carry all the weight of our burdens. Friends and family help lighten our loads and make our challenges more bearable, which is what part of what makes a fulfilling life. As you get ready to graduate, think of all the people you’ve leaned on in this chapter and across the different chapters of your life — because these people are likely to support you as you enter into your next chapter, too.
“Green Light” By Lorde
When we do things, we often seek the “green light,” or a confirmation by someone else that we can do it and are capable of doing it. Getting the green light involves committing oneself to doing it and not looking back. Lorde’s repetition of the line throughout the song is the perfect phrase for graduates to repeat and hold close as they walk across the finish line at graduation, knowing they have received the green light to make it across the stage and not look back.
“I Hope You Dance” By Lee Ann Womack
What’s one universal thing that humans do when they celebrate? Dance. Dance is a physical expression of gratitude, happiness, and pretty much all things good, so it seems pretty fitting that there would be dancing involved with graduation day. The lines, “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean/ Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens,” feel especially relevant to graduates, as the door behind them closes while another one awaits to be opened.
“Good Old Days” By Macklemore and Kesha
We often don’t find meaning in moments until they have passed us by. There’s one line in this song that encapsulates this feeling pretty well: “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.” I’ll bet that this thought crosses the minds of graduates as they reflect upon this chapter of life that is coming to a close, as they realize the moments that seemed insignificant and small at the time are actually the ones that they remember the most.
“Good Life” By OneRepublic
Life doesn’t end after graduation — in many ways, it’s just getting started. That’s what makes this a good life — there are many ends, but each of these ends signify new beginnings. This song encourages graduates to look toward the things that are ahead that are worth celebrating and being grateful for. There will always be airplanes you can’t jump out and bullsh*t that doesn’t work out, but looking at the bigger picture, there’s a lot to be grateful for.
“Forever Young” By Alphaville
The ‘80s is one of the best eras of music of all time. If you’re looking for a song that gives you the best of the 80s while filling you with peaceful nostalgia, this song is for you. The song states it as straightforward as can be — isn’t the one thing we want when we’re graduating to stay in this stage of life? Honestly, even when we know what lays ahead, we’re still scared and want to remain in the present.
“We Are Young” by fun.
When people graduate, they’re constantly getting told that they’re growing up so fast, getting so old, and experiencing so much — but what they often *actually* need to hear is that they’re still young. While they are not as literally young as they once were, they are young in the sense that they still have so much to learn, experience, and grow from.
“You’re Gonna Go Far” By Noah Kahan
One of the hardest parts of entering a new chapter of life means moving away from home, family, and friends.Noah Kahan says it pretty well — when you feel scared navigating what’s ahead, put a hand on your heart, remember where you came from, and use that as anchor for where you voyage ahead. “The birds will still sing, and the leaves will still die,” but now you get to make a home beyond the ones you’ve cultivated.
“Pursuit of Happiness” By Kid Cuti ft. MGMT
If you’re tired of the sappy graduation songs you keep hearing at graduation parties and want a change of vibe, this song’s for you. In every life journey we pass through, we are in pursuit of the same thing: happiness. Whether you see happiness as a feeling, experience, or way of life, it’s something that graduates will keep pursuing in their future for the rest of their lives. On graduation day, remember the pursuit of your happiness is still underway.
“Take The Road Less Traveled” By Lauren Alaina
Like I mentioned earlier, graduation acts as a green light in laying the path ahead for you to travel upon. But no one’s path looks the same — in fact, some of the best roads are the ones that are less traveled upon. Don’t be afraid to take the road less traveled and deviate from paths you may have previously been upon.
“Follow Your Arrow” By Kacey Musgraves
Staying true to who you are, your values, and your hopes and dreams is critical in making your adventures full of learning, growth, and meaning. It can be easy to deviate from your path by comparing your journey to others, but following your arrow will make your journey worth it simply because it’s yours to take.
“Chapters” By Brett Young
This song explicitly references the different chapters in life and how these chapters work together in forming the singer’s identity. He describes two chapters of life in particular and shows how these chapters have taught him about himself and what he wants out of his life. Listening to this song on graduation day is special as it empowers you to think about how the different chapters of your life can be connected together and are intersected with meaning. “Every page you’ve turned is a lesson learned” and every chapter of life, including this one you are closing, completes you.
“Yesterday” By the Beatles
It’s hard to go back in time to visualize all the memories from the past chapter of your life, but when you do, it feels like it was all just yesterday. I’ve always heard my parents start the beginning of reciting a memory with “it felt like just yesterday,” and I’m starting to understand why.
“Five More Minutes” By Scott McCreery
When I was little and my mom and dad told me it was time to go and I didn’t want to, I asked the question that a lot of toddlers ask their parents: “Can I just have five more minutes?” And most of the time it worked. I think it’s because five minutes is enough time to finish what I was doing and enjoy myself, but it’s also not too much time to make my parents impatient and unwilling to accept my request. This applies in the graduation context, too — when graduates think about graduating and the implications that come along with this big step, they long for five more minutes — five more minutes to enjoy what they have right in front of them, but no time any shorter or longer.
“Vienna” By Billy Joel
It’s rare to find a timeless song with lyrics that can be applied at any place and at any point of time, but this song is one of those. “Where’s the fire, what’s the hurry about? You’d better cool it off before you burn it out…” These are my favorite two lines of the song because they point to the reality of burnout. The metaphor of letting the fire in you fuel you versus consume you is an important idea to acknowledge, especially in graduation season. Graduation is about celebrating your achievements and life to come, while remembering that no achievement, job, or milestone is worth consuming all of your time and energy. Life is about balance — and this song talks about just that.
“Yellow” By Coldplay
Throughout the chaos of different chapters of life, it is important to remember to look at the constants that are a part of each of these chapters — family, friends, and relationships. This song reminds us that just as stars twinkle in the night sky no matter where you are in the world, there are people in your life who will be there no matter what chapter of life you’re in. Walking across the graduation stage can be scary, but it’s less scary as you remember that there are always constants in the midst of variables.
“I’ve Had the Time of My Life” By Bill Medley and Jennfier Warnes
The title pretty much says it all. A lot of people say college is the time of your life, and I definitely see why. This hit from Dirty Dancing is an iconic celebration song to dance to on graduation day, before and after receiving your diploma on stage.