Songs about friendship for best friends, old friends and group chats

"Lean on Me" by Bill Withers (1972). Start there.

Of all the songs about friendship, it's the safest bet, and safe is fine. Their mom knows the words.

So does the guy at the gas station at midnight.

The rest depends on the moment. A best friend's birthday, maybe, or a road trip where nobody agrees on the music.

It could be the friend who moved three time zones away. Or the one you still owe a text from last Thursday.

Best friend songs to send them

Birthday. Bad week. Breakup. A new job they swear they're not nervous about.

These songs about best friends cover all four. Send one with a single line of your own, the kind only the two of you would get.

Nobody's reading the essay.

"Count on Me" by Bruno Mars (2010). The easiest first send on this page. Even your most sarcastic friend can't read it wrong.
"You're My Best Friend" by Queen (1975). John Deacon wrote it for his wife. Your best friend doesn't need to know that.
"With a Little Help from My Friends" by The Beatles (1967). Ringo sings lead, which suits the friend who hates the spotlight.
"That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder (1985). A cover, technically. Rod Stewart had it first, in 1982, but four voices trading lines beats one.
"I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders (1994). Bad-week material. Chrissie Hynde sounds ready to fight someone on their behalf.
"True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986). Whoever's been shrinking to fit a room lately needs this one.
"Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers (1977). Basically one long "it'll be fine." Some weeks that's plenty.
"One Call Away" by Charlie Puth (2015). A little cheesy. Lean in.
"Hey Brother" by Avicii (2013). That's bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski over a dance beat. Good pick if your mom calls them her other kid.
"Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel (1970). Save it for a real crisis. Sending it over a missed bus is a lot.
"Brave" by Sara Bareilles (2013). For the friend who drafts the big text and never sends it.
"Rainbow" by Kacey Musgraves (2018). Quiet piano. It's about the storm being over, so wait a week after the breakup before you send it.

Songs about friendship and memories

Every friend group has one person still wearing the bracelet from that festival.

Gone gray by now, and never coming off.

Queue these up for when that person finally makes the slideshow they keep threatening. Think school hallways and long summers with nothing to do.

"Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams (1984). Bryan Adams was nine in 1969. Nobody at the reunion is fact-checking that.
"Fifteen" by Taylor Swift (2008). Abigail in the lyrics is her real high school best friend. Yours gets it next.
"Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkin (1968). Paul McCartney produced it for a Welsh teenager. Sing the la-la part badly.
"Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (1991). Will Smith rapping about a hot day with zero plans. Every summer at sixteen, basically.
"We're Going to Be Friends" by The White Stripes (2001). Jack White and an acoustic guitar, on the first walk to school with a new friend. Napoleon Dynamite opens with it.
"Ribs" by Lorde (2013). A house party and the dread of getting older. Lorde makes it sound like 1 a.m. in someone's kitchen.
"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day (1997). One acoustic guitar and a string section. Yearbook photos were made for it.
"History" by One Direction (2015). The band looking back at its own years together, just before the long break. Any group chat that's been going since high school has earned it.
"Old Friends" by Simon & Garfunkel (1968). Two old men on a park bench. That's you two someday, with luck.
"Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane (2004). Piano-led and very English. Dedicate it to the diner booth that's still technically yours.
"Forever Young" by Alphaville (1984). German synth-pop that sounds like the last dance at a school formal. One play per reunion, minimum.

For the friend who moved away

Don't open with the saddest song you know. They're already homesick, and it's 11:40 p.m. where they are.

Warm songs for best friends go first. The crying can wait for the second voice note, the four-minute one.

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (1967). Two people promising to cross anything in the way. Hard to send without grinning.
"You've Got a Friend" by Carole King (1971). James Taylor put out his version the same year. Hers is warmer.
"Somewhere Out There" by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram (1986). From An American Tail, the mouse movie. Same sky, different cities.
"Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd (1975). Send it the first time something funny happens and they're not there to see it.
"I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5 (1970). Michael Jackson was still a kid when he sang it. The promise holds up anyway.
"For Good" by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth (2003). Wicked's goodbye song, where two friends admit they changed each other. Have a sleeve ready.
"Home" by Phillip Phillips (2012). Good for their first week, while the new place still smells like paint and cardboard.
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver (1971). For when they're the homesick one. West Virginia not required.

