15 Best Songs About Grandparents

Grandma’s House is a rap song by the legendary Atlanta rapper, Killer Mike. It is the 11th track on his album, I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II.

The song, alongside the album, was released on July 8, 2008, and was produced by XP. In this album’s deep cut, the rapper talks about his childhood growing up in the south with no one but his grandmother to support him.

The song is made up of three verses. In the first one, he talks about all the illegal things he had to do to make money as a troubled youth, all the while hoping his grandmother wouldn’t find out.

In the second and third verses, the rapper brags about all of his successes but also mentions how he now spoils his grandmother. The song is a touching tribute to the one woman in his life who always loved him.

Grandma’s Theme is a soft rock song by the veritable John Mellencamp. It is the second track on his album, Scarecrow.

Scarecrow, Mellencamp’s eighth album, was released on August 5, 1985. Though it had many hits penned by Mellencamp himself, Grandma’s Theme is not one of them.

In fact, it is a traditional folk song and the only one on the album not written or co-written by Mellencamp. The song tells the story of a newborn crying because its grandmother had passed away. 

The baby and his father are traveling on a train at night, and the baby is crying as the father is unable to stop it. The song shows how essential grandmothers are and what their loss can do to a family.

I’m My Own Granpa is a cheeky Country song by Country legend Willie Nelson. It is the seventh song on Nelson’s 2001 album, Rainbow Connection.

Rainbow Connection is Nelson’s 41st album, co-produced by his daughter, Amy. I’m My Own Grandpa is a cover of a previous novelty song written by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe.

As a novelty song, it is a humorous telling of a weird and somewhat sordid tale that tells the story of a man, who through various legal but unlikely marriages ends up becoming his stepmother’s stepfather.

The most popular version of the song was released in 1947 by the country duo Lonzo and Oscar. Willie’s version is beloved as well, and the song, alongside the album, was received well by critics at large.

We Live Again is a song by the Alternative Rock icon, Beck. It is the fifth track on his album Mutations.

The singer released the song alongside the album on November 3, 1998, to great success. The album won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.

The track is from the point of view of Beck’s dying grandfather as he looks back at his life. In very poetic lines, the man thinks of the futility of life and how the whole process consists of just drifting from one place to another.

However, through the poeticness of those lines, the man ends up painting a beautiful picture of a life that is less about the destination and more about the journey. In essence, though he is nearing the end, he is not scared due to the life he has lived.

Lonely Road is a song by the pop-punk outfit, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. It is the title track of the band’s second studio album.

Coming in at track 9 on the album, it tells the story of a grandfather talking to his grandson. The entire song is made up of various pieces of advice the old man has now deemed fit to give his progeny.

The pieces of advice range from how life is hard and sometimes you have to walk through paths others won’t walk through. He also tells the young boy how some people may be unkind and end up hurting him despite everything. 

The lonely road he speaks of is life itself, but despite his warnings, the old man also states that there is peace to find on that road. The song is ultimately hopeful.

Grandpa Told Me So is a Country song by American singer Kenny Chesney. It is the second track on his album, All I Need to Know.

The song’s parent album was released on June 13, 1995, and is the artist’s second studio album. It was written by songwriters Mark Alan Springer and James Dean Hicks and was the third single, released on November 6, 1995.

As with the previous song, the lyrics of this track are made up of pieces of advice the singer’s grandfather has given him. However, while the advice in the previous song was made up of vague and abstract life truths, this song has more folksy anecdotes about life and nature.

It is also more personal as Chesney relates all the good times he used to have with his grandfather. The song makes it apparent he misses the old man very much.

Nan’s Song is a track on English singer Robbie William’s album Escapology. It is the 14th and last track on the album.

The song and its parent album were released on November 18, 2002. Escapology is the fifth studio album in Robbie’s discography.

The singer wrote it about his grandmother, nan, who had passed away five years before the release of the album. The song was also the first Robbie wrote all by himself.

He stated that he wanted to do so as a tribute to his grandmother who loved him dearly right up to the moment of her passing. Robbie also wrote the music alongside the words, a first for him in that department as well.

Vernie is a song by the legendary Alternative Rock band, Blind Melon. It is the third track on their second album, Soup.

The album was released on August 15, 1995, and would be the last album their vocalist Shannon Hoon would be a part of. He would pass away a couple of months later on October 21, 1995.

