songs about gratitude

May 18, 2005 9:33 AM

I'm looking for songs about gratitude/giving thanks.

I've compiled a short list (a dozen or so with the usual suspects: The Beatles -- Thank You Girl; Talking Heads - Thank You for Sending Me an Angel, Pete Rock -- Appreciate, etc.) but I know there are a lot that I'm overlooking. Also, some of them are more about whatever they're thankful for than about the thanks itself (which is okay but tends to be situation-specific).

Google isn't helping me much because a) there's a band called "Gratitude" and b) I'm probably just using all the wrong queries: most return millions of (irrelevant) results; "songs about gratitude" returns three. So. I think this is the kind of question that an automated system can't do too well on, or at least not with my current approach.

What songs do you know of that are about gratitude or giving thanks? Or, how should I go about this to get better results. Any tips or suggestions appreciated.

posted by Tuwa to Media & Arts (32 answers total)

"Thank You, Freinds," By Big Star
posted by jonmc at 9:37 AM on May 18, 2005

This is probably one of the "usual suspects" already on your list, but in case it isn't, "Thankyou" by Dido.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:38 AM on May 18, 2005

Bette Midler - To Deserve You
Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings
Dido - Thank You
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:42 AM on May 18, 2005

"Thank You For Being a Friend," a.k.a. the theme song to The Golden Girls.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:43 AM on May 18, 2005

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:44 AM on May 18, 2005

It sure isn't a recorded rock song, but "Dayenu" is my favorite song about giving thanks. The title roughly translates as "It would have been enough"--it's a song that Jews sing at Passover to thank God for everything he's done for us.
posted by equipoise at 9:46 AM on May 18, 2005

"Thank You" by Led Zeppelin falls into the category of "more about whatever they're thankful for than about the thanks itself," but it's a damn sweet song.
posted by equipoise at 9:49 AM on May 18, 2005

Oh, as far as Googling, a lot of lyrics sites use the song title as part of the page title, so you can do things like this.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:51 AM on May 18, 2005

Sly & The Family Stone - "Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"
posted by remlapm at 9:52 AM on May 18, 2005

Good times gone but you feed it
Hate’s grown strong you feel you need it
Just one thing do you know
What you think that the world owes you
What’s gonna set you free
Look inside and you’ll see
When you’ve got so much to say
It’s called gratitude, and that’s right
posted by googly at 9:53 AM on May 18, 2005

Natalie Merchant - Kind and Generous
Alanis Morissette - Thank U
posted by carabiner at 9:58 AM on May 18, 2005

remlapm beat me to it....

There's also an old South American folk song (also recorded by Joan Baez) called Gracias a La Vida, that's really beautiful.
posted by matildaben at 10:05 AM on May 18, 2005

I Thank You by Sam & Dave (though I mostly know the ZZ Top version)
posted by stevil at 10:06 AM on May 18, 2005

Danny Elfman has a song called "Gratitude" on the Beverly Hills Cop Soundtrack. I haven't heard it for years, but I know it's there.
posted by .kobayashi. at 10:12 AM on May 18, 2005

I always liked the Thank You at the end of The Refused's "New Noise", but the rest of the song probably doesn't fit your requirements.
posted by saladin at 10:16 AM on May 18, 2005

- "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" by Marvin Gaye (NOT the James Taylor version!)
- "You've Made Me So Very Happy" by Blood, Sweat and Tears
posted by Dr. Wu at 10:31 AM on May 18, 2005

--"Thanksgiving for Every Wrong Move" - Poi Dog Pondering, but it's from one of their late 80's CDs so it may be difficult to find.
--"Stomp" - Kirk Franklin
posted by pomegranate at 10:36 AM on May 18, 2005

All I wanna do is to thank you
even though I don't know who you are
You let me change lanes
while I was driving in my car. . .

Whoever you are
I wanna thank you who...

Now all I wanna do is to exit
So I go to where I can get off
On a curve, through the shoulder
There's no parking in that trough
So I drive around all day
Coming atmospheric haze
Till I wanna get on again
Then, all I have to say is

All I wanna do is to thank you
Even though I don't know who you are
You let me change lanes
While I was driving in my car. . .

Whoever you are
I wanna thank you who...

All I wanna do is to tune in
Radio L.A. Lujah
'Cause we're broadcasting live
And we wanna hear all of ya
On the mic is Geggy Tah
But a whole lot more of all of ya
Let us hear ya, let us hear ya
In a big echoing holla

All I wanna do is to thank you
Even though I don't know who you are
You let me change lanes
While I was driving in my car

Whoever you are
I wanna thank you who

By Geggy Tah
posted by iconomy at 10:43 AM on May 18, 2005

"Days" by the Kinks, later covered by Elvis Costello (I think).
posted by dmo at 10:50 AM on May 18, 2005

"Thanks For The Memories" --Bob Hope
"Thank You" --Dido
posted by kimota at 11:29 AM on May 18, 2005

dmo, that's an awesome one, the Elvis Costello recording is beautiful and moving ... I haven't thought about it for years, thanks for reminding me.
posted by matildaben at 11:40 AM on May 18, 2005

"Thank You for the Music" -- ABBA
posted by evinrude at 11:40 AM on May 18, 2005

You're My Best Friend, by Queen is pretty thankful.

That Poi Dog Pondering song mentioned above (Thanksgiving) is on a CD that was just released yesterday: The Best of Poi Dog Pondering: The Austin Years. Not to derail, but It looks to be a pretty good introduction to this overlooked band.
posted by fletchmuy at 11:47 AM on May 18, 2005

Thank You by Simply Red.
posted by ericb at 11:50 AM on May 18, 2005

~Thank you for hearing me.~
Sinead O'connor
posted by schyler523 at 11:53 AM on May 18, 2005

"Thank You Jack White (For The Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)" by the Flaming Lips; I think it was released on the Fight Test EP and you can hear it by wandering through a thicket of Flash at the band's web site (click audio, find the thing where you can listen to the full "Yoshimi" album, and it's there).

Also, I'm surprised no one's mentioned "To Sir, With Love."
posted by jacobm at 12:23 PM on May 18, 2005

"Danke Shoen" by Wayne Newton
posted by occhiblu at 12:40 PM on May 18, 2005

Thankful Dirt by Trailer Bride

Not a particularly happy song, though.
posted by occhiblu at 12:51 PM on May 18, 2005

how about all these?
posted by amberglow at 1:11 PM on May 18, 2005

Response by poster: Well then, that's a good start. And a tip o' the hat to all of you as well.
posted by Tuwa at 2:07 PM on May 18, 2005

Oooh, dmo, Days is one of my favorites.
posted by ontic at 5:44 PM on May 18, 2005

As a general tip on finding song titles--download iTunes, go to the music store, and do a search for song titles with "thank" in the title. You'll get 600+ results (although many of those are duplicates), and you can listen to 30 second samples of each of them.
posted by yankeefog at 7:26 AM on May 19, 2005