Funeral slideshows can help memorialize passed away loved ones through a series of photos. Choosing a song to play in the background can be difficult because of how personal a funeral can be.
The song you choose can help bring emotions forward. Whether you want the memories to feel bittersweet, joyful, or sorrowful, there are plenty of touching songs to choose from.
Here are the best songs for a funeral slideshow.
“I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston
Song Year: 1992
“I Will Always Love You” is a funeral classic for an assortment of reasons, the main being how lyrically beautiful this song is. With this version having the stunning voice of Whitney Houston, it’s perfect.
It’s a gentle farewell full of love, peace, and acceptance. A slide show for a loved one with this song in the background is certain to make us cry but also remember the life of our loved one was full of love.
“To Build a Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra
Song Year: 2007
The Cinematic Orchestra blows us away with their powerful instrumental in their song, “To Build a Home.” The lyrics are about building a home with someone you love and watching it crumble. It’s a beautiful way to describe a deep and meaningful relationship with someone.
While it may be a heartwrenching song lyrically for a funeral, the violin, piano, and other instruments present throughout most of the song make it perfect for a slideshow.
“When We Were Young” by Adele
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDWKuo3gXMQ
Song Year: 2015
Looking at past photographs of a loved one, especially a significant other, can be difficult when you think back on the memories you share. “When We Were Young” is a song about missing the feeling of being young and in love.
Adele delivers a heart-wrenching performance with strong vocals that evoke pain, desperation, and sorrow. It’s a beautiful song, despite its mournful tones, one that would fit perfectly behind a slideshow of your passed wife, husband, lover, or friend.
“Photograph” by Ed Sheeran
Song Year: 2014
“Photograph” is not only a great fit because of the name but because of the emotions evoked in the lyrics and singer’s voice. Ed Sheeran has a large number of songs that stun us with how emotionally taxing they can be to listen to, and photograph is one.
Yet, it’s almost hopeful in a way. It’s a song about holding onto pictures of loved ones and how we can capture such strong emotions through an image. Looking back on their photos at a funeral is bittersweet.
We can cherish the memories we have but feel sorrow for the ones we’ll never make again.
“Yellow” by Coldplay
Song Year: 2000
“Yellow” is a beautiful song about loving someone with your entire being; because of them, you’re joyful just to be alive. They make you happy and give your life purpose.
Coldplay reminds us that even though love can be painful, it makes you think about how significant it is to even feel love and be loved so strongly by another.
Our loved ones make our lives brighter, and losing them is the worst feeling in the world, but it’s better to have felt love than none at all.
“Yesterday” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1965
“Yesterday” is a song about wanting to go back in time, even a day would do, just to right the wrongs of the past. It has sorrow and regret, but it’s also about wanting our loved one to return to us.
It has gentle lyrics, which makes it lovely to listen to while reminiscing on our loved ones. There is also a part in the song that questions why they had to leave, but sometimes there is no answer.
“Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Song Year: 2009
“Home” is one of the more upbeat songs on our list because its lyrics are full of life, love, and joy. While a song this happy isn’t for everyone on the day of a funeral, this song pays tribute to the love and light our loved one felt in life and death.
They will always be a part of us, and home will always be with them and never be the same without them.
“If Tomorrow Never Comes” by Garth Brooks
Song Year: 1989
Garth Brooks breaks hearts with his rendition of “If Tomorrow Never Comes.” This song is even more difficult to process once you’ve lost a loved one, but the reason it’s on our list is that sometimes we need to hear it.
Our loved ones loved us as much as we loved them, and that’s something to never forget. Although their tomorrow never came, we knew they loved us.
“Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson
Song Year: 2009
“Breakaway” is a song about exploring dreams and leaving the life you once lived to find a new and better one. While the lyrics revolve around dreams, the mention of having wings and flying can also be relatable to a loved one who passed on.
Kelly Clarkson sings beautifully and evokes an intense need to break free, and although their passing is tragic, looking through a slideshow with this song uplifts and remembers our loved ones in a positive light.
“I’m Already There” by Lonestar
Song Year: 2001
Lonestar creates heartwrenching yet uplighting lyrics in their song, “I’m Already There.” Although we may not be beside our loved ones physically anymore, this song expresses how they never leave us. They are with us everywhere we go.
“Little Wonders” by Rob Thomas
Song year: 2011
“Little Wonders” is a beautiful funeral song. It focuses on the small moments in life, the same way a photograph does. The same way we remember these precious moments in our minds is the same way these photos capture our loved ones.
“Your Song” by Elton John
Song Year: 2009
“Your Song” is personable and gentle in its way of loving. It’s an ode to our loved ones as we watch their life in pictures.
The lyrics state how beautiful life can be when you have someone so special by your side, and even though we say goodbye, we were lucky to have them for as long as we did.
“marjorie” by Taylor Swift
Song Year: 2020
Taylor Swift wrote “marjorie” about her grandmother, who passed away when Swift was thirteen. It’s a beautiful song about life and death and how although our loved ones move on, they linger in our heads and our hearts.
