Top 10 Graduation Songs for 2009

It's May (or June), and it's time for graduation! Many of you, attending others' graduations, have likely heard "Pomp and Circumstance" until you feel like plugging your ears. So, if you had the option of choosing another song, what would it be?

The songs below have likely been used at some graduations; then again, some may not have ever graced a graduating procession. Either way, if you're a member of your student government, a teacher, or just someone planning to hold a grad party, you may want to consider these songs as diploma time rolls around:

10. Oasis - "Wonderwall": One of the many possible "graduation songs" that isn't really about graduation, "Wonderwall" can fit beautifully nonetheless. It seems to be about the breakup of a relationship, which works quite well with many of the themes of graduation:

And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
But I don't know how

Since the event of graduating is often bittersweet, the lyrics fit nicely. The song, too, is still popular even years after its release in 1995. It can be found on Oasis' album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, available on iTunes, CDNow.com, and other music sites.

9. Jeff Buckley - "Last Goodbye": This is yet another breakup song that doubles as a graduation theme. Its beautiful melody, soothing rhythm, and touching lyrics are absolutely appropriate for students spending their last moments on campus:

This is our last goodbye
I hate to feel the love between us die
But it's over
Just hear this and then I'll go
You gave me more to live for
More than you'll ever know

In many ways, it can be a metaphor for friends who will be far apart, students leaving their teachers, or moving on to a new stage of life. Adding to its appropriateness, somehow, is the fact that the singer, Buckley, has passed on. Therefore, it stands as a memory to him as well as any personal memories you may have.

The track is found on Buckley's album Grace, available on iTunes, Rhapsody, and AOL Music Now.

8. Smashing Pumpkins - "Tonight, Tonight": A gorgeous song, with lyrics that can be applied to many occasions, "Tonight, Tonight" is also excellent for graduation. Even just reading the lyrics of the first verse, you might be able to imagine it at the ceremony:

Time is never time at all
You can never, ever leave
Without leaving a piece of youth.
And our lives are forever changed
We will never be the same
The more you change the less you feel.

It seems perfect, particularly because many students may feel "stuck" in their hometowns, or hampered by living at home. Graduation, for many, is a chance to move on and discover new heights; hence, "Tonight, Tonight" is their song.

7. Indigo Girls - "Crazy Game": One of the Indigo Girls' lesser known songs, it encompasses a theme of "leaving and returning," which is equally important to graduation. Examine the chorus:

'Cause if you're ever believing
I'm thinking of leaving
Look to the moon, 'cause it's a fact
She may go wandering about
But she always comes shining back
And it's true, I'll wait for you.

Many students and their friends go their separate ways following graduation, which can be a source of heartbreak. In a sense, however, many return to where they came from, whether physically or in spirit, so "Crazy Game" fits excellently. Besides its lyrics, the melody is soothing and fits wonderfully at a senior picnic.

6. Green Day - "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)": At my senior picnic, a friend from my graduating class sat in a tree, singing and playing this song on acoustic guitar. It's one of my fondest memories from senior year, and I hope that it can be so for others as well.

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong once stated that it was about the breakup of a relationship, but as you've seen, many songs with that theme can apply to graduating:

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test and don't ask why
It's not a question but a lesson learned in time

Even for those who don't care for Green Day's earlier work (e.g. "Basket Case"), this song has tugged at many folks' heartstrings. It should, therefore, be at someone's graduation.

5. Led Zeppelin - "Ramble On": Led Zeppelin, still considered classic after all these years, created an ideal graduation song in "Ramble On," from their Led Zeppelin II album. The lyrics convey a theme of "moving on," which many students have on their minds as they graduate:

Got no time for spreading roots
The time has come to be gone,
And though our health we drank
A thousand times, it's time to ramble on.

The music, too, alternates between folksy acoustic guitar and driving rock, which artists may associate with the ups and downs of life, or some other abstract concept. Listen to the music, and devise your own meaning.

4. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "My Friends": Yet another song with many interpretations, "My Friends" works as a graduation theme because of its lyrical ideas. The overall subject seems to be about friends sticking together:

My friends are so depressed
I feel the question of your loneliness
Confide, 'cause I'll be on your side
You know I will, you know I will

Whether or not you're a major fan of the Chili Peppers, if you really sit down and listen to the song closely, chances are you'll be able to relate in some way. To boot, it has a beautiful melody and an amazing guitar solo by Dave Navarro in the middle. How can you go wrong?

3. The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony": Many young folks in the '90s blasted this song while driving down the highways, and for good reason. Its gorgeous melody and contemplative lyrics remain timeless, even years after their release:

It's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to the money, then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down

While it may sound negative, the song can be therapeutic for many students who are leaving home for the first time and going off on their own. By the way, in case you were unaware, the melody to the song is "borrowed" from a tune by The Rolling Stones, entitled "The Last Time." The Verve's version, however, sounds quite different.

2. Yoko Kanno - "Call Me, Call Me": This song, originally written for the show Cowboy Bebop, is also a beautiful number applicable to many settings. It evokes two people in love who have not seen one another in years, but may work just as well for a graduation ceremony:

Call me, call me
Let me know it's alright
Call me, call me
Don't you think it's 'bout time
Please won't you call and ease my mind
Reasons for me to find you

If you're making a graduation party mix, this song would work excellently in adding some variety and flavor to your playlist. You can probably find it on a file-sharing nework, or purchase the soundtrack album from various websites.

1. The Beatles - "Strawberry Fields Forever": Out of all the songs on this list, "Strawberry Fields" somehow seems the most appropriate. Its chorus, especially, is sweet, melodious, and a reflection on life as a whole:

Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to
Strawberry fields
Nothing is real, and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry fields forever

Like many of the songs above, "Strawberry" has an overwhelmingly positive theme, yet somewhat ambiguous lyrics. Therefore, it may have a different meaning to each person who listens to it. Even as times change drastically, it always seems to have its place in life. Why not make it your graduation theme?

So, there you have it: a list of newly interpreted graduation songs for high school, college, grad school, or who knows what? From this list, of course, you can surely come up with your own. Just say that someone else gave you a little push.