Best Songs for Older Adults

Music can often do more good than medication for seniors, who are battling cognitive decline and mental health issues.

Even when senior citizens songs are not part of a proper, professionally conducted music therapy sessions, their innate ability to lift the spirit and to draw the elderly out of the chasm of lost memories can do a world of good. 

Music: Food for soul, workout for the brain and more!

To reap all the benefits mentioned, it is crucial to pick the right kind of music for senior citizens. Let’s not forget that music jogs both the emotional and the memory centers of the brain.

This means that with the right song, you can tap into happy memories and use them to offer much needed reprieve to an anxiety and stress ridden brain.

Because music has an almost magical ability to remind you of events, people and things that have long been forgotten, senior citizen songs help to elicit a response even from those older adults who have lost their memories to Alzheimer’s and dementia.

But the benefits of music and songs are not just limited to the brain! According to one study, the therapeutic effects of songs include:

• Better pain management.
• Improvement in chronic pain.
• Significant reduction in blood pressure.
• Better and faster recovery after a cardiac event (stroke and heart attack).
• Improved sleep quality.
• Better insomnia management.
• Enhanced immune function.
• Notable anti-seizure effects.
• Significantly lower cortisol levels.
• Improvement in chronic inflammation. 

Senior citizens songs: Entertainment is just one aspect of it!

The best part is that these songs are a tried and tested form of entertainment; one that works all the time and every time. Plus, you can use them on their own as a form of therapy or couple them with other activities.

From quizzes to games and from singing to dancing, the right list of songs can be combined with all of them and more. However, it can be hard to know about songs that were released while you were still a kid or not even born yet.

So, here is a list of the best songs for older adults by decades, seasons and combined activities to get you started on the right track.

Senior citizens songs for each decade

A. For the nimble ninety year olds (1930-1939)

1. Happy days are here again – Ben Selvin
2. On the sunny side of the street – Ted Lewis & Band
3. Enbraceable You – Red Nichols
4. Puttin’ on the Ritz – Harry Richman
5. Three little words – Duke Ellington
6. Georgia on my mind – Hoagy Carmichael
7. Stardust – Isham Jones
8. I hot Rhythm – Ethel Waters
9. Please – Bing Crosby
10. Night & Day – Fred Astaire
11. All of me – Louis Armstrong
12. In the mood – Glen Miller
13. Over the rainbow – Judy garland
14. Easy to love – Billie Holiday
15. Falling in love again – Marlene Dietrich
16. Body and soul – Annette Hanshaw
17. Jeepers Creeper – Al Donahue & Orchestra
18. I’m in the mood for love – Frances Langford
19. Strange fruit – Billie Holiday
20. Cheek to cheek – Fred Astaire

B. For the energetic eighty year olds (1940-1949)

1. When you wish upon a star – Cliff Richards
2. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy – The Andrews Sisters
3. In the mood – Glen Miller
4. Only forever – Bing Crosby
5. You Are My Sunshine – Jimmie Davis
6. Tangerine – Jimmy Dorsey & Orchestra
7. Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’- Bing Crosby and Trudy Erwin
8. To Each His Own – Eddy Howard (1946)
9. God bless the child – Billie Holiday
10. We Three – The Inkspots
11. White Christmas – Bing Crosby
12. If I had my way – Kate Smith
13. Shoo-shoo baby – The Andrews Sisters
14. Till the end of time – Perry Como
15. Chickery chick – Sammy Kaye
16. It’s magic – Doris Day
17. Lovesick Blues – Hank Williams
18. Some Enchanted Evening – Ezio Pinza
19. Rudolph the red nosed reindeer – Gene Autry
20. I’m Beginning to See the Light – Kitty Kallen & Harry James