Loud ones for the road trip or the group chat

Six hours of highway and one aux cord. Someone's losing that fight.

Owen always drives, so Owen thinks he picks. He doesn't.

Put these on anyway. Even the friend fake-sleeping in the back will start mouthing the words.

Then drop the list in the group chat, the one still named after a joke nobody remembers.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen (1975). Wayne's World made the head-banging part mandatory, and somebody will attempt it with a seatbelt on.
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers (1988). Scottish twin brothers and a chorus built for shouting. You'll be hoarse by the second gas stop.
"Wannabe" by Spice Girls (1996). Assign everyone a Spice first. There will be an argument.
"Africa" by Toto (1982). The verses are mostly mumbling until that chorus hits.
"Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks (1990). A country singalong about crashing your ex's fancy party in boots.
"Shotgun" by George Ezra (2018). Literally about riding shotgun. Whoever called it gets to press play.
"Dancing Queen" by ABBA (1976). Sounds like a disco ball, even through a phone speaker.
"The Boys Are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy (1976). Irish rock for the reunion weekend. Blast it at the airport pickup.
"I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys (1999). Karaoke booth rules. Everyone takes a line, and nobody knows what any of it means.
"Dynamite" by BTS (2020). Their first song fully in English, so nobody in the car gets an excuse.

Friendship songs from movies and TV

Half of these came with a laugh track. You'll still hum them in the shower.

Go with whatever you two watched on repeat in college, on a laptop balanced on a laundry basket in the dorm hallway.

"I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts (1995). The Friends theme. Four claps, and somehow the whole room claps too.
"You've Got a Friend in Me" by Randy Newman (1995). Toy Story opens with it. Randy Newman's voice is pure grandpa, and that's the charm.
"Thank You for Being a Friend" by Andrew Gold (1978). The Golden Girls theme is a cover of it. Your future retirement roommate gets this one.
"Stand by Me" by Ben E. King (1961). Rob Reiner named his 1986 movie about four boys and a long walk after it.
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds (1985). Judd Nelson's fist pump at the end of The Breakfast Club. Scottish band, American detention.
"Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler (1988). Beaches follows two best friends across most of their lives. Keep tissues close.
"Friend Like Me" by Robin Williams (1992). Robin Williams at full Genie speed. Send it to the friend who does all the voices.

Slow songs for a toast or a birthday slideshow

Toasts should run shorter than the song behind them. Ninety seconds, tops.

For the slideshow, put the baby photos first and the embarrassing ones in the middle, where nobody can leave.

Stuck on the caption? Borrow a line from these birthday wishes for a friend.

"Memories" by Maroon 5 (2019). Built on Pachelbel's Canon, so the whole room half-knows it already. Glasses up at the chorus.
"In My Life" by The Beatles (1965). That bit in the middle that sounds like a harpsichord is George Martin's piano, sped up.
"Photograph" by Ed Sheeran (2014). The video is all home movies of Ed as a kid. That's half a slideshow right there.
"Auld Lang Syne" (traditional Scottish song). A drink to old friends. Everyone mumbles after the first verse, and that's tradition too.
"Days Like This" by Van Morrison (1995). Easygoing and warm. It belongs under the beach photos.
"Friends" by Michael W. Smith (1983). Christian pop about friends heading separate ways. If your group met at church, this goes first.
"Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas (2007). From Meet the Robinsons. Your candid shots, the ones nobody posed for, need exactly this.
"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac (1975). Stevie Nicks singing about getting older. Save it for the birthday with a zero on the cake.
"What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong (1967). Gravel voice, soft strings. Grandparents in the audience will approve.

