Retirement Songs
Thirty-four songs for a retirement. Most lists assume the person is delighted, and plenty of them are not: some were pushed, some are frightened, some loved the job. The groups below cover all three, because playing the wrong one in front of a department is a long afternoon.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten that always turn up
- Take This Job and Shove ItJohnny Paycheck · 1977
The obvious joke and it still gets a laugh. Only if they left on their own terms and liked the place.
- 9 to 5Dolly Parton · 1980
Cheerful about a job that was not. The safest funny choice at any office party.
- Working Man BluesMerle Haggard · 1969
For someone who worked with their hands for forty years and would find a sentimental song embarrassing.
- My WayFrank Sinatra · 1969
For someone who did it their own way and irritated people doing it. Late in the afternoon.
- On the Road AgainWillie Nelson · 1980
For a retirement that is actually a departure — a caravan, a boat, a plan.
- The GamblerKenny Rogers · 1978
Knowing when to walk away, which is the entire subject. Better than its reputation.
- Time to Move OnTom Petty · 1994
Quiet, adult and about leaving without drama. The best choice for a speech.
- LandslideFleetwood Mac · 1975
About change and being afraid of it. For a retirement nobody in the room is pretending is simple.
- What a Wonderful WorldLouis Armstrong · 1967
Two minutes and nobody has ever objected. Good under a slideshow of forty years of photographs.
- Forever YoungBob Dylan · 1974
A blessing rather than a farewell. The right last song of the afternoon.
Find out how they feel about it first
The whole page turns on one question that almost nobody asks: did they want to go? A person who has been counting down for three years wants “Take This Job and Shove It”. A person who was managed out, or who is frightened of the empty diary, will hear the same song as a room celebrating their removal. Ask a colleague who knows before you build the playlist.
For the speech, choose something quiet and instrumental or very familiar, and keep it under four minutes. The music is not the moment; the speech is. Anything with a strong vocal will compete with whoever is talking, and a colleague reading out forty years of service deserves a clear run at it.
Slideshows of a long career have a specific problem: the early photographs are worse quality and there are fewer of them. Weight the running order towards the last fifteen years, and pick a song with a real ending so it lands when the pictures stop.
One thing worth doing and almost nobody does: get the people who worked with them thirty years ago on a recording. Two minutes of an old colleague on a phone is worth more than any playlist, and for most retirements it is still possible if somebody makes the calls.
By how they feel about going
If they could not wait
Counted down, told everybody, has a boat. Funny is correct and anything solemn will disappoint them.
- Take This Job and Shove ItJohnny Paycheck · 1977
The joke everybody is expecting. Do it first and get it out of the way.
- Freedom! ’90George Michael · 1990
About refusing to do the thing any more. Six minutes, so play the single edit.
- I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)The Proclaimers · 1988
Impossible not to join in. Good for a room that has already had a drink.
- HolidayMadonna · 1983
Literally the point of retiring, according to most people’s plans for the first month.
- Beautiful DayU2 · 2000
Big and uncomplicated. Good immediately after the presentation.
- Walking on SunshineKatrina and the Waves · 1983
Loud, silly and impossible to be sad through. Early in the afternoon.
- Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)Green Day · 1997
The title is the joke and the song is sincere. Both work at once, which is unusual.
- CelebrationKool & The Gang · 1980
On the nose and nobody minds. It has been doing this job since 1980.
If they are going to miss it
Loved the job, defined by it, or leaving before they wanted to. Gentler, and nothing about freedom.
- Time to Move OnTom Petty · 1994
Adult and undramatic. The single best song on this page for a difficult retirement.
- Both Sides NowJoni Mitchell · 1969
About looking at the same life from two ages. Her 2000 recording for a room of adults.
- The Way We WereBarbra Streisand · 1973
For a career that mattered to them more than they will admit at the party.
- ViennaBilly Joel · 1977
Slow down, you have time. As true at sixty-five as at nineteen and less often said.
- In My LifeThe Beatles · 1965
Gentle and short. Looks back without treating the person as finished.
- Wish You Were HerePink Floyd · 1975
For a department that has lost people along the way, which after forty years it has.
- LandslideFleetwood Mac · 1975
About being frightened of change and doing it anyway. Short, which helps.
- Here Comes the SunThe Beatles · 1969
The right note to end on when the rest of the afternoon has been heavy.
For the career itself
Under a slideshow, or during the speech. About the work rather than about stopping.
- Sixteen TonsTennessee Ernie Ford · 1955
About work that takes everything, sung with a joke in it. For a physical career.
- AllentownBilly Joel · 1982
About an industry emptying out. For someone whose trade largely disappeared around them.
- Working ManRita MacNeil · 1988
A choir of Cape Breton miners. Play it for a retirement from anything underground or industrial.
- She Works Hard for the MoneyDonna Summer · 1983
Written after Summer met a washroom attendant asleep at work. For a career of unseen labour.
- Chariots of FireVangelis · 1981
Instrumental, so it can run under a speech without competing with it.
- Leader of the BandDan Fogelberg · 1981
About a man whose work was the thing he handed on. Right for a teacher or a trainer.
- Thank You for the MusicABBA · 1977
For a career in something creative. Sincere in a way most work songs avoid being.
- What a Wonderful WorldLouis Armstrong · 1967
Two minutes with a real ending. The safest slideshow song there is.
Three demonstration songs
What a song about their career sounds like
We wrote these from made-up answers to the same five questions you would fill in. They are not customer work. A retirement is one of the few occasions where a person gets a speech about their whole working life, and a song can carry the same detail without anybody having to read from cards.
Start their song- Ray at Sixty-OneCountry · thirty-one years at the plant, same truck since nineteen3:29
- Marcus at FortyPop · written to be funny, at a friend’s request3:00
- Priya at DawnPop · the first in her family to finish2:27
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 is the best retirement song?
- It depends entirely on whether they wanted to go. “Take This Job and Shove It” for someone who has been counting down, “Time to Move On” for someone who has not. Ask a colleague before you decide.
- What should play during the retirement speech?
- Something instrumental and under four minutes, or nothing at all. The speech is the moment; a strong vocal will compete with whoever is reading out forty years of service.
- What song works for a retirement slideshow?
- “What a Wonderful World” at two minutes with a real ending, or “In My Life”. Weight the photographs towards the last fifteen years — the early ones are fewer and worse.
- What if they did not want to retire?
- Avoid anything about freedom, escape or holidays; it will read as the room celebrating their removal. “Time to Move On”, “Both Sides Now” and “In My Life” are gentle and treat them as somebody still in progress.
- Can I get a song written for a retirement?
- Yes. Answer five questions — the person, the job, three things only their colleagues would know, the tone you want and the style — and you will hear a 30-second preview in about two minutes. The full song is $19.