Birthday Songs for Someone Special
People search for this phrase when the relationship has no tidy word for it. A partner you are not calling a partner yet, a friend you might be in love with, a stepparent, someone nobody else knows about. That ambiguity is a feature, and the songs below are sorted by how much you want to say.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten that fit almost anyone
- You Are the Best ThingRay LaMontagne · 2008
Warm, brassy, and it says a lot without naming a relationship. The safest song on this page.
- Better TogetherJack Johnson · 2005
Low-stakes affection. It will not commit you to anything, which for a lot of people searching this phrase is the point.
- Ribbon in the SkyStevie Wonder · 1982
Grand without being a declaration. Works for a partner, a parent or an old friend equally.
- The LuckiestBen Folds · 2001
Quiet, specific and completely sincere. If you do mean it, this is the one that says so.
- Thinking Out LoudEd Sheeran · 2014
The default modern love song, which makes it both easy and unsurprising. Use it if familiarity is what you want.
- Lovely DayBill Withers · 1977
About one person making the whole day better. Cheerful enough to send at eight in the morning.
- HomeEdward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros · 2009
About a person being a place. For someone who has been your constant through a chaotic few years.
- You’ve Got a FriendCarole King · 1971
The line to take if you want to be unmistakably warm and unmistakably not romantic.
- First Day of My LifeBright Eyes · 2005
Two minutes, one guitar, and it opens by admitting how strange the whole thing is. For a new and undefined thing.
- At LastEtta James · 1960
The most committed song here. Do not send it casually — it will be read as a statement, and it should be.
Decide how much you are saying
A song is read as a message in a way a card is not. Choosing one for someone whose place in your life is undefined means choosing how much to declare, and that decision matters more than the music. Work out first whether you want them to know something they do not currently know. If the answer is no, stay in the first group below; if it is yes, go to the third and accept what happens.
The middle ground is real and underrated. There is a whole category of song that is warm, specific and unclassifiable — “Lovely Day”, “You Are the Best Thing”, “Better Together”. These let you be affectionate without forcing either of you to define anything, which is what most people searching this phrase actually want.
If they are a stepparent, a mentor, a godparent or an in-law you are close to, the trap is the opposite one: being too casual. Those relationships are often underserved by everyone around them, and a song chosen deliberately for someone in that position lands unusually hard precisely because nobody else bothers.
One practical thing. Send it privately rather than posting it. A song in a public feed is a performance for other people; the same song sent directly at eight in the morning is a message for one person. Almost every one of these works better in the second form.
By how much you want to say
Warm, and nothing more
Affectionate, deniable, and safe for a relationship you do not want to define today.
- Count on MeBruno Mars · 2010
Simple, friendly and completely unambiguous in the right direction. Nobody has ever misread it.
- Three Little BirdsBob Marley & The Wailers · 1977
Says “I am thinking about you and I want you to be all right”, and nothing else at all.
- Here Comes the SunThe Beatles · 1969
For someone who has come through a hard stretch. Warm without any romantic content whatsoever.
- What a Wonderful WorldLouis Armstrong · 1967
Two minutes and completely safe. The one to send when you cannot decide what to send.
- Good Day SunshineThe Beatles · 1966
Cheerful and brief. Good for a morning message on the day itself.
- Walking on SunshineKatrina and the Waves · 1983
Impossible to over-read because it is impossible to take seriously. That is the whole use.
- Stand by MeBen E. King · 1961
A promise about presence rather than about love. Everyone knows it and nobody will assume anything.
- Ain’t No Mountain High EnoughMarvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell · 1967
Big, silly and sincere at the same time. It can be a joke or not, depending how they take it.
For someone the world does not have a word for
A stepparent, a mentor, a godparent, an in-law, the friend who became family. These relationships get overlooked, and a deliberate choice lands hard.
- LandslideFleetwood Mac · 1975
About someone who steadied you while you were changing. For a mentor or a much older friend.
- Wind Beneath My WingsBette Midler · 1989
From a film about a friendship, and usually mistaken for a love song. Perfect for the person who did the unglamorous half.
- The WeightThe Band · 1968
About taking a load off someone. For a person who did that for you without being asked.
- Bridge Over Troubled WaterSimon & Garfunkel · 1970
The largest thank-you available. Save it for someone who genuinely carried you.
- Forever YoungBob Dylan · 1974
A blessing rather than a declaration. Right for someone in a parental role who is not your parent.
- Thank You for Being a FriendAndrew Gold · 1978
The full-length original is warmer and stranger than the theme tune everyone knows.
- Lean on MeBill Withers · 1972
For a person who is the one everybody in the family calls first.
- Rivers and RoadsThe Head and the Heart · 2011
For someone far away who has stayed close anyway. Play the last minute.
If you mean it
These will be read as a statement. Send one only if you are prepared for it to be answered.
- SomethingThe Beatles · 1969
Harrison’s, and about being unable to explain why. For a feeling you have not managed to articulate either.
- Make You Feel My LoveBob Dylan · 1997
Adele’s version is the one most people know. Either is an unambiguous declaration — there is no casual reading.
- Can’t Help Falling in LoveElvis Presley · 1961
Two minutes and it says the whole thing. Sending it is the message; the recording barely matters.
- I Only Have Eyes for YouThe Flamingos · 1959
Dreamlike and slightly strange. For someone you have been quietly certain about for a while.
- Your SongElton John · 1970
About not being able to afford a gesture, so making one anyway. Fitting, given what you are doing.
- La Vie en RoseÉdith Piaf · 1947
For someone who would find English too direct. It says everything and gives you a language to hide behind.
- Lover, You Should’ve Come OverJeff Buckley · 1994
Long, unguarded and slightly desperate. Only for a person who already knows.
A cover of Phil Phillips’ 1959 original, and gentler than any other song in this group. The soft way to say it.
Three demonstration songs
What a song for them sounds like
We wrote these from made-up answers to the same five questions you would fill in. They are not customer work. You choose how direct it gets — the form asks how you want it to feel, and a song can be warm without being a declaration.
Make their song- Ruth’s Yellow KitchenCountry · a grandmother who fed everyone who came to the door3:39
- Marcus at FortyPop · written to be funny, at a friend’s request3:00
- Marguerite at the StopFolk · forty years from a bus stop in the rain2:19
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 does “someone special” usually mean?
- Usually a relationship without a settled label — a partner you are not calling one yet, someone you are in love with who does not know, a stepparent, a mentor. The phrase is doing the work of not saying, which is why it gets searched a thousand times a month.
- How do I send a birthday song without making it awkward?
- Choose from the first group, send it privately rather than posting it, and do not attach an explanation. A song sent with three paragraphs of caveat reads as more loaded than the same song sent alone.
- What song says “I love you” without saying it?
- “You Are the Best Thing”, “Better Together” and “Lovely Day” all sit in that space. They are affectionate, specific and impossible to hold against you, which is exactly the register most people want.
- What is a good song for a stepparent or a mentor?
- “Wind Beneath My Wings” or “The Weight”. Both are about someone doing the unglamorous half of the work. People in those roles are rarely thanked directly, so a deliberate choice lands harder than it would with a parent.
- Can I get a birthday song written for someone special?
- Yes, and this is the case it suits best, because you control how direct it is. Answer five questions — who they are to you, the occasion, three things only the two of you know, the feeling you want and the music they like — and you will hear a 30-second preview in about two minutes. The full song is $19.