Senior Night Slideshow Songs

The photos are the athlete's. The song is usually the parent's. It is the thing that turns a run of team pictures into the moment where somebody in the stands has to look away for a second, and it is worth choosing on purpose.

This list is organized by what you want the moment to feel like, with a short section per sport for the crowds that expect an anthem. One rule sits above all of it: if your athlete has a song they play in the car before every game, that is the song. Nothing on this page will beat it.

How to choose

• One song. A senior night slideshow at the game runs two to four minutes, and one song carries it. At the banquet, with a segment per senior, two is enough.
• Match the room. Standing crowd at a game: warm and rising. Seated parents at a banquet: reflective works.
• Read the lyrics through. A chorus can be perfect and a second verse can be about a breakup.
• Let the song set the length. Choose it first, then pick the number of photos to fit, rather than cutting the song short. If you are still gathering photos, our guide on collecting photos for a senior night slideshow covers where they are and how to get them in one place.

For the parents

The ones that are really about watching them grow up.

• The Climb (Miley Cyrus)
• My Wish (Rascal Flatts)
• Photograph (Ed Sheeran)
• I Lived (OneRepublic)
• Never Grow Up (Taylor Swift)
• You're Gonna Miss This (Trace Adkins)
• Don't Blink (Kenny Chesney)
• Humble and Kind (Tim McGraw)
• Slow Down (Nichole Nordeman)
• In My Life (The Beatles)
• Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
• Forever Young (Rod Stewart)
• The House That Built Me (Miranda Lambert)
• Rivers and Roads (The Head and the Heart)
• Home (Phillip Phillips)

Warm and rising

For the game itself, where the crowd is on its feet and the moment is short.

• Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) (Green Day)
• Unwritten (Natasha Bedingfield)
• Best Day of My Life (American Authors)
• Count on Me (Bruno Mars)
• Brave (Sara Bareilles)
• Fight Song (Rachel Platten)
• Ho Hey (The Lumineers)
• It's Time (Imagine Dragons)
• See You Again (Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth)
• Glory Days (Bruce Springsteen)
• Hall of Fame (The Script featuring will.i.am)
• One Moment in Time (Whitney Houston)
• Champion (Carrie Underwood featuring Ludacris)

Anthems, by sport

Some crowds want the song they already stand up for. These are the ones that get played, sport by sport.

Football

• Thunderstruck (AC/DC)
• Remember the Name (Fort Minor)
• Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)
• Centuries (Fall Out Boy)

Basketball

• Sirius (The Alan Parsons Project)
• Titanium (David Guetta featuring Sia)
• Lose Yourself (Eminem)

Soccer and volleyball

• We Are the Champions (Queen)
• Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
• Believer (Imagine Dragons)

Baseball and softball

• Centerfield (John Fogerty)
• The Boys of Summer (Don Henley)
• Take Me Out to the Ball Game (for the banquet, not the game)

Any sport, for the team segment

• We Are Family (Sister Sledge)
• Don't Stop Believin' (Journey)

Two-song slideshows

If the banquet segment runs long enough for two, the pairing that works is reflective first and rising second: the childhood and early-season photos under something from the parents list, then the last season under something from the warm and rising list. The change in the music is what tells the room the story has reached this year.

Bringing the song in

On Embrance you choose your own audio at the music step and it uploads with the photographs, as an MP3, M4A or WAV. Add one song and it plays under the whole slideshow; add two and they play in the order you added them. Levels are evened out, so a quiet acoustic track and a loud anthem arrive at the same volume.

One practical note. Playing a popular song at the game or the banquet is fine. Posting the finished video online afterward is where Facebook, Instagram and YouTube may mute a copyrighted track, so if the online copy matters, the instrumental versions of these songs, or one of the built-in instrumental tracks, avoids that.

Common questions

What is the best song for a senior night slideshow?

There is no single best one, but the songs parents come back to are "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus, "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts, "Photograph" by Ed Sheeran, and "I Lived" by OneRepublic. If your athlete has a song they play before every game, that beats all of them.

How many songs does a senior night slideshow need?

One. A senior night slideshow at the game runs two to four minutes, and one song carries that. For a longer banquet slideshow with a segment for every senior, two songs is enough; more than that starts to feel like a playlist.

Can I use a popular song in the senior night slideshow?

For playing at the game or the banquet, yes, use the song you want. On Embrance you add your own MP3 or M4A and it plays under the photos. The one place to be careful is posting the finished video online afterward, where Facebook, Instagram and YouTube may mute a popular track.

Should the song be sad or upbeat?

Match it to the room. At the game the crowd is standing and the moment is short, so something warm and rising works better than a tearjerker. At the banquet, seated, with the parents in the front row, the reflective songs land. Many families use one of each: reflective for the childhood photos, rising for the last season.