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75 Thanksgiving Songs To Help Drown Out Small Talk With Your Mother-In-Law

The playlist you need to get you from making the cranberry sauce to carving the bird and on through dishes during the football game.

by Deirdre Kaye
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Thanksgiving songs are a great way to put people at ease during holiday meals..
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Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday for so many people, and what's not to love? The food, the family, and the potential to reflect on everything that makes you grateful. But sometimes, these big holidays — with a meal that takes days to prepare, and family members you can only handle once a year — feel overwhelming. When your uncle starts talking politics, your mother-in-law isn't respecting your kids' boundaries, and that long-lost cousin is dying to know if you're "done having kids yet," you need a way to drown them out. And, well, you'd be scolded for screaming, "Shut up and go home!" The safe alternative? Cueing up a playlist full of Thanksgiving songs.

"A Thanksgiving playlist? Really?" Yes! That's precisely what many of us need to get through this day. From on-the-nose songs about the holiday to ballads that are simply about being thankful, Thanksgiving songs come in all forms. They also come through from all genres and at all paces. If you need something soft and sweet to chill out to while you hide in the bathroom, no sweat. If you need something serene to keep the dinner table calm and centered, you got it. And if you need something loud, fast, and bopping to drown out the bickering while you wash the dishes? Done.

The following Thanksgiving songs span all the genres and moods you could possibly filter through on this filler holiday. You're welcome.

A Modern Mix

  1. "The Thanksgiving Song" — Ben Rector
  2. "The Story" — Brandi Carlile
  3. "Thankful" — Kelly Clarkson
  4. "Home" — Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
  5. "Family" — Catey Shaw
  6. "Linger" — The Cranberries
  7. "Biscuits" — Kacey Musgraves
  8. "Thankful" — Céline Dion
  9. "Macy's Day Parade" — Green Day
  10. “Thank U” — Alanis Morissette
  11. "One Love" — Bob Marley
  12. "Home" — Phillip Phillips
  13. "Blessings" — Big Sean featuring Drake, Kanye West
  14. "Ode To My Family" — The Cranberries
  15. "Thank You" — Dido
  16. "Family Table" — Zac Brown Band
  17. "I Could Not Ask for More" — Edwin McCain
  18. "Kind and Generous" — Natalie Merchant
  19. "Collard Greens" — Schoolboy Q ft. Kendrick Lamar
  20. "Grateful" — Rita Ora
  21. "Sweater Weather" — The Neighbourhood
  22. "The Heart of Life" — John Mayer
  23. "Blessings" — Chance the Rapper
  24. “Little Potato” — Metamora
  25. "Crowded Table" — The Highwomen
  26. "Autumn Town Leaves" — Iron & Wine
  27. "Cherry Wine" — Hozier
  28. "Young Pilgrims" — The Shins
  29. "Stretchy Pants" — Carrie Underwood
  30. "Coming Home" — Leon Bridges
  31. "Salt N Pepper" — Namelle
  32. "Hole in the Bottle" — Kelsea Ballerini
  33. "It's Corn" — Tariq, The Gregory Brothers, Recess Therapy
  34. “Pumpkin Pie” — The California Honeydrops
  35. “Family” — The Chainsmokers, Kygo
  36. “Sweet Nothing” — Taylor Swift
  37. “Here With Me” — d4vd
  38. “All The Debts I Owe” — Caamp
  39. “The Thanksgiving Filter” — Drive-By Truckers
  40. “We’re Going Home” — Vance Joy
  41. “Kinfolks” — Sam Hunt
  42. “Send Me On My Way” — Rusted Root
  43. “Just From The Kitchen” — Hal Leonard
  44. “Back Home” — Andy Grammer
  45. “The Thanksgiving Song” — Adam Sandler
  46. “Thanksgiving Prayer” — Joanne Cash
  47. “The Luckiest” — Ben Folds
  48. “Thanksgiving” — Loudon Wainwright III
  49. “Smile” — Katy Perry
  50. “Veg Out (Wasting Thyme)” — Masego

For the Purists

  1. "I've Got Plenty to Be Thankful For" — Bing Crosby
  2. "(Do The) Mashed Potatoes" — James Brown
  3. "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" — George Winston
  4. "Autumn Leaves" — Nat King Cole
  5. "We Are Family" — Sister Sledge
  6. "Give Thanks And Praises" — Bob Marley
  7. "What a Wonderful World" — Louis Armstrong
  8. "Sweet Potato Pie" — Ray Charles
  9. "Be Thankful for What You Got" — William DeVaughn
  10. "Everybody Eats When They Come to My House" — Cab Calloway
  11. "All That Meat and No Potatoes" — Louis Armstrong
  12. "Lovely Day" — Bill Withers
  13. "Autumn in New York" — Billie Holiday
  14. "Stuffy Turkey" — Thelonious Monk
  15. "Count Your Blessings" — Bing Crosby & What's Her Face
  16. "Mashed Potato Time" — Dee Dee Sharp
  17. "Gravy" — Dee Dee Sharp
  18. "Thanksgiving Song" — Mary Chapin Carpenter
  19. "Be Thankful" — Natalie Cole
  20. "Harvest Moon" — Neil Young
  21. "I Want To Thank You" — Otis Redding
  22. "Cooking Up Something Good" — Marc DeMarco
  23. "This Is A Very Special Day" — Peggy Lee
  24. "Right Back Where We Started From" — Maxine Nightingale
  25. “Let’s Turkey Trot” — Little Eva

Enjoy!

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