A graduation song that I have always loved is "Good Riddance" by Green Day.
It says all the right things. What are some of your favorite grad songs?

Pardon my ignorance and please be so kind as to educate me: "what is a graduation song"?

Ah ha, let me tell you my fine English friend that graduation rituals of the Americans, are very difficult to fathom...even I, an American, often have to ask what on earth is this or that..
However, we generally have a processional type song, the classic being, "pomp and circumstance"...very dignified, I've played it about fifty thousand times in my life, as I was in the band...and you must play it a million times...until all the grads have thrown their tassles over the opposite sides of their mortarboards. Are you quite following this?

The rhythm is da da da da da daaaaa da....repeated over and over.
Sometimes there is a song sung at a ceremony...I myself played the solo "Laura" at my own ceremony, as it was a smaller one, rather than the big event of about 500 people minimum at my enormous country school.
Perhaps they now have a more modern song, is that it?

When I taught in several places in America and several types of schools, we had to officiate and wear our gowns and hats...(bring the bobby pins!) and I cannot remember any particular song being sung...

Perhaps our original poster will have to tell us what he or she means though.
How is it chosen nowadays?
I think they probalby had the Carpenters' "we've only just begun" at my year's big ceremony.

The tradition is that each class selects a "class graduation song" that they feel speaks for them at that moment, it is usually a current song of the day, and that song is played, usually in closing, at the graduation ceremony. In my class of '79, "Freebird" by Skynyrd was the popular selection of the "thinking male" graduates but somehow we were upset in the election by the choice of emotionally-challenged females, who somehow managed to stuff the election boxes and gave us "Send In The Clowns" as our class song. To this day I have no idea what that song has to do with graduating from high school.

Sad to say, I can't remember what our graduation song was- and it was last year! Must have meant a lot, right? It was something uninspiring and unimportant, to me at least. Don't even get me started on Pomp and Circumstance! 475 graduating seniors, and that must be played THE WHOLE TIME!

Once again, this illustrates how different things are around the country, and how hard it is to generalize...

My goodness, I'd really avoid having send in the clowns!

Now, the other ritual at my high school was streaking graduation and several sacrificed their reputations by attending the end of the year ceremony nude beneath their gowns then casting them off and running away.
The reason I had a smaller ceremony was that they let the mid term grads have their own, and there were one hundred of us who chose to get out early..guess we didn't need to choose a song about getting out, we actually were!

I remember the torture of Pomp and Circumstance as well.

Sometimes it felt as if it was a variation of the infamous Song That Never Ends from Lamb Chop. Especially during practices when we'd all discover that many in the graduating class couldn't walk to the beat and those who had rhythm had difficulties telling their left and right feet apart.

Playing the song for what seemed like the hundredth time at the actual ceremony felt mild compared to that.

I like Good Riddance but I've never seen that as a graduation song.

I love the instrumental part of Vitamin C's, Friends Forever. I think that's perfect for graduation.

I believe my graduation song was Auld Lang Syne.

Thanks for the education everyone (no pun intended now or before). I think it is rather a lovely tradition. Perhaps we should do something similar here? Mind you I have a lot of sympathy for DieHard's point of view, if my class song was "Bring in the Clowns" I don't think I would be going to many reunions!

I have been trying to remember the P&C march and I can't I keep ending up humming 'Ode to Joy' instead. It is getting a bit annoying.

I like "Pomp and Circumstance"! Well, maybe that will change within the next week. Even though you didn't ask I'll explain: I have Childcare for 2nd period and we're planning their "graduation" The theme is the 1950's which is really a great idea IN THEORY!! (poodle skirt on little girls,leather jackets on little boys) But you try and get a bunch of 3-5 year olds to sing the words to "Witch Doctor"! Yeah,not fun. But at least they're cute trying. My job of the week is to teach a little boy to sing "Hound Dog". Why can't high school graduations have themes like that??

Wow, playing "Pomp and Circumstance" for 230 seniors was a lot. Can't imagine 450!

There's also "I WIll Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan and "This is the Moment" from the musical Jekyll and Hyde.

I really didn't like our Graduation Song ^_^. We had to sing "The River" and "Because You Loved Me." I really didn't enjoy that.....

Oh <rude word>! Thanks for breaking that mental block sue943 the little grey cells must be drying up. Which brings up the rather interesting question why do all these American children garaduate school to "Land of 'ope and Glory"?

Tielhard - Our American friends seem to think that the Land of Hope and Glory is the USA.
I recently saw a quote which said "War is Gods way of teaching Americans Geography"! (LOL)


Already re-posted to Controversial! (lol - john)

My favorite graduation songs are "Good Riddance" by Green Day, "Graduation" by Vitamin C, and "These are the Nights" by Eve 6. They are all so sweet. Just listen to them and it will make you cry.