30 Best Songs About Sunsets (2023 with Videos)

Published Categorized as Other

Are you fascinated by a recent sunset and want to find more music to capture the feeling that it has sparked inside you? Are you left utterly boggled by its beauty and need validation of the sensation through external media?

Then you are in the right place – today we will explore 30 of the best songs about sunsets and what they symbolically represent.

Table of Contents

songs about sunset

1. “California Sunset” by Neil Young

GenreCountry Rock
Year of Release1985
AlbumOld Ways
California Sunset

This is a real must-hear sunset song from Neil Young’s much underrated middle period. As with all his songs, this is an easy song to sing but impossible to fully convey.

2. “Waterloo Sunset” by the Kinks

GenrePsychedelic Pop
Year of Release1967
AlbumSomething Else by The Kinks
Waterloo Sunset

Songs about sunset hardly come more iconic and lauded about than this anthem, well-suited to any sunset lover who also likes to ponder the machinations of life and how each of our gears slots into one another. Undoubtedly one of the best sad guitar songs too.

3. “Sun Goes Down” by Robin Schulz ft. Jasmine Thompson

GenreLad House
Year of Release2014
AlbumPrayer
Sun Goes Down

Anyone who has ever been anyone catching feelings for someone while intolerably inebriated on cheap liquor will no doubt “vibe” to this lad anthem.

4. “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran

GenrePop
Year of Release2017
AlbumDivide
Castle on the Hill

Here, Ed continues his surrealistic trend of casting redheaded people as broad caricatures of his younger self in his music videos, drafting in large crews to film on budgets that altogether halt the flow of interpersonal emotional dynamics.

5. “Two Suns in the Sunset” by Pink Floyd

GenreFolk Rock
Year of Release1983
AlbumThe Final Cut
Two Suns in the Sunset

Pink Floyd turned their dab-compositional hands to sympathizing with war criminals in this effort.

6. “Wasted Sunsets” by Deep Purple

GenreRock
Year of Release1984
AlbumPerfect Strangers
Wasted Sunsets

If there was ever a band so antithetical to their name, it might be this shallow rock band Deep Purple.

7. “Sunset” by Stevie Wonder

GenreJazz-Soul
Year of Release1962
AlbumTribute to Uncle Ray
Tribute to Uncle Ray/The Jazz Soul of Little Ste

The young Stevie Wonder pays tribute to fellow blind instrumentalist Ray Charles.

8. “All Your Friends” by Coldplay

GenrePop
Year of Release2014
AlbumGhost Stories
All Your Friends

Coldplay dips their toes into early sunsets shared with loved ones no longer with us.

9. “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga

GenrePop
Year of Release2018
AlbumA Star Is Born
Always Remember Us This Way

Lead single from the award-winning film, this song charts the progression of the story from the beginning to the fateful end.

10. “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville” by My Chemical Romance

GenreEmo
Year of Release2002
AlbumI Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
Early Sunsets Over Monroