Create gift

Menu

Create gift

For the graduation slideshow

Songs for graduation slideshow moments, and a last song that sings their name

Thirty picks in the order a slideshow runs, from baby photos to the final slide, plus how many photos fit each song. Then close on a song about your graduate.

  • Their name in the lyrics
  • MP3 + lyric video
  • From $34.99
Write their songSee the 30 songs⁠
ForNora

Nora, every picture brought you here

AI photo · fictional peoplesongtolove.com

The soundtrack, slide by slide

The best songs for graduation slideshow chapters, in the order they play

Six chapters, five real songs each, listed by title and artist. Most slideshows use one song per chapter: pick one from each row and these graduation slideshow songs carry the whole show.

  1. Chapter 1

    The title slide

    Photos hereCap-and-gown portrait, name and date. Let the intro play before the first photo fades in.

    1. Graduation (Friends Forever) · Vitamin C
    2. The Time of My Life · David Cook
    3. Seasons of Love · Original Broadway Cast of Rent
    4. Time After Time · Cyndi Lauper
    5. Thank You for the Music · ABBA
  2. Chapter 2

    Baby photos to the first backpack

    Photos hereThe hospital blanket, bath-time grins, the gap-tooth school portrait, the first lunchbox.

    1. Rainbow Connection · Kermit the Frog
    2. Return to Pooh Corner · Kenny Loggins
    3. Somewhere Out There · Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram
    4. Danny's Song · Loggins & Messina
    5. When You Wish Upon a Star · Cliff Edwards
  3. Chapter 3

    The in-between years

    Photos hereBraces, regrettable haircuts, the learner's permit, the first car and the first job.

    1. Fifteen · Taylor Swift
    2. Summer of '69 · Bryan Adams
    3. The Middle · Jimmy Eat World
    4. Float On · Modest Mouse
    5. Riptide · Vance Joy
  4. Chapter 4

    Friends, teams and the band room

    Photos hereLocker-room huddles, prom groups, the road trip, the people they'll call first.

    1. With a Little Help from My Friends · The Beatles
    2. I'll Be There for You · The Rembrandts
    3. Don't You (Forget About Me) · Simple Minds
    4. For Good · Kristin Chenoweth & Idina Menzel
    5. We Are the Champions · Queen
  5. Chapter 5

    The last photo and what comes next

    Photos hereThe walk across the stage, the hug after, the acceptance letter or the packed car.

    1. Here's to the Night · Eve 6
    2. Breakaway · Kelly Clarkson
    3. The Nights · Avicii
    4. I Was Here · Beyoncé
    5. Closing Time · Semisonic
  6. Chapter 6

    The party send-off

    Photos hereBloopers and candids on a loop while everyone grabs cake. Turn it up.

    1. I Gotta Feeling · Black Eyed Peas
    2. Mr. Brightside · The Killers
    3. Hey Ya! · OutKast
    4. Dog Days Are Over · Florence + the Machine
    5. Good as Hell · Lizzo
Chapter 7

The slide that's only about them

Every song above was written about somebody else. The closing song can be written from your stories about this graduate, with their name in the chorus.

Write the closing song⁠Hear a finished song first

Looking for something else?Songs about sons, from day one to his weddingSongs for daughters at every age

Plan the slideshow

Graduation songs for slideshow timing: the simple math

Before you drag a single photo in, work out how many each song can hold. It takes one multiplication.

Photos per song

Song length down the side, seconds on screen across the top, rounded to the nearest photo.
Song4 s5 s6 s7 s
3:0045363026
3:3053423530
4:0060484034
4:3068544539

Six things that make it flow

  1. Sort the photos, then pick songs

    Drop photos into the six chapters first. If a chapter has 40 photos at 5 seconds, it needs about 3:20 of music; when the song you love is shorter, cut photos rather than rushing them.

  2. Change songs where the story turns

    Switch at a chapter break, like the last school portrait before the friends, so the new song feels like a new page. A two-second crossfade is plenty.

  3. Open slow, on a title slide

    Put the name and date over the song's intro and bring in the first photo when the singing starts.

  4. Hold the final photo

    Leave the last picture up until the music ends, then fade to black. Closing on a song about them? Give it a slide of its own with their name.

  5. Leave room for speeches

    If someone will speak, fade the music down before they start and bring it back after. Do a sound check in the room; what sounds loud on a laptop disappears in a backyard.

  6. Posting it online? Check the music

    Playing the slideshow in the room is one thing. Once uploaded, a video with popular songs may have its sound muted or be blocked because of copyright. For the version you post, use music you have the rights to.

Write the closing song⁠

The lyrics arrive in about a minute, and nothing is charged yet

The last slide

End the slideshow on a song written about them

Tell us about your graduate the way you'd tell a friend: the name, the years, the people who got them here. The lyrics come from that, so the final slide fits no one else.

Last slideThe vertical lyric video, ready for the final slide

What families and friends tell us

Name and nickname
The name on the diploma and the one everybody actually uses
The years
The science fair volcano, the summer job at the pool, the car that never started
Who got them here
A teacher, a coach, a grandparent who drove them to every practice
What's next
Nursing school, a first job, a move across the country, a gap year

A couple of these is plenty for a first draft.

On the form

Occasion

  • Graduation

Relationship

  • Child
  • Sibling
  • Friend
  • Other

A grandchild, niece, nephew, student or teammate? Pick Other and tell us who they are to you.

Mood

  • NostalgicFor the baby photos to cap-and-gown arc
  • HappyBright and proud, for the party
  • FestiveA big finish for the send-off

What you get for the slideshow

  • MP3 for any slideshow or video editor
  • Vertical MP4 lyric video for the closing slide
  • Lyrics PDF to print for the party table
  • Private gift page with a QR code
  • Gift email at the hour you choose

After payment we transfer our rights in the song to you, commercial use included, so you can post the finished slideshow with it.

Their name and your stories go into the lyrics. We don't imitate famous singers or reuse lines from existing songs.

Write their song⁠

Two full versions before you pay

Hear one first

Two real songs, played start to finish

Both are finished songs from real orders. Listen for the moment a name lands in the melody; in yours, that name belongs to your graduate.

Now showing
Write their song⁠

Press play

Neither is a graduation song: one is a husband's song for ten years of marriage, the other a best friend's song for a thirtieth birthday.

  • Ordinary Days

    Written for Emma, by her husband Daniel, ten years after their wedding

    • Ballad
    • Female voice
    Ordinary Days
    Ballad

  • Celebrate You, Maya

    Written for Maya, by her best friend, as she turned thirty

    • Pop
    • Male voice
    Maya's song
    Pop

Both samples are in English. Your graduate's song can be in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian.

From slideshow nights

What happened when the last slide played

  • A mother laughs with a hand over her mouth while her tall graduate son hugs her at a backyard party, a slideshow glowing on a sheet behind them (AI photo, fictional people)
    Graduation party
    We projected the slideshow onto a bedsheet in the backyard. Four songs off a playlist, then his own at the end. His friends were shouting his name by the second chorus.
    Tanya R.Charlotte, NC
  • College graduation
    I had two hundred photos and no plan. Five seconds each, one song per chapter, and a song about her to close it. Done in one evening at the kitchen table.
    Mike D.Boise, ID
  • A grandmother with silver hair holds a phone to her ear with her eyes closed and smiles while her adult granddaughter in an open green graduation gown leans cheek to cheek at a restaurant table (AI photo, fictional people)
    Nursing school
    Abuela can't see the screen well anymore, so I held the phone to her ear at dinner. She heard Gabi's name in the chorus and wouldn't give my phone back.
    Elena V.Tucson, AZ
  • Senior night
    Made it for the soccer banquet slideshow. Eighteen names were never going to fit, so we gave it the team nickname, and the whole room shouted it back.
    Owen P.Raleigh, NC
  • Three college roommates squeezed on a couch laugh and point at a glowing TV just out of frame, one wearing a green mortarboard with a gold tassel askew (AI photo, fictional people)
    Last night in the apartment
    Four years of photos on our TV, and the last slide was a song about the three of us. Nobody wanted to be the first one to go to bed.
    Priya K.Ann Arbor, MI
  • High school graduation
    My brother acts like nothing gets to him. The song brought up the summer he flipped burgers at the lake, and he had to step outside for a minute.
    Dana L.Minneapolis, MN
  • A father wipes one eye under his glasses and laughs while his graduate daughter in an open green gown hugs him and holds up a phone at a garage open house (AI photo, fictional people)
    Open house
    Garage open house, projector on the back wall, her song as the last slide. I stopped filming halfway, so she held my phone up and let everyone hear the chorus.
    Kevin T.San Jose, CA
  • Posted for family
    Half our family lives abroad, so we posted the slideshow online. It ends with a song written for her, so the music was the one thing we didn't have to think about.
    Laura S.Austin, TX

