There are dozens of songs filled with sentiments of gratefulness that were never technically written about Thanksgiving. Louis Armstrong shared his deep admiration for the earth and unity in his 1967 classic “What a Wonderful World.”
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In 1978, Big Star was grateful for friendships on “Thank You, Friends.” Dionne Warwick shared a similar sentiment with her 1985 hit “That’s What Friends Are For,” featuring Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John. Thelonious Monk fused his own jazzed-up homage to the day of thanks with his quartet’s It’s Monk Time track “Stuffy Turkey” in 1964, and even the Beastie Boys were thankful on their 1992 song “Gratitude.”
Chance the Rapper shared his “Blessings” on his 2016 mixtape Coloring Book, while Green Day‘s 2000 single “Macy’s Day Parade” is not about the annual holiday procession but a look at the impact of consumerism and a cry for hope.
[RELATED: 12 Songs to Add to Your Thanksgiving Day Playlist]
Within all the mixed messages, grateful settings, and songs of thanks, there’s a song for everyone during the holiday season. Here’s a look at five songs that were written specifically about Thanksgiving.
1. “The Thanksgiving Song,” Adam Sandler (1992)
Written by Adam Sandler, Ian Maxtone-Graham, and Robert Smigel
Written by Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel, and Ian Maxtone-Graham, “The Thanksgiving Song” made its Saturday Night Live debut on November 21, 1992, during the Weekend Update sketch with Kevin Nealon. Sandler’s comical Thanksgiving song caught on and he returned with it the following year singing it like Bruce Springsteen would.
The popularity of Sandler’s Thanksgiving song, which preceded his more popular “The Chanukah Song,” continued on. By 1997, his Turkey Day song even went to No. 29 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Love to eat turkey
Love to eat turkey
Oh, I love you!
Love to eat turkey
‘Cause it’s good
Love to eat turkey
Like a good boy should
‘Cause it’s turkey to eat
So good
That clappin’s messing my head up, man
I appreciate it
But I was trying to think of the next line and all I hear is clapping
Here we go… Thanks anyways
Turkey for me, turkey for you
Let’s eat the turkey in my big brown shoe
Love to eat the turkey at the table
I once saw a movie with Betty Grable
2. “Thanksgiving Prayer,” Johnny Cash (1994)
Written by Josef Anderson
Johnny Cash first performed “Thanksgiving Prayer” on the CBS drama Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman starring Jane Seymour. Written by the producer of the series, Cash premiered the song on the episode that aired on November 19, 1994. The song was later released on Cash’s 1995 album Unsurpassed American Masters.
I’m grateful for the laughter of children
The sun and the wind and the rain
The color of blue in your sweet eyes
The sight of a high “ballin” train
The moon rise over a prairie
Old love that you’ve made new
This year when I count my blessings
I’m thanking the Lord He made you
This year when I count my blessings
I’m thanking the Lord He made you
And when the time comes to be going
It won’t be in sorrow and tear
I’ll kiss you goodbye and I’ll go on my way
Grateful for all of the years
I thank for all that you gave me
For teaching me what love can do
Thanksgiving day for the rest of my life
I’m thanking the Lord He made you
Thanksgiving day for the rest of my life
I’m thanking the Lord He made you
3. “Thanksgiving Day,” Ray Davies (2005)
Written by Ray Davies
Former Kinks frontman Ray Davies closes his third solo album, Other People’s Live, on the mid-tempo “Thanksgiving Day,” a snapshot of three people’s lives: a man facing regrets at a truck stop bar, a lonely spinster, and a widower. Throughout the song, all of them find glimmers of hope, and gratefulness, in their circumstances.
Every year it’s the same routine
All over, all over
Come on over, it’s Thanksgiving Day
Papa looks over at the small gathering
Remembering days gone by
Smiles at the children as he watches them play
And wishes his wife was still by his side
She would always cook dinner on Thanksgiving Day
It’s all over, it’s all over, it’s all over the American way
But sometimes the children are so far away
4. “Thanksgiving Song,” Mary Chapin Carpenter (2009)
Written by Mary Chapin Carpenter
In 2008, Mary Chapin Carpenter released her first holiday album Some Darkness, Come Light: Twelve Songs of Christmas. The album went to No. 7 on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart and included her “Thanksgiving Song,” a call for kindness and unity during the holiday season.
Grateful for each hand we hold
Gathered ’round this table
From far and near we travel home
Blessed that we are able
Grateful for this sheltered place
With light in every window
Saying, “Welcome, welcome, share this feast
Come in away from sorrow”
Father, mother, daughter, son
Neighbor, friend and friendless
All together everyone
In the gift of loving kindness
5. “The Thanksgiving Song,” Ben Rector (2020)
Written by Ben Rector
In 2020, Ben Rector was intent on starting a new tradition of bringing Thanksgiving music the forefront with the release of his first song directed at the holiday. Featured on his A Ben Rector Christmas Album, “The Thanksgiving Song” is a nostalgic story around the passing of time and the importance of memories and time spent with family.
“It’s weird to me that there’s an entire genre that is just Christmas music, and you can bring up an entire palette of sounds around this one holiday,” Rector told American Songwriter. “I love Christmas, but everybody in America, for the most part, celebrates Thanksgiving, and there’s no music around that.”
He added, “I didn’t want to just make it sound like a Christmas song, but I definitely wanted it to feel classic. Part of that was in the writing process and trying to imagine a Thanksgiving song. Then, in production, I was trying to shape some of the sounds and some of the parts and ended up sounding like something out of a Billy Joel-era, which I love.”
‘Cause the older that I get
I see that life is short and bittersweet
Thank God for this Thanksgiving Day
Watching football
Watching families grow
The old kid’s table
All have kids of their own
Starting to see my grandfather
In my nephew’s eyes
Mom still can’t talk about him
And not almost cry
So fill your plate and fill your drink
And fill this house with family
The kind of love a thousand miles can’t wash away
Photo: Archive Photos / Stringer / Getty
