List of graduation songs

This is a list of songs that are typically played during graduation ceremonies.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Popular traditional graduation songs by country or region

• Europe: "Gaudeamus Igitur" ^{[1] [ self-published source ]} or "Farandole from L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2"
• Latin America: "Triumphal March from Aida" ^[2]
• Japan: "Hotaru no hikari" (Uses the same tune as "Auld Lang Syne), ^[3] "Aogeba tōtoshi", ^[4] "Tabidachi no Hi ni" ^[5]
• The Philippines: "Triumphal March from Aida", ^{[6] [7]} "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" and "Farandole from L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2"
• Taiwan: "Auld Lang Syne" ^[8]
• US and Canada: "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" ^[9]
• Sweden: "Den blomstertid nu kommer", "I denna ljuva sommartid", "Studentsången"
• Russia: "March from The Nutcracker"
• Arab World: “Wehayat Albi” by Abdel Halim Hafez

Modern (20th century or later) graduation songs

• Graduation (Friends Forever), a song by Vitamin C ^[10]
• Time of Your Life (Good Riddance) by Green Day
• 10nen Sakura, a song by the Japanese idol group AKB48 released in 2009.
• "Next In Line" by Afterimage
• Through the Years, a 1981 song by Kenny Rogers
• Goodbye to You by Michelle Branch, released in 2002
• "The Whispering Wind" (earlier billed as "Whistling Wind"), "The Last Rose", and "All Those Years Ago" by Michael Flatley, released in 1998, 2005, and 2011
• Santorini by Yanni
• ”When We Were Friends” a song by Adam Fecht and Elizabeth Swearingen released in 2018 has received over 500,000 hits on YouTube. ^[11]
• Unwritten, a song by Natasha Bedingfield. ^{[12] [13]}
• Я смотрю на них by Tarakany!
• Giovinezza (graduation song), 1909 Italian student hymn
• "Ingatlah Hari Ini" (Remember This Day), by Indonesian Pop Group Project Pop

References

1. Dunaevsky, Valery (2015-10-28). A Daughter of the "Enemy of the People". Xlibris Corporation. ISBN   9781503574908.
2. "Marcha y Grados de Bachiller - eltiempo.com". 7 November 1997.
3. "Hotaru no Hikari - Everything2.com". www.everything2.com.
4. Kyodo News, "Popular school song traced to 19th-century U.S. book," Japan Times , 26 January 2011, p. 2.
5. "Japan Trivia: Teacher, principal in Saitama Pref. quickly penned hit graduation song". Mainichi Shimbun . 28 February 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
6. "The Most Popular School Graduation March Song/Music In The Philippines". Archipelago Files. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
7. Bermosa, Nobert. "The Definition of Common Graduation Terminologies and Other Related Matters". Knoji. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
8. 粵曲詞中詞初集(增訂版) (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 獨立作家－心一堂. 2015-04-01. ISBN   9789888316571.
9. Leskin, Thomas (4 June 2011). "History behind the graduation anthem". The Republican Herald. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
10. Thomas, Sean (2010-06-10). Boo Boo Stewart. Penguin. ISBN   9781101442128.
11. "Graduation Song". adamblueproductions.com. 2018-01-01. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
12. "20 Best Graduation Songs of the Last 20 Years". Rolling Stone . 18 May 2020.
13. "These Sentimental Graduation Songs Will Set the Tone for the Big Day". 6 April 2021.