In the song, the singer talks about his grandfather with a sense of childlike wonder. He’s looking at his granddad’s physical and emotional qualities and finding weird details but also much to celebrate and worship.

The chorus of the song makes it clear that the singer not only respects his grandfather but finds him very inspiring. He says that he wants to be more like his grandfather, Vernie.

Grandma is a song by the New York rapper A$AP Ferg. It is the 18th and final track on his Always Strive And Prosper.

The song was produced by DJ Khalil and written by Ferg alongside Sid Sriram and Sam Barsh. It is a mournful track where Ferg waxes poetically about his grandmother who is no longer present in his life as she has passed away.

In the song, he talks about how if she were alive right now, he would lavish her with all the wealth and riches he has earned. He talks about how it is his greatest regret that his grandmother is not here to see in and celebrate his success with him.

As the last track of his debut album, Grandma is a perfect ending to what would become the beginning of a fruitful career.

Tell You Something (Nana’s Reprise) is a song by R&B singer, Alicia Keys. It is the 13th track on her album, As I Am.

The song and its parent album were released on November 9, 2007. The song itself was written by Keys and the producer Kerry “Krucial” Brothers with the help of some co-writers.

The track is about Keys telling her grandmother all the things she has in her heart now that the older woman is on her deathbed. It came out of a real experience as Keys wanted to celebrate one of the most influential women in her life.

Since then, the song has become a touching tribute to grandparents the world over, and one of Keys’ most underrated songs. 

Sonny is a song by the pop-punk band New Found Glory. It is the third track on the album.

The song and the album were released on June 11, 2002. The album was the third studio album released by the band.

It tells the story of the lead singer Jordan Pundik’s grandfather’s death. Sonny is the nickname of his now-deceased grandfather.

A mournful tune, in the lyrics, Pundik sings about the sadness he feels now that his grandfather is no longer in his life. He even goes a step further by talking about how despite his being gone, his memory will last forever.

One of the most powerful details in the song is when the singer talks about how his grandfather has now become an empty chair at all the tables. With that detail, the singer has pinned down one of the saddest feelings following a loved one’s death. 

Granma’s Feather Bed is a song by the famous American singer, John Denver. It is the third track on his album, Back Home Again.

The song and its parent album were released on June 15, 1974. It is one of the four tracks on the album not written by Denver and was written by Jim Connor instead.

A more light-hearted and heart-warming song than the previous entries on this list, in it, Denver sings about how when he was a child, he used to love visiting his grandmother’s house.

One of the reasons why he loved doing so was because she had a great big feather bed. The bed was massive, nine feet high and six feet wide, and he loved laying on it.

Helena is a song by the legendary pop punk band, My Chemical Romance. It is the first track of their album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. 

The song also served as the third single for the album and was released on March 8, 2005. The album proper was released earlier on June 8, 2004.

Helena is about the band’s singer and frontman Gerard Way and bassist and brother Mikey Way’s late grandmother. However, due to the more popular video showing a vastly different series of events, only core fans know about the song’s original meaning. 

Their grandmother’s real name was Elena, though she was called Helen by her friends. They got the song’s name by mixing those two names together.

Glorious is a song by American rapper and singer Macklemore. It is the second track from his album Gemini and features Skylar Grey.

The song was also the first single for the album and was released on June 15, 2017. The album itself was released some months later on September 22, 2017.

The song is an uplifting track about loving yourself and feeling happy to be alive. Its music video featured Macklemore’s grandmother, Helen, traveling around Modesto, California with the rapper on her 100th birthday.

The opposite of the previous entry, here the song itself does not have much to do with grandparents, but due to the music video, it has become something of an ode to Macklemore’s grandmother and grandparents in general. Some of the activities they do consists of shopping, visiting an arcade, and even egging some houses.

Mirrors is a song by pop star and famous actor Justin Timberlake. It is the ninth and penultimate track on the album.

The song also served as the second single for the album and was released on February 11, 2013. The album was released the next month on March 15, 2013.

The track is a beautiful rumination on true love and dedication to that love through the decades. It was inspired by both his relationship with his wife and his grandparents’ marriage.

The latter also inspired the song’s music video which showcases two lovers through the decades of their relationship starting from when they first met as teenagers all the way to the end of their lives when they become old and gray.