Songs for Achievements
Music for a result. The right song depends far less on the achievement than on who was watching: a stadium, a room of colleagues, or nobody at all. Those three want completely different records, and most lists give you only the first.
Updated September 202610 songs
Ten for any kind of win
- We Are the ChampionsQueen · 1977
For a win that cost something. Slow and grand, and best when a whole room sings it badly.
- Eye of the TigerSurvivor · 1982
For anything that took physical effort. Nobody can hear it and remain seated.
- Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us NowMcFadden & Whitehead · 1979
For a team result rather than an individual one. Written about exactly that feeling.
- Simply the BestTina Turner · 1989
Unsubtle and completely sincere. Say the person’s name over the intro and mean it.
- I’m Still StandingElton John · 1983
For coming through something rather than winning something. A different achievement and a bigger one.
- Higher LoveSteve Winwood · 1986
Uplifting without being triumphalist, which suits a work celebration where humility is expected.
- Chariots of FireVangelis · 1981
Instrumental, so it can play under a speech. Everyone knows what it means within four bars.
- Gonna Fly NowBill Conti · 1976
The Rocky theme. Funny and effective at once, which is a rare combination.
- Fight SongRachel Platten · 2015
For a recovery or a remission. Obvious, and obvious helps when it is true.
- Beautiful DayU2 · 2000
For the day rather than the achievement. Good immediately after a speech.
Who was watching
A stadium win, a work result and a private one need entirely different music. Anthems work when there is a crowd to sing them; played to one person in a kitchen they are absurd. Conversely, a quiet song about persistence is wasted on a room of two hundred people who want to shout. Decide who the audience is before you decide anything else.
The achievements nobody saw are the ones worth the most trouble. A qualification taken at forty-three while working full time, a year of sobriety, a book finished after eight years — these have no ceremony attached and usually no music either. If you are marking one of those, choose something quiet and specific and give it privately.
Beware of songs about winning when the thing was survival. “We Are the Champions” is about beating somebody; “I’m Still Standing” is about not being beaten. Handing the first to someone who has come through an illness or a divorce sounds tone deaf, however celebratory you meant it.
For a team, name the team. The whole reason “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” outperforms grander records at work events is that it is plural. A song about one heroic individual, played to eleven people who all did the work, lands badly with ten of them.
How it works
Three steps. The first one is the only hard part.
- 1Tell the storyFive questions. Who it’s for, the occasion, three details only you two know, the feeling you want, and the names that have to be in it.
- 2Pick the soundCountry, pop, acoustic, R&B, gospel or rock. A man’s voice or a woman’s.
- 3Listen, then unlockA 30-second preview in about two minutes. Pay only if you love it. You get the full song, the lyrics, and a page you can send.
Common questions
- What song do you play when someone wins?
- For a crowd, “We Are the Champions” or “Eye of the Tiger”. For a work result, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now”, because it is plural. For something nobody saw, something quiet and specific, given privately.
- What is a good song for a personal achievement?
- “I’m Still Standing” or “Fight Song”, depending on whether it was defiance or effort. Both are about the person rather than about beating somebody else, which matters more than people expect.
- What should play under an award speech?
- Something instrumental. “Chariots of Fire” is the obvious choice and it works because nobody has to compete with a vocal while trying to say something.
- Can I get a song written about an achievement?
- Yes. Answer five questions — what was achieved, who did it, three specific details, the feeling you want and the style — and you will hear a 30-second preview in about two minutes. The full song is $19.