 C. For the zesty seventy year olds (1950-1959)

1. Be my love – Mario Lanza
2. Because of you – Tony Bennett
3. Hound dog – Elvis Presley
4. All shook up – Elvis Presley
5. Love letters in sand – Pat Boone
6. Tammy – Debbie Reynolds
7. Chances Are – John Mathis
8. Hey there – Rosemary Clooney
9. Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley
10. Mona Lisa – Nat King Cole
11. Autumn Leaves – Roger Williams
12. I need you now – Eddie Fisher
13. The great pretender – The Platters
14. You send me – Sam Cooke
15. Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley
16. Diana – Paul Anka
17. Young love – Sonny James
18. Little Stars – The Elegants
19. All I have to do is dream – The Everly Brothers
20. Blue tango – Leroy Anderson
21. Little things mean a lot – Kitty Kallen
22. Goodnight Irene – Gordon Jenkins and The Weavers

 D. For the sprightly sixty year olds (1960-1969)

1. I want to hold your hand – The Beatles
2. Tossin and Turnin – Bobby Lewis
3. Sugar, sugar – The Archies
4. The twist – Chuby Checker
5. Georgia on my mind – Ray Charles
6. Stand by me – Ben King
7. Love me do – The Beatles
8. Surfin’ safari – The Beach Boys
9. Oh’ Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison
10. Where did our love go – The Supremes
11. You really got me – The Kinks
12. Good vibrations – The Beach Boys
13. Wild thing – The Troggs
14. Piece of my heart – Janis Joplin
15. Wonderful world – Louis Armstrong
16. Born to be wild – Steppenwolf
17. It’s my party – Leslie Gore
18. Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones
19. Sounds of Silence – Simon & Garfunkle
20. Respect – Aretha Franklin
21. Somebody to love – Jefferson Airplane
22. Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
23. Baby Love – The Supremes
24. My Girl – The Temptations

 E. For the fun-loving fifty year olds (the 1970s)

1. Joy to the World – Three Dog Night
2. Tonight’s the Night – Rod Stewart
3. The Way We Were – Barbra Streisand
4. Angie – The Rolling Stones
5. Born to run – Bruce Springsteen
6. Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel
7. Shadow Dancing – Andy Gibb
8. Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton
9. Dancing Queen – ABBA
10. Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees
11. Isn’t she lovely – Stevie Wonder
12. I will survive – Gloria Gaynor
13. I want you to want me – Cheap Trick
14. Let’s get it on – Marvin Gaye
15. Hotel California – Eagles
16. Cecilia – Simon & Garfunkel
17. Ain’t no mountain high enough – Diana Ross
18. Ladies night – Kool & The Gang
19. I’ll be there – Jackson 5
20. Jamming – Bob Marley & The Wailers
21. Imagine – John Lennon
22. Stairway to heaven – Led Zeppelin
23. The first time ever I saw your face – Roberta Flack
24. How deep is your love – Bee Gees
25. M.C.A – Village People

Music for senior citizens by the season!

In the spring:

1. Daydream – The Lovin’ Spoonful
2. Grazing in the grass – Hugh Masakela
3. Morning has broken – Cat Stevens
4. It might as well be spring – Frank Sinatra
5. April in Paris – Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald
6. Some other spring – Billie Holiday, Tony Scott Orchestra
7. When it’s springtime in Alaska – Johnny Cash
8. You must believe in spring – Barbra Streisand
9. Spring is here – Ella Fitzgerald
10. When the white lilacs bloom again – Billy Vaughn And His Orchestra
11. April love – Pat Boone
12. Come rain or come shine – Ray Charles
13. Fourty shades of green – Johnny Cash
14. Lemon Tree – Trini Lopez
15. Don’t let the rain come down – The Serendipity Singers

For summer:

1. Good day sunshine – The Beatles
2. Summer in the city – The Lovin’ Spoonful
3. Summertime blues – Eddie Cochran
4. Surfin’ U.S.A. – The Beach Boys
5. Itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka​ dot bikini – Bryan Hyland
6. Dancing in the street – Martha & The Vandellas
7. Summer nights by Olivia Newton – John and John Travolta
8. Can’t wait for summer – Steve Lawrence
9. Summertime, Summertime – The Jamies
10. Here comes summer – Jerry Keller
11. The green leaves of summer – The Brothers Four
12. Sealed with a kiss – Brian Hyland
13. Those lazy-hazy-crazy days of summer – Nat “King” Cole
14. Summer wind – Frank Sinatra
15. Hawaii Five-O – The Ventures
16. Hot fun in the summertime – Sly and the Family Stone

