US searches for "graduation songs" peak every May at 11x their August level, but the Class of 2007 searched hardest: the annual average has fallen from 25.5 to 8.5 in 2025, as playlists replaced searches. Among the songs measured, the biggest May–June lifts go to good time owl city (+71%), high hopes (+48%), dont stop believin (+39%), unwritten natasha bedingfield (+30%). "See You Again" (+8%) and "We Are Young" (+6%) are searched all year, so graduation season barely moves them. ("Firework" shows +241%, but that window includes the run-up to July 4, so we exclude it.)
May–June lift by song (US, May–Jun average ÷ rest-of-year average, 2021–2026)
| Song query | Graduation-season lift |
|---|---|
| firework (July 4 overlap) | +241% |
| good time owl city | +71% |
| high hopes | +48% |
| dont stop believin | +39% |
| unwritten natasha bedingfield | +30% |
| the climb miley | +20% |
| i hope you dance | +17% |
| the nights avicii | +9% |
| see you again | +8% |
| we are young | +6% |
"graduation songs" by year (US, 2004–2026)
| Year | Avg index |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 20.3 |
| 2005 | 24.7 |
| 2006 | 23.5 |
| 2007 | 25.5 |
| 2008 | 23.5 |
| 2009 | 23.6 |
| 2010 | 21.6 |
| 2011 | 22.8 |
| 2012 | 17.8 |
| 2013 | 15.2 |
| 2014 | 15.2 |
| 2015 | 13.2 |
| 2016 | 11.8 |
| 2017 | 11.2 |
| 2018 | 10.6 |
| 2019 | 9.8 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 5.7 |
| 2022 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 8.2 |
| 2024 | 8.1 |
| 2025 | 8.5 |
| 2026 | 9.4 |
By month (2004–2026 avg)
| Month | Avg index |
|---|---|
| January | 7.6 |
| February | 8.7 |
| March | 13.0 |
| April | 26.4 |
| May | 59.4 |
| June | 30.4 |
| July | 5.9 |
| August | 5.6 |
| September | 5.7 |
| October | 6.3 |
| November | 5.9 |
| December | 5.6 |
What it means
Big moments get soundtracks, and most people pick from the same short list. The most-searched pick is rarely the most personal one, and a personalized song built around one person's name and story is the version nobody else has. If you have a hook of your own, an AI song generator can turn it into a full track with vocals in a few minutes.
Method
- Google search interest, US, web search, weekly past 5 years for song terms; monthly since 2004 for "graduation songs".
- Song terms with near-zero search were dropped (e.g. "graduation friends forever", "breakaway kelly clarkson").
- The generational comparison uses the genre term plus each song's release era.
Cite and download
Free to use and cite with a link back to this page.
aisong.lol Research. (2026). Graduation songs by decade: what the Class of 2026 searches vs the Class of 2006. aisong.lol. https://aisong.lol/research/graduation-songs-by-decade-what-the-class-of-2026-searches-vs-the-clas
Use this data. Every table in this study as one spreadsheet-ready file.
↓ Download the data (CSV)