Viewing a slideshow with the idea of our loved ones always being with us is a bittersweet feeling, one we can sit in and look back on.
“Never Enough” by Loren Allred
Song Year: 2017
“Never Enough” was used in the movie, The Greatest Showman. It’s a song about how even the most beautiful, expensive items in life will never compare to love and happiness.
As a funeral slideshow song, it can be a tribute to our loved ones where we accept life will never be the same and a world without them will never be enough.
“Sweet Creature” by Harry Styles
Song Year: 2017
“Sweet Creature” refers to our loved ones or significant others and how important they are to us. We find every part of them beautiful, and Harry Styles’s voice soothes our pain with a gentle melody.
For a funeral slideshow, this makes a beautiful song because it highlights our loved one’s personalities and how amazing they were to us. They pull us back to earth and act as a home for us, even after they’ve passed.
“There You’ll Be” by Faith Hill
Song Year: 2001
“There You’ll Be” is a funeral classic. It’s a song about being grateful for the life we shared with our loved ones, and although they have passed away, we keep them alive by keeping them with us. They were someone who was always there for us, and we can take solace in knowing that, in the end, we were there for them.
“Rivers and Roads” by The Head and The Heart
Song Year: 2010
The Head and The Heart create a touching farewell in “Rivers and Roads,” but it does not signify the end. The beauty of the song is the promise of reuniting somewhere down the line. It will be a long and difficult path until we reach our loved ones again, but it will happen.
“Repeat Until Death” by Novo Amor
Song Year: 2018
Novo Amor pairs sorrowful instrumentals and touching lyrics in his song “Repeat Until Death.” The song’s message is that our loved one is a part of us, and losing them is losing half of ourselves.
It’s heartbreaking and not for everyone, but alongside a funeral slideshow, this song gives the message of how important our loved one was and how we will never be the same.
“cardigan” by Taylor Swift
Song Year: 2020
“Cardigan” is lovely in its lyrics, Taylor Swift’s voice is stunning, and the overall message makes for an amazing funeral slideshow song. With the theme of young love, loss, and all the details that make someone themselves, this song perfectly describes what it means to love someone.
Feeling the pain for a significant other whose passed is genuine and raw, the same way loving them was. We know they’ll be with us the rest of our lives, and we know they’ll come back to us in the end.
“How Long Will I Love You” by Ellie Goulding
Song Year: 2013
“How Long Will I Love You” is a love song, but with its sorrowful quality, it can be about loving someone even when they’re gone. Death doesn’t stop love; it just makes it painful. Ellie Goulding states in her song that she will love them as long as she possibly can.
That’s all we can ever really promise in the end.
“Valentine” by Jim Brickman, Martina McBride
Song Year: 1997
“Valentine” is a stunning Martina McBride song about love. Funerals all come down to a similar notion of love, and how much someone who has passed was loved in their lives and will continue to be loved in their death.
“She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5
Song Year: 2002
“She Will Be Loved” works perfectly for the funeral of a young woman who has passed. The lyrics are about how no matter what she’s done, been through, and who hurt her, she will always be loved because we did.
“When I Look at You” by Miley Cyrus
Song Year: 2010
Miley Cyrus has always had powerful vocals. In her song, “When I Look at You,” she makes us feel the emotion of love and devotion.
It states that this person was the one we turned to when times were tough, and that remains true even as they leave us because they are our angels now. We look up to them for guidance and feel their presence as we walk through life without them.
“You’re My Best Friend” by Queen
Song Year: 1975
Queen offers a more upbeat funeral slideshow song that celebrates the life our loved ones lived. They were our best friends and will always be. Watching a slideshow of their memories reminds us of their personality and all the qualities they had that made them beautiful to us.
“As the World Caves In” by Matt Maltese
Song Year: 2018
“As the World Caves In” refers to the end of the world and how we all have that special someone or someone we would want to be with as it happens.
While our world didn’t end, our loved ones did, and as we cherish their memories, we acknowledge how much they meant to us. Matt Malteses’s vocals in this song are breathtaking, and he evokes the sorrow but acceptance that comes with death.
“Arms” by Christina Perri
Song Year: 2011
Christina Perri has a beautiful, gentle voice in her song “Arms.” Having someone to hold and who makes us feel safe is amazing, and while this song doesn’t focus on death, it’s a beautiful funeral slideshow song.
“See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth
Song Year: 2015
“See You Again” is popularly known for its inclusion in the Fast & Furious series when one of its main actors, Paul Walker, passed. It’s a song about losing a family member. Whether a brother, sister, mother, father, or best friend, the bond you share is strong and unbreakable.
They may be gone, and we may be saying goodbye at their funeral, but we know it’s not the end. We will see them again.
“If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys
Song Year: 2003
“If I Ain’t Got You” is a love song that hurts a little differently at a funeral. The lyrics focus on how our significant other is the only thing we need in life. With love, we don’t need anything else.
Losing them goes against the message of the song, but as we look back on their memories, we realize life was stunning with them, and without them, it’s still beautiful because we had their love.
“Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd
Song Year: 1975
“Wish You Were Here” has a self-explanatory title, but the real message of the song is how coping with our new reality of grief, and loss is hard. It’s difficult to grasp that someone we love is no longer with us, and Pink Floyd captures it well with their song.
“Wonderwall” by Oasis
Song Year: 1995
Oasis creates a more upbeat song with “Wonderwall,” a tribute to our loved one who gave us strength and served as a wall in our lives. Although losing them songs as though we’d lose that structure, we live on for them, keeping them that same pilar who kept us going in difficult times.
“Scott Street” by Phoebe Bridgers
Song Year: 2020
Phoebe Bridgers has a sorrowful, lonely tone in her song “Scott Street.” While the song is about not recognizing a place you used to love and not having the same relationships you used to have, it ties in with how different and bland life feels without our loved ones in it.
The end of the song carries on a melody that evokes nostalgia, loneliness, and sorrow.
“Work Song” by Hozier
Song Year: 2014
“Work Song” is a song about having a love so intense that even death won’t separate it. Hozier sings about how not even a grave will keep him from his love, and it makes for a lovely funeral slideshow song.
It highlights beauty, strength, and the idea of death not being enough to stop love.
“I Drive Your Truck” by Lee Brice
Song Year: 2012
A country added to our list, “I Drive Your Truck,” is fitting for someone who loves cars or with who you made memories inside their truck because it’s about feeling someone’s presence after they’ve passed.
They valued different things in life, and we can feel them through their photographs and items that meant a lot to them. Lee Brice sings about how visiting a loved one’s grave may be helpful for some, but doing the things they enjoyed themselves makes us feel closer to them.
“If I Could Fly” by One Direction
Song Year: 2015
“If I Could Fly” uses stunning imagery of flying to represent the depths in which we’d go to be with our loved ones again. It makes us think of wings, like an angel, and we can picture our loved one by our side despite not physically being there.
Losing our significant other, or someone we considered our home, is a pain like no other. Death doesn’t stop them from being our home, and we can still love and look to them for strength.
“You’ll Be in My Heart” by Phil Collins
Song Year: 1999
“You’ll Be in My Heart” is a childhood classic, which can make for a devastating yet beautiful funeral slideshow song for a passed-on child or parent. Reminiscing photographs of our babies or our mom and dad is bound to make us hurt no matter what, but we know they’re with us.
The song is about a family bond, someone you’ve had since the moment you were born, and how they are always within our hearts.
“All of the Stars” by Ed Sheeran
Song Year: 2014
Ed Sheeran creates another beautiful masterpiece with his song, “All of the Stars.” Originally written to be a part of The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack, this song touches on all our heartstrings.
The focal point is that although our loved one is not beside us, we are loved with all our hearts, and a love like that isn’t separated by death. We still share the same universe, stars, and home.
“Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls
Song Year: 1998
“Iris” is a touching yet strong love song about finding ourselves and wanting our loved ones to know the real us. The lyrics in this song are beautifully painful to hear, especially after losing our loved one, but as we look back on memories, it remains true.
“Halo” by Beyonce
Song Year: 2008
“Halo” is upbeat and joyful in the love it expresses. Beyonce powerfully captures what it means to be loved, to let your guard down and feel vulnerable, and how happy we can be when we do.
Although we feel the pain love can bring us, this song reminds us how good it can be and, hopefully, makes the pain of loving worth it. It’s better to have loved and felt loved than to have never had our loved one in our life in the first place.
“Infinity” by One Direction
Song Year: 2015
One Direction sings about a love they’ll yearn after for the rest of their lives. “Infinity” refers to the amount of time it will take to mend our hearts after losing someone so special to us. Its powerful lyrics and sadness make it fitting for a funeral slideshow.
“The Best Day (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift
Song year: 2021
Taylor Swift wrote “The Best Day” about her mother. It goes through time from when the singer was young to now, and how despite how horrible people can be, her mom was always there for her.
This song is bittersweet for a funeral slideshow, especially if it’s for a mother or older sister, but the lyrics remind us how beautiful these women made our lives. We’ll miss them and be forever grateful for their love and guidance through hard times. We’ll carry those lessons with us for the rest of our lives.
“Angel” by Sarah McLachlan
Song Year: 1997
Rounding out our list with a classic, “Angel” is a song made for funerals. It’s about losing a loved one and accepting their death so they can find peace in heaven.
Sarah McLachlan creates an otherworldly song with her transcending voice, almost replicating what we’d consider the sound of heaven, angels, and the gates that we walk through when we get there.
Songs For A Funeral Slideshow, Final Thoughts
I hope you found those songs for a funeral slideshow what you were looking for.
Planning a funeral and choosing the right song for a picture slideshow makes the grieving process even more difficult.
These forty-one options range from genres to uplifting or sorrowful tones and offer a song choice for your loved one.
Whether you choose a song from our list for your funeral slideshow or decide to look elsewhere, you’ll find the perfect one to cherish the memories you made with your loved one.