Anniversary Songs
Thirty-four anniversary songs, sorted by which anniversary it is. A first and a fortieth are not the same occasion and should not get the same record: one is about promise and the other is about evidence.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten that work at any year
- At LastEtta James · 1960
Three minutes and it says the whole thing. The most-used first dance in America for sixty years.
- The Way You Look TonightFrank Sinatra · 1964
Written in 1936 and recorded by everybody since. Works at any year and any age.
- Thinking Out LoudEd Sheeran · 2014
Explicitly about being seventy and still there. The modern default, and it earns it.
- Grow Old with MeJohn Lennon · 1984
Written for Yoko Ono and released after his death. The most direct song on this subject anyone has written.
- The LuckiestBen Folds · 2001
Quiet and specific. About being glad about the ordinary years rather than the dramatic ones.
- Make You Feel My LoveBob Dylan · 1997
Adele’s version is the one most people know. A promise rather than a celebration.
- SomethingThe Beatles · 1969
Harrison’s, and about being unable to explain why. Fits a long marriage better than a new one.
- Your SongElton John · 1970
About not being able to afford a gesture, so making one anyway. Appropriate given what you are doing.
- Can’t Help Falling in LoveElvis Presley · 1961
Two minutes and completely unambiguous. The safest choice on this page.
- La Vie en RoseÉdith Piaf · 1947
For a couple who would find English too direct. It says everything from behind a language.
A first and a fortieth are different occasions
Early anniversaries are about promise: you are marking a decision that has not been tested much yet, and the music can afford to be romantic and forward-looking. Later ones are about evidence — a fortieth is a fact rather than a hope, and songs that promise things can feel oddly beside the point next to four decades of proof. The groups below split on exactly that.
If there is a song from the wedding, use it. This sounds obvious and most people do not, because they want something new. But the first dance record is the one that reliably works at every subsequent anniversary, and playing it again at a twenty-fifth does something no new song can.
Watch for songs about the beginning. “At Last” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” are both about the moment somebody arrives, which is right at a first anniversary and slightly odd at a thirtieth. “Grow Old with Me”, “Something” and “The Luckiest” are about duration and belong later.
One more thing worth saying: a hard year is still an anniversary, and pretending otherwise makes the day worse. The last group is for couples who are marking the year they got through rather than the year they enjoyed. That is a real category and almost no list acknowledges it.
By the year you are on
The first few
Romantic and forward-looking. You are marking a decision rather than a record, so promises are the right register.
- Thinking Out LoudEd Sheeran · 2014
About imagining the far end of it. Right at a first, slightly redundant at a fortieth.
- EverythingMichael Bublé · 2007
Cheerful and unfussy. For a couple who do not want to be solemn about it.
- First Day of My LifeBright Eyes · 2005
Two minutes, one guitar, and it opens by admitting how strange it all is.
- Better TogetherJack Johnson · 2005
Low-key and warm. Good for an anniversary that is being marked with a takeaway.
- You Are the Best ThingRay LaMontagne · 2008
Brassy and generous. One of the few genuinely joyful records in this category.
- LuckyJason Mraz & Colbie Caillat · 2008
About being with your best friend, which at a first anniversary is usually the accurate description.
- HomeEdward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros · 2009
About a person being a place. For a couple who have just moved in together.
- Can’t Help Falling in LoveElvis Presley · 1961
Two minutes and it never fails. If in doubt at any early year, this one.
Ten, twenty, twenty-five and beyond
About duration rather than promise. These sound better with evidence behind them.
- Grow Old with MeJohn Lennon · 1984
The most direct song on the subject. Written for Yoko and released after his death.
- SomethingThe Beatles · 1969
About being unable to explain why, which after twenty-five years is usually accurate.
- The LuckiestBen Folds · 2001
About the ordinary years rather than the dramatic ones. The best long-marriage song here.
- In My LifeThe Beatles · 1965
Two and a half minutes about everything that came before, ending on one person.
- UnforgettableNat King Cole · 1951
Warm and unhurried. For a couple who were young in the fifties or sixties.
- Just the Way You AreBilly Joel · 1977
About not wanting the other person to change. Better at twenty years than at two.
- When I’m Sixty-FourThe Beatles · 1967
Funny, and it stops being funny at exactly the right age. Perfect for a sixty-fourth.
- The Way You Look TonightFrank Sinatra · 1964
Written in 1936 and it has outlasted almost everything. Right at any late anniversary.
After a hard year
An illness, a loss, a bad stretch. Marking the year you got through rather than the year you enjoyed.
- Make You Feel My LoveBob Dylan · 1997
A promise about the difficult version rather than the easy one. Adele’s reading is the gentler.
- I’ll Stand by YouThe Pretenders · 1994
The most useful thing to say after a year where one of you carried the other.
- Bridge Over Troubled WaterSimon & Garfunkel · 1970
The largest promise available. Save it for a year when it was actually true.
- Lean on MeBill Withers · 1972
Plain and unembarrassed. Works when a grand romantic song would feel like too much.
- LandslideFleetwood Mac · 1975
About change and being afraid of it. For a couple who both know what the year was.
- Fix YouColdplay · 2005
Enormous by the end. For the point where the worst of it is finally over.
- Here Comes the SunThe Beatles · 1969
Three minutes and it forgives the whole year. The right note to end the evening on.
- The LuckiestBen Folds · 2001
It works here too, and for the same reason: it is about the ordinary days, which is what you nearly lost.
Three demonstration songs
What a song about your years sounds like
We wrote these from made-up answers to the same five questions you would fill in. They are not customer work. Every love song ever recorded is about somebody else; the point of a written one is that it can contain the flat, the argument, the year abroad and the dog.
Start the song- Marguerite at the StopFolk · forty years from a bus stop in the rain2:19
- Priya at DawnPop · the first in her family to finish2:27
- Nadia for Our First DanceR&B · a first dance, written about the two of them3:18
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 anniversary song?
- It depends on the year. “Thinking Out Loud” for an early one, because it is about imagining the far end. “Grow Old with Me” or “The Luckiest” for a late one, because those are about duration rather than promise.
- Should we use our wedding song again?
- Yes, and most people do not because they want something new. The first dance record is the one that reliably works at every subsequent anniversary, and playing it again at a twenty-fifth does something no new song can.
- What song suits a 25th or 50th anniversary?
- Something about duration rather than about falling in love. “Something”, “In My Life” and “The Way You Look Tonight” all sound better with decades behind them.
- What if it has been a difficult year?
- Mark it honestly rather than pretending. “I’ll Stand by You” or “Bridge Over Troubled Water” acknowledge what the year was, which is more use than a romantic record that ignores it.
- Can I get an anniversary song written?
- Yes. Answer five questions about the two of you — the years, three things only you would know, the feeling you want and the music you both like — and you will hear a 30-second preview in about two minutes. The full song is $19.
Having one written
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