Graduation songs for adults?

May 28, 2007 10:04 AM

What are some good songs for a graduation mix? This is for twenty-and-thirty-somethings.

I'm graduating from a grad program next week and would like to make a mix CD for my good friends. I got this idea listening to the song "Better Thingss" as covered by Dar Williams. A lot of my friends are nervous about being spit back into the big, bad world, and I would like to give them a CD full of songs about starting a new phase of life and the exciting adventures ahead. Other songs I thought of were "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac and "Do You Realize" by the Flaming Lips.

Most of my friends are in their late twenties to early thirties, so songs about becoming an adult (such as "Wild World") aren't as relevant as they would be for graduating seniors.

Thoughts?

posted by lunasol to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

Anything is cool as long as you don't use "Good Riddance" by Green Day.

Try "Independence Day" by Elliott Smith.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:23 AM on May 28, 2007

School's Out by Alice Cooper is appropriate for graduates of any age. I am not joking.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:02 AM on May 28, 2007

The wheels on the bus.
posted by bigmusic at 11:05 AM on May 28, 2007

You MUST include the 30-second "Graduation Rap" from the Ghost World soundtrack, as performed by a fictional multi-racial trio with the ridiculously stupid name Vanilla, Jade and Ebony. (If the white girl was called Ivory it wouldn't be that funny, but choosing Vanilla was brilliant.)

The lyrics in their entirety: "No more education / It's time for celebration / 'cause this is the day of our high school graduation! // We stayed for the duration / Achieved matriculation / Now we're the newest members of the general population!"
posted by j.s.f. at 11:17 AM on May 28, 2007

"Advice for the Graduate," by the Silver Jews.
posted by god hates math at 12:02 PM on May 28, 2007

"Graduation Day" by Chris Isaak
posted by Frank Grimes at 12:15 PM on May 28, 2007

highway to hell, ac/dc.
posted by dong_resin at 12:22 PM on May 28, 2007

Closing Time by Semisonic has been a classic for this. Your target group might remember it from their high-school prom or graduation.
posted by Robert Angelo at 1:07 PM on May 28, 2007

There is a great hip hop mix of pomp and circumstance, but I can't seem to find it now...
posted by phrontist at 3:18 PM on May 28, 2007

Gettin' It by Too Short. Might be fun.
posted by clearly at 5:03 PM on May 28, 2007

"Come a Long Way" by Michelle Shocked.
posted by pazazygeek at 5:17 PM on May 28, 2007

The wheels on the bus.

The Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers' version, natch.

There's a song called Graduation Day by Math and Physics Club, which you can download here. I like it, but then I have a high tolerance for Smithsish indie.
posted by Kattullus at 10:49 PM on May 28, 2007

ok, these songs aren't exactly about graduation, but they're good songs, and that's important, right?

The Long and Winding Road- Beatles
Across the Universe- Beatles
Get Back- Beatles
Changes- Bowie
Change Clothes- Jay-Z
My first song- Jay-Z
Into the Great Wide Open- Tom Petty
Silver Jews- Advice to the Graduate
The End of the World as We Know it- REM
Major Leagues- Pavement
Box Elder- Pavement
5 to 1- The Doors
Youth Gone Wild- Skid Row
Yellow Ledbetter- Pearl Jam
posted by Wayman Tisdale at 7:12 AM on May 29, 2007

and the college skits on Kanye West's College Dropout album.
posted by Wayman Tisdale at 10:11 AM on May 29, 2007