How it works

From your stories to the closing song

Ten minutes or so at the kitchen table, and you pay only after you've heard the result.

  1. Step 1About 10 min

    Tell us about your graduate

    Their name, a nickname, a few memories and what's next. Choose Graduation, your relationship and a mood.

  2. Step 2About 1 min

    Read the lyrics

    In about a minute, AI turns your story into lyrics that lean on the moments you picked.

  3. Step 31 to 2 min

    Hear two versions

    Two full versions play with a light watermark. Change the words, style or mood and try again; the page shows how many rounds are left.

  4. Step 4After payment

    Drop it into the slideshow

    Pay for the one you love, then download the MP3 and lyric video, or send the private gift page.

Start their song⁠

Nothing is charged until you've heard both

Made with AI: it writes the lyrics from what you share and produces the music, and every voice is synthetic. No real singer or artist performs on the song, takes part in it or endorses it.

Pricing

One price for the whole closing song

One payment, made after you've listened to both full versions. There is no subscription and no deposit.

Limited offer

Graduation song

A song about your graduate

FromOffer price$34.99Regular price$69.98-50%

  • Lyrics about them
  • Two versions to compare
  • Edits before you pay
  • MP3 and lyric video
  • Gift page and QR code
  • Optional streaming release
Write their song⁠

You pay only after you've heard both versions.

Questions

Before you add a song to the graduation slideshow

Straight answers for slideshow makers. Anything we missed, just email us.

Is there still time before the graduation ceremony?

Usually, yes. The lyrics take about a minute and two full versions follow a minute or two later. The files unlock as soon as you pay, so the MP3 can go into the slideshow the same day.

Can the song include several names, like a whole team or class?

List them in your story and the lyrics will try to include the names that fit. A song has room for a handful of names, not a full roster, so we can't promise every one; for a big group, a team nickname or the class year often works better.

Can we post the slideshow online with this song?

Yes. After payment we transfer our rights in the song to you, commercial use included. That's different from popular songs, which may get a posted video muted or blocked because of copyright.

How long is the song?

It's a full song, usually a few minutes; the two samples on this page run 4:24 and 2:48. We can't promise an exact length, so finish the photo count once you've heard your version.

Which file goes into the slideshow?

The MP3 works in any slideshow or video editor. The vertical MP4 lyric video can be the closing clip, or something to send to phones for anyone who missed the party.

Can the song be in Spanish, Portuguese or Italian for the grandparents?

Yes. Choose English, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian as the song language, for example when the grandparents will be watching in another language.

Can I change it before I pay?

Yes, within limits. Change the lyrics, style or mood and generate again; the page shows how many rounds you have left. After you pay, the song itself can't be changed.

Who sings it?

You choose Female voice, Male voice or Duet. Every voice is synthetic and made with AI, and we can't imitate a real artist, even their favorite one.

Still wondering about something?

⁠Email us

Chapter 7

Save the last slide for a song about them

Bring a nickname and a few memories. Hear two versions about your graduate before you decide anything.

Write their song⁠

Two full versions first, then you choose

ForNora

Nora, every picture brought you here

AI photo · fictional peoplesongtolove.com
For Nora, from Mom & Dad