Songs About Triumph
Thirty-four songs about triumph. Most searches for this are not about a trophy. They are about a degree finished at forty, a year of sobriety, a treatment that worked, a book nobody asked for. Those have no ceremony attached, so they need better music, not louder music.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten about getting through it
- I’m Still StandingElton John · 1983
Not about winning — about not being beaten. For most people searching this page that is the accurate distinction.
- Ain’t No Mountain High EnoughMarvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell · 1967
Big, silly and completely sincere at once. Works for a triumph you want to celebrate rather than examine.
- Fight SongRachel Platten · 2015
For a recovery or a remission. Obvious, and obvious is what people want when it is true.
- RoarKaty Perry · 2013
The same job with more shouting. Better for someone who has had to stand up to a person rather than a condition.
- SurvivorDestiny’s Child · 2001
About outlasting someone who assumed you would not. Specific in a way most of this category is not.
- TubthumpingChumbawamba · 1997
Getting knocked down and getting up again. A whole year compressed into one chorus.
- Rise UpAndra Day · 2015
Slow, gospel-shaped and about doing it a thousand times. For an achievement that took years.
- TitaniumDavid Guetta featuring Sia · 2011
About absorbing damage and continuing. It works better sung than played, which is worth knowing.
- Hall of FameThe Script featuring will.i.am · 2012
The most explicitly motivational song here. Effective at a school or a first achievement.
- Don’t Stop Believin’Journey · 1981
The one everybody sings. For the point where the achievement becomes a party.
Most triumphs have no audience
Sport gives you a crowd, a trophy and a moment when the music should start. Almost nothing else does. A qualification taken at forty-three, a year sober, a chronic illness managed for a decade, a business that did not fold — these are larger achievements than most trophies and they happen with nobody watching. If you are marking one, the anthem is the wrong tool. Something quiet and specific is the right one.
Distinguish winning from surviving. “We Are the Champions” is about beating somebody. “I’m Still Standing” is about not being beaten by something. Handing the first to a person who has come through an illness reads as tone deaf even when it is meant warmly, and it is one of the commonest mistakes people make with music at a difficult time.
Be careful with motivational songs given to people mid-struggle. A song about triumph handed to somebody who has not triumphed yet can feel like an instruction. Wait until the thing is actually done, or choose something about endurance rather than about winning.
If you are marking your own, it is worth doing properly. People are strangely reluctant to celebrate the things nobody else noticed, and then remember for years the one time they did. Pick a date, pick a song, and do something small on purpose.
By what it took
For finishing something long
A degree, a qualification, a book, a house. Years of unglamorous work with no audience.
- Rise UpAndra Day · 2015
About doing the same difficult thing a thousand times. The best song here for a long slog.
- The CaveMumford & Sons · 2009
Loud and hopeful. For the week it is finally handed in.
- Hall of FameThe Script featuring will.i.am · 2012
Explicitly motivational, which is right for a first qualification and wrong for a fourth.
- ViennaBilly Joel · 1977
For someone who finished late and feels behind. It tells them they are not.
- Times Like TheseFoo Fighters · 2002
About starting over, which most long achievements involve at least twice.
- I LivedOneRepublic · 2014
Big and uncomplicated. Good under a video of the whole process.
- Beautiful DayU2 · 2000
For the day the result arrives rather than the years before it.
- Here Comes the SunThe Beatles · 1969
For the morning after it is over. Three minutes and it forgives the whole thing.
For coming back from something
Illness, addiction, grief, a collapse of some kind. Not winning — continuing.
- I’m Still StandingElton John · 1983
The most accurate song in this category. Defiant rather than triumphant.
- SurvivorDestiny’s Child · 2001
About outlasting somebody who assumed you would not. Sharper than most of this group.
- Fight SongRachel Platten · 2015
For a remission or an all-clear. Say nothing else and let it play.
- TitaniumDavid Guetta featuring Sia · 2011
About absorbing damage and continuing. Better sung than played.
- Fix YouColdplay · 2005
Enormous by the end and slightly embarrassing, which is why it works when nothing else does.
- RiseEddie Vedder · 2007
From Into the Wild. Two minutes, one instrument, no encouragement offered.
- Feeling GoodNina Simone · 1965
A song about a new day rather than about a past one. For the first week of after.
- Three Little BirdsBob Marley & The Wailers · 1977
For the days that are still hard. Nothing else on this page is this gentle.
For a personal best
A marathon, a distance, a weight, a time. Physical achievements with a number attached.
- Eye of the TigerSurvivor · 1982
Written for Rocky III and still the default forty years later. There is a reason.
- Gonna Fly NowBill Conti · 1976
The Rocky theme. Funny and genuinely effective at the same time.
- Chariots of FireVangelis · 1981
For the finish line rather than the training. Instrumental, so it plays under anything.
- Lose YourselfEminem · 2002
About one chance and taking it. The most-used training record of the last twenty years.
- StrongerKanye West · 2007
Built on Daft Punk. The tempo is the point rather than the words.
- Run Boy RunWoodkid · 2012
Drums and horns, no chorus to speak of. Good for a long final mile.
- Can’t Hold UsMacklemore & Ryan Lewis · 2011
Relentless tempo. For a personal best that was going to be close.
- We Are the ChampionsQueen · 1977
For after. Slow, grand, and it works when it is sung rather than played.
Three demonstration songs
What a song about your achievement sounds like
We wrote these from made-up answers to the same five questions you would fill in. They are not customer work. Anthems are about winning in general; the achievements on this page are usually specific, private and unmarked, which is exactly what a written song is for.
Start the song- Ray at Sixty-OneCountry · thirty-one years at the plant, same truck since nineteen3:29
- Priya at DawnPop · the first in her family to finish2:27
- Biscuit Tin ElaineAcoustic · a mother who worked eleven years of night shifts2:50
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 are the best songs about overcoming something?
- “I’m Still Standing” and “Survivor” are about not being beaten, which is different from winning. “Rise Up” is the best one for something that took years rather than a single effort.
- What is the difference between a winning song and a triumph song?
- A winning song is about beating somebody. A triumph song is about not being beaten by something. Playing the first to a person who has come through an illness sounds tone deaf however warmly you meant it.
- What should I play to celebrate a private achievement?
- Something quiet and specific rather than an anthem. Anthems need a crowd; a qualification taken at forty-three while working full time needs something that sounds like one person.
- Is it strange to celebrate something nobody else noticed?
- No, and people are strangely reluctant to. The ones who do pick a date and mark it tend to remember it for years. That is most of the reason this page exists.
- Can I get a song written about an achievement?
- Yes, and unmarked achievements are the clearest case for it. Answer five questions — what it was, what it cost, 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.