A friend moving away often uproots your own life, even though you’re the one staying put.
It signifies a change in direction for both of you, and whilst opening the doors for new opportunities, it’s not uncommon to start feeling a creeping fear of being replaced and forgotten by the person who understands you the most.
Whether you’re graduating from high school and reminiscing with your friends for the last time, or remembering a friend who’s long gone, our playlist of pop songs about friends moving away covers every nostalgic emotion you could want to tap into.
Songs About Friends Moving Away
1. Green Day – Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
Green Days 1997 hit single Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) translates to a wide array of situations where life cruelly forces you to move onwards. This track is an acoustic anthem of change and upheaval, taking a neutral perspective on the usually sad event of endings.
Good Riddance is shaped by the hope that the experiences shared were worth it, fortifying optimism as you step forwards into a new era of life;
“Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road, time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go, so make the best of this test, and don’t ask why, it’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time. It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life.”
Underlying Green Day’s lyrics is a subtle depressive energy, disguised as if the narrator is suppressing his melancholy or rage with emotional emptiness; a vocal effect completely contrasted by the positive impression of the track’s harmony.
2. Finneas – I Lost A Friend
Whilst Finneas’ single, I Lost A Friend, is centred around losing a friend after a series of arguments, his message transfers equally as well to a friend who has moved away, “I lost a friend, like keys in a sofa, like a wallet in the back seat, like ice in the summer heat.”
This enchanting, conceptual pop track describes trying to recover from the sadness following any sort of ending, whether it’s the resentment lingering after an argument or the quiet sense of loss haunting even the most amicable parting of ways, “I know I’ll be alright but I’m not tonight … I lost a friend, I lost my mind.”
3. Ben Rector – Old Friends
Ben Rector’s pop track is written from the perspective of an adult reminiscing on his school friends in the 90s era. Ben illustrates a vivid teenage scene of true boyish trust and togetherness, woven with clever, childlike comparisons between his old teen friends and new adult friends;
“And I’ve got some good friends now, but I’ve never seen their parents’ back porch, I wouldn’t change how things turned out, but there’s no one in this time zone, who knows what inline skates that I bought … You can grow up, make new ones, but truth is there’s nothing like old friends, ’cause you can’t make old friends”
Evocatively detailed with a landscape of personal memories, this track summons the pure free-spirited ambience of friendship which echoes profoundly, regardless of whether they exactly resemble your own memories of not;
“I can still find Wiley’s house riding on my bike with eyes closed, I can name every girl that he took out, and from my memory, dial his house phone.”
What makes this track interesting is that Ben reunited his old high school band for Old Friends’ music video, performing with true high school style in the garage of the house his parents used to live in.
4. Carobae – When All My Friends Move Away
Carobae’s stunning track, When All My Friends Move Away, is about being left in the shadows of friends who have moved away far out to a better city, plummeting you into an inescapable feeling of worthlessness;
“When all my friends move away, leaving me for LA, say that they’ll keep in touch, but they won’t miss me much, one by one on their way, to the other side of the USA, moving on to a different city, won’t take long to forget me”
Carobae claws into the very realistic fear of being forgotten by your friends after you grow up and drift apart, crafting her track from a relatable perspective of youthful panic and existential hopelessness;
“Everybody’s dreams coming true but mine, could I not keep up, am I falling behind? Now I’m falling behind, and everybody’s dream’s coming true but mine.”
5. Vitamin C – Graduation (Friends Forever)
High school graduation is notorious for hosting a friendship group’s final get together before they ribbon out across the country.
Vitamin C’s 1999 single Graduation (Friends Forever) captures the sentiment of a friendship group reminiscing on their memories and high school personalities, imagining what might become of them in the future;
“So if we get the big jobs, and we make the big money, when we look back now, will our jokes still be funny? Will we still remember everything we learned in school? Still be trying to break every single rule.”
This pop/R&B single carries a cheesy chorus of togetherness, backlit by the wistful, nostalgic ambience of tear-stained endings and uncertainty for what lies next;
“Will the past be a shadow that will follow us around? Will these memories fade when I leave this town, I keep thinking that it’s not goodbye, keep on thinking it’s a time to fly.”
6. Jessica Andrews – Never Be Forgotten
Jessica Andrew’s retro track Never Be Forgotten blends country pop with an inspiring, soulful melody, crafting a power ballad of hope for anybody missing a friend that’s moved away.
While this song could easily refer to a friend passing away, its bright and peaceful message of memory resonates with anyone experiencing some sort of loss – whether your bond has been impacted by physical distance or different planes of existence.
Never Be Forgotten commits itself to retain friendship with all its true, emotional depth, despite the lack of of physical presence threatening to sever the bond;
“You will never be forgotten, a million days could pass us by, but what is time but just a dream, oh I still feel you here with me, you’re more than a memory, oh you will never be forgotten.”