Songs for Pet Loss
Thirty-four songs for losing a dog or a cat. Very few songs are actually about animals, so most of these are borrowed — which is fine, and worth knowing before you play one to a room. Sorted by the day itself, by a child’s first loss, and by the weeks afterwards.
Updated September 202634 songs
The ten that are actually about animals
- AngelSarah McLachlan · 1997
Not written about an animal, but two decades of shelter commercials have made it one. That is either exactly right or unbearable — you will know which.
- Old KingNeil Young · 1992
Young wrote it for his dog Elvis, and it is cheerful. One of the very few songs that grieves a dog without solemnity.
- Mr. BojanglesJerry Jeff Walker · 1968
The dog dies in the second half and the man never gets over it. Play the whole thing or none of it.
- Old BlueTraditional, recorded by Joan Baez and others · trad.
An old folk song about burying a dog with a golden chain. Plain and unsentimental in a way modern songs are not.
- I Love My DogCat Stevens · 1967
Two minutes, warm, and it does not mention dying. Good for a slideshow of a long life.
- I Will Remember YouSarah McLachlan · 1995
The other McLachlan one. Less loaded than “Angel” because it has not been in the adverts.
- Martha My DearThe Beatles · 1968
McCartney named it after his sheepdog. The song is not really about her, which is why it is bearable.
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful WorldIsrael Kamakawiwoʻole · 1993
The default at pet cremations for a reason. Gentle, familiar, and it ends.
- Fields of GoldEva Cassidy · 1998
For an animal that spent its life outdoors. Quiet enough to play in a vet’s room.
- You Are My SunshineJimmie Davis & Charles Mitchell · 1940
If you sang it at them — and most people sing something at their animals — this is the one to sing at the end.
A few things worth knowing
Almost nothing was written for this. Human funeral songs come from a tradition thousands of years old; songs about a dog dying barely exist outside folk music and a handful of Neil Young records. Everything else on this page is borrowed from human grief, which works better than people expect — the feeling is the same size, whatever anyone tells you.
Sarah McLachlan appears three times on this page and that is not laziness. Two decades of animal-shelter commercials attached her voice to this exact loss so thoroughly that for a lot of people the association arrives before the song does. If that association is unbearable, skip all three; if it is the reason you are here, use them.
Think about where you will actually be. A song at the vet’s office has to be short, quiet and on your phone. A song for a burial in the garden can be anything. A song for a slideshow of fourteen years needs a real ending, or you will be staring at a black screen through the last chorus.
If a child is the one grieving, choose from their world rather than yours. A song from a film they know does more than a beautiful song they have never heard, and it gives them something to hold onto later. The middle group here is for exactly that.
By when you need it
For the day itself
Quiet enough for a vet’s room or a garden. Several are instrumental, which is often easier than words.
- Ashokan FarewellJay Ungar · 1982
A fiddle tune with no words at all. If you cannot bear a lyric, this is the one.
- Clair de LuneClaude Debussy · 1905
Instrumental, unhurried, and it will not make anyone flinch. Good for the room while you wait.
- The Parting GlassTraditional · trad.
A farewell song that is about leaving well rather than about dying. Singable by one person with no accompaniment.
- BlackbirdThe Beatles · 1968
Two minutes, one guitar, and about something small being told to go. Fits a garden burial exactly.
- VincentDon McLean · 1971
About loving something the world found ordinary. That is closer to the feeling than most funeral music gets.
- Both Sides NowJoni Mitchell · 1969
For an animal you had a very long time. Her 2000 recording is the one to use if you can find it.
- HallelujahJeff Buckley · 1994
Nearly seven minutes. Beautiful, and longer than most people are prepared for — check the clock.
- Wish You Were HerePink Floyd · 1975
Says the thing without any of the vocabulary of grief. For anyone who would rather not be handled.
For a child’s first loss
From their world, not yours. A song they already know does more here than a better song they have never heard.
- Rainbow ConnectionKermit the Frog, written by Paul Williams & Kenneth Ascher · 1979
Hopeful without pretending nothing happened. The safest first choice for a young child.
- Baby MineFrank Churchill & Ned Washington, from Dumbo · 1941
A lullaby about being separated. Devastating for the adults, comforting for the child, which is the right way round.
- When She Loved MeSarah McLachlan · 1999
From Toy Story 2, about being loved and then outgrown. Do not play it if you intend to keep your composure.
- You’ve Got a Friend in MeRandy Newman · 1995
The one to play a week later, not on the day. It is about the good part.
- Puff, the Magic DragonPeter, Paul and Mary · 1963
About a child growing out of a companion. Old enough that a grandparent can sing along.
- Somewhere Only We KnowKeane · 2004
For an older child. About a place that does not exist any more, which is what a dog’s route round the park becomes.
- Lean on MeBill Withers · 1972
Sing it at them rather than playing it. Children take being sung to better than being consoled.
- Count on MeBruno Mars · 2010
Modern, simple, and it is about staying. Good for a memorial a family makes together.
For the walk you take alone
The weeks afterwards, when the house is the wrong shape and nobody expects you to still be upset.
- Fire and RainJames Taylor · 1970
About losing someone and going on anyway. Quiet enough to leave on in a car.
- The Night We MetLord Huron · 2015
About wanting to go back to before. Exactly the wrong song for the day and the right one for the third week.
- I Will Follow You into the DarkDeath Cab for Cutie · 2005
One voice and one guitar. It does not try to make anything better, which some days is what you want.
- Casimir Pulaski DaySufjan Stevens · 2005
The most specific grief song in modern American music. It gives you permission to be angry.
- To Build a HomeThe Cinematic Orchestra · 2007
About a house that outlasts the people in it. For the empty spot by the door.
For a long walk in bad weather. Nothing in it is about animals and all of it fits.
- Everybody HurtsR.E.M. · 1992
Blunt, unfashionable, and it has talked a lot of people through worse. No shame in it.
- Fix YouColdplay · 2005
Enormous by the end. Save it for the day you are ready to feel better rather than the day you are not.
Three demonstration songs
What a song about your dog sounds like
We wrote these from made-up answers to the same five questions you would fill in. They are not customer work. Listen for the detail — the name, the route, the thing they did that nobody else’s dog did — because that is what none of the songs above can have.
Start their song- Vera in AugustFolk · read out at a memorial, dahlias and all3:07
- Nadia for Our First DanceR&B · a first dance, written about the two of them3:18
- Ruth’s Yellow KitchenCountry · a grandmother who fed everyone who came to the door3:39
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 people play when a dog dies?
- “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan more than any other, because of the animal-shelter commercials. After that, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s “Over the Rainbow” medley, which is the default at pet crematoria. Neither was written about an animal.
- Are there songs actually written about a dog?
- Very few. Neil Young wrote “Old King” about his dog Elvis, Cat Stevens wrote “I Love My Dog”, the folk song “Old Blue” is about burying one, and the dog in “Mr. Bojangles” dies. Almost everything else on this page is borrowed from human grief.
- What should I play for a child whose pet died?
- Something from a film they already know. “Rainbow Connection” and “Baby Mine” both let a child be sad without frightening them, and they give the day a shape the child can remember later.
- Is it strange to hold a funeral for a pet?
- No, and roughly a third of American owners do something like one. A short thing in the garden with one song and one thing said out loud is enough. The point is to mark it rather than to have it be over.
- Can I get a song written about my dog or cat?
- Yes. Answer five questions about them — the name, what they were like, three things only your household knows, the feeling you want and the style you like — and you will hear a 30-second preview in about two minutes. The full song is $19.