In fall / autumn:

1. Autumn Leaves – Roger Williams
2. High School Confidential – Jerry Lee Lewis
3. Wonderful World – Sam Cooke
4. Blue Autumn – Bobby Goldsboro
5. See You In September – The Happenings
6. It Was A Very Good Year – Frank Sinatra
7. Autumn in New York – Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
8. Leaves That Are Green – Simon & Garfunkel
9. Autumn Almana – The Kinks
10. September song – Frank Sinatra
11. Autumn Serenade – John Coltrane
12. Autumn Changes – Donna Summer
13. September – Earth, Wind & Fire
14. Harvest moon – Neil Young

For winter:

1. Wintertime love – The Doors
2. Baby, It’s Cold Outside – Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban
3. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Dean Martin
4. Winter Wonderland – Elvis Presley
5. A Hazy Shade of Winter – Simon and Garfunkel
6. Sleigh Ride – Ella Fitzgerald
7. Frosty the Snowman – Leon Redbone
8. Long Long Winter – Bob Marley
9. Summer Me, Winter Me – Barbra Streisand
10. End of the Season – The Kinks
11. Marshmallow World – Bing Crosby
12. Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles
13. A Hazy Shade of Winter – Simon & Garfunkel
14. Baby It’s Cold Outside – Dean Martin
15. Looks Like a Cold Cold Winter – Bing Crosby 

Action songs for elderly

Although this may seem like a puerile activity, action songs and rhymes can be used in a myriad of ways to maintain and improve cognitive health in seniors.

For starters, linking an action to a word itself involves the use of multiple cognitive resources. In addition, because the elderly will use various body parts to enact the words, action songs also help to improve balance, movement, motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Moreover, these simple songs and the actions they call for also help to improve memory and retention. Plus, this is an active form of music therapy, which goes beyond the sense of enjoyment derived from listening to songs.

Since any movement is good for both the body and the brain, these simple action songs can go a long way in increasing self-confidence and keeping depression at bay. So, if you are ready to include action songs for older adults in your seniors’ entertainment session, here are a few choice picks:

• Chicken dance – various artists
• The twist
• Tequila
• Beer barrel polka
• Hokey pokey
• These boots are made for walkin’
• Blue suede shoes
• Ragtime cowboy Joe
• Singing in the rain 

Dance songs for senior citizens

1. Love me tender – Elvis Presley
2. Great balls of fire – Jerry Lee Lewis
3. I just called to say I love you – Stevie Wonder
4. My funny valentine – Frank Sinatra
5. That’s amore – Dean Martin
6. Good golly Miss Molly – Little Richard
7. Whatever will be will be – Doris Day
8. Macarena – Los Del Rio
9. Conga – Miami Sound Machine
10. Jump In The Line – Harry Belafonte
11. Fun, Fun, Fun – The Beach Boys
12. Build me up buttercup – The Foundations
13. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
14. Dancing in the Street – Martha and the Vandellas
15. I Want You Back – Jackson 5
16. Twist and shout – The Beatles
17. Stop! In the Name of Love – The Supremes
18. Dancing Queen – ABBA
19. I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown
20. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell 

Music with a sprinkling of humor: Funny songs for senior citizens

1. When I’m Sixty Four – The Beatles
2. I Ain’t Getting Older, I’m Getting Better – Rufus Thomas
3. 200 Year Old Alcoholic – The Clancy Brothers
4. People My Age – John Gorka
5. When You are Old and Gray – Tom Lehrer
6. A Boy Named Sue – Johny Cash
7. Arthritis Blues Ramblin’ – Jack Elliott
8. Little Brown Jug – Glenn Miller
9. All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down) – Hank Williams, Jr.
10. Never Wed an Old Man – Pete Seeger
11. It’s Hard To Be Humble – Mac Davis