When a friendship is going through it

So you two aren't talking.

Maybe somebody said something at the birthday dinner. Or nothing at all, which is somehow worse.

Quick reality check. A song can't do the apologizing for you.

Say sorry first, out loud or in a long voice note. The song goes second.

"Dear Friend" by Wings (1971). Paul McCartney wrote it to John Lennon while they were feuding. It's an olive branch with a piano.
"Hold On" by Wilson Phillips (1990). Bridesmaids ends with the band singing it at the wedding, after the two best friends patch things up.
"We Used to Be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols (2003). The Veronica Mars theme. For the friendship that faded without a fight.
"Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift (2014). Keep this one to yourself. It's for stomping around the kitchen once it's really over.
"Tiny Dancer" by Elton John (1971). In Almost Famous, a tour bus full of people who aren't speaking to each other starts singing it, one by one. Try that in the car.

A song with their name in it

Grace has heard all these songs about friendship. Not one of them says Grace.

A HeartCraft song card does. You tell HeartCraft who it's for and share a few memories, like the 2 a.m. snack runs or the road trip where Mateo got everyone lost.

Their name gets sung in the chorus, and your stories go into the lines. It's ready in about 10 minutes and lands on your WhatsApp or email as a link.

Forward it. Or play it for them across the table and watch their face when the chorus hits.

You pick the language and the feel of the song. Start one on the best friend song page.

Want something to tap through instead? The friendship card is a small museum of your friendship.

Leftover questions

When is Friendship Day?

July 30 is the UN's International Day of Friendship, but the US and a lot of other countries celebrate on the first Sunday in August. The next one is Sunday, August 1, 2027. More in our guide to when Friendship Day is.

How long should a road trip playlist be?

About 15 songs an hour, since most run three to four minutes. A six-hour drive needs around 90, plus a few extra for skips.

How many photos fit under one song in a slideshow?

Forty or so, at five seconds a photo. That runs a little over three minutes, about one song's worth.

Is it weird to send a love song to a friend?

Not really. Plenty of songs about friends started out as love songs. Just skip anything with kissing in the chorus, unless that's a conversation you're ready for.

"Lean on Me" by Bill Withers (1972). Start there.

Of all the songs about friendship, it's the safest bet, and safe is fine. Their mom knows the words.

So does the guy at the gas station at midnight.

The rest depends on the moment. A best friend's birthday, maybe, or a road trip where nobody agrees on the music.

It could be the friend who moved three time zones away. Or the one you still owe a text from last Thursday.

Best friend songs to send them

Birthday. Bad week. Breakup. A new job they swear they're not nervous about.

These songs about best friends cover all four. Send one with a single line of your own, the kind only the two of you would get.

Nobody's reading the essay.

"Count on Me" by Bruno Mars (2010). The easiest first send on this page. Even your most sarcastic friend can't read it wrong.
"You're My Best Friend" by Queen (1975). John Deacon wrote it for his wife. Your best friend doesn't need to know that.
"With a Little Help from My Friends" by The Beatles (1967). Ringo sings lead, which suits the friend who hates the spotlight.
"That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder (1985). A cover, technically. Rod Stewart had it first, in 1982, but four voices trading lines beats one.
"I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders (1994). Bad-week material. Chrissie Hynde sounds ready to fight someone on their behalf.
"True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986). Whoever's been shrinking to fit a room lately needs this one.
"Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers (1977). Basically one long "it'll be fine." Some weeks that's plenty.
"One Call Away" by Charlie Puth (2015). A little cheesy. Lean in.
"Hey Brother" by Avicii (2013). That's bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski over a dance beat. Good pick if your mom calls them her other kid.
"Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel (1970). Save it for a real crisis. Sending it over a missed bus is a lot.
"Brave" by Sara Bareilles (2013). For the friend who drafts the big text and never sends it.
"Rainbow" by Kacey Musgraves (2018). Quiet piano. It's about the storm being over, so wait a week after the breakup before you send it.

Songs about friendship and memories

Every friend group has one person still wearing the bracelet from that festival.

Gone gray by now, and never coming off.

Queue these up for when that person finally makes the slideshow they keep threatening. Think school hallways and long summers with nothing to do.

"Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams (1984). Bryan Adams was nine in 1969. Nobody at the reunion is fact-checking that.
"Fifteen" by Taylor Swift (2008). Abigail in the lyrics is her real high school best friend. Yours gets it next.
"Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkin (1968). Paul McCartney produced it for a Welsh teenager. Sing the la-la part badly.
"Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (1991). Will Smith rapping about a hot day with zero plans. Every summer at sixteen, basically.
"We're Going to Be Friends" by The White Stripes (2001). Jack White and an acoustic guitar, on the first walk to school with a new friend. Napoleon Dynamite opens with it.
"Ribs" by Lorde (2013). A house party and the dread of getting older. Lorde makes it sound like 1 a.m. in someone's kitchen.
"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day (1997). One acoustic guitar and a string section. Yearbook photos were made for it.
"History" by One Direction (2015). The band looking back at its own years together, just before the long break. Any group chat that's been going since high school has earned it.
"Old Friends" by Simon & Garfunkel (1968). Two old men on a park bench. That's you two someday, with luck.
"Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane (2004). Piano-led and very English. Dedicate it to the diner booth that's still technically yours.
"Forever Young" by Alphaville (1984). German synth-pop that sounds like the last dance at a school formal. One play per reunion, minimum.

For the friend who moved away

Don't open with the saddest song you know. They're already homesick, and it's 11:40 p.m. where they are.

Warm songs for best friends go first. The crying can wait for the second voice note, the four-minute one.

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (1967). Two people promising to cross anything in the way. Hard to send without grinning.
"You've Got a Friend" by Carole King (1971). James Taylor put out his version the same year. Hers is warmer.
"Somewhere Out There" by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram (1986). From An American Tail, the mouse movie. Same sky, different cities.
"Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd (1975). Send it the first time something funny happens and they're not there to see it.
"I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5 (1970). Michael Jackson was still a kid when he sang it. The promise holds up anyway.
"For Good" by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth (2003). Wicked's goodbye song, where two friends admit they changed each other. Have a sleeve ready.
"Home" by Phillip Phillips (2012). Good for their first week, while the new place still smells like paint and cardboard.
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver (1971). For when they're the homesick one. West Virginia not required.

Loud ones for the road trip or the group chat

Six hours of highway and one aux cord. Someone's losing that fight.

Owen always drives, so Owen thinks he picks. He doesn't.

Put these on anyway. Even the friend fake-sleeping in the back will start mouthing the words.

Then drop the list in the group chat, the one still named after a joke nobody remembers.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen (1975). Wayne's World made the head-banging part mandatory, and somebody will attempt it with a seatbelt on.
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers (1988). Scottish twin brothers and a chorus built for shouting. You'll be hoarse by the second gas stop.
"Wannabe" by Spice Girls (1996). Assign everyone a Spice first. There will be an argument.
"Africa" by Toto (1982). The verses are mostly mumbling until that chorus hits.
"Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks (1990). A country singalong about crashing your ex's fancy party in boots.
"Shotgun" by George Ezra (2018). Literally about riding shotgun. Whoever called it gets to press play.
"Dancing Queen" by ABBA (1976). Sounds like a disco ball, even through a phone speaker.
"The Boys Are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy (1976). Irish rock for the reunion weekend. Blast it at the airport pickup.
"I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys (1999). Karaoke booth rules. Everyone takes a line, and nobody knows what any of it means.
"Dynamite" by BTS (2020). Their first song fully in English, so nobody in the car gets an excuse.

Friendship songs from movies and TV

Half of these came with a laugh track. You'll still hum them in the shower.

Go with whatever you two watched on repeat in college, on a laptop balanced on a laundry basket in the dorm hallway.

"I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts (1995). The Friends theme. Four claps, and somehow the whole room claps too.
"You've Got a Friend in Me" by Randy Newman (1995). Toy Story opens with it. Randy Newman's voice is pure grandpa, and that's the charm.
"Thank You for Being a Friend" by Andrew Gold (1978). The Golden Girls theme is a cover of it. Your future retirement roommate gets this one.
"Stand by Me" by Ben E. King (1961). Rob Reiner named his 1986 movie about four boys and a long walk after it.
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds (1985). Judd Nelson's fist pump at the end of The Breakfast Club. Scottish band, American detention.
"Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler (1988). Beaches follows two best friends across most of their lives. Keep tissues close.
"Friend Like Me" by Robin Williams (1992). Robin Williams at full Genie speed. Send it to the friend who does all the voices.

Slow songs for a toast or a birthday slideshow

Toasts should run shorter than the song behind them. Ninety seconds, tops.

For the slideshow, put the baby photos first and the embarrassing ones in the middle, where nobody can leave.

Stuck on the caption? Borrow a line from these birthday wishes for a friend.

"Memories" by Maroon 5 (2019). Built on Pachelbel's Canon, so the whole room half-knows it already. Glasses up at the chorus.
"In My Life" by The Beatles (1965). That bit in the middle that sounds like a harpsichord is George Martin's piano, sped up.
"Photograph" by Ed Sheeran (2014). The video is all home movies of Ed as a kid. That's half a slideshow right there.
"Auld Lang Syne" (traditional Scottish song). A drink to old friends. Everyone mumbles after the first verse, and that's tradition too.
"Days Like This" by Van Morrison (1995). Easygoing and warm. It belongs under the beach photos.
"Friends" by Michael W. Smith (1983). Christian pop about friends heading separate ways. If your group met at church, this goes first.
"Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas (2007). From Meet the Robinsons. Your candid shots, the ones nobody posed for, need exactly this.
"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac (1975). Stevie Nicks singing about getting older. Save it for the birthday with a zero on the cake.
"What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong (1967). Gravel voice, soft strings. Grandparents in the audience will approve.

When a friendship is going through it

So you two aren't talking.

Maybe somebody said something at the birthday dinner. Or nothing at all, which is somehow worse.

Quick reality check. A song can't do the apologizing for you.

Say sorry first, out loud or in a long voice note. The song goes second.

"Dear Friend" by Wings (1971). Paul McCartney wrote it to John Lennon while they were feuding. It's an olive branch with a piano.
"Hold On" by Wilson Phillips (1990). Bridesmaids ends with the band singing it at the wedding, after the two best friends patch things up.
"We Used to Be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols (2003). The Veronica Mars theme. For the friendship that faded without a fight.
"Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift (2014). Keep this one to yourself. It's for stomping around the kitchen once it's really over.
"Tiny Dancer" by Elton John (1971). In Almost Famous, a tour bus full of people who aren't speaking to each other starts singing it, one by one. Try that in the car.

A song with their name in it

Grace has heard all these songs about friendship. Not one of them says Grace.

A HeartCraft song card does. You tell HeartCraft who it's for and share a few memories, like the 2 a.m. snack runs or the road trip where Mateo got everyone lost.

Their name gets sung in the chorus, and your stories go into the lines. It's ready in about 10 minutes and lands on your WhatsApp or email as a link.

Forward it. Or play it for them across the table and watch their face when the chorus hits.

You pick the language and the feel of the song. Start one on the best friend song page.

Want something to tap through instead? The friendship card is a small museum of your friendship.

Leftover questions

When is Friendship Day?

How long should a road trip playlist be?

About 15 songs an hour, since most run three to four minutes. A six-hour drive needs around 90, plus a few extra for skips.

How many photos fit under one song in a slideshow?

Forty or so, at five seconds a photo. That runs a little over three minutes, about one song's worth.

Is it weird to send a love song to a friend?

Not really. Plenty of songs about friends started out as love songs. Just skip anything with kissing in the chorus, unless that's a conversation you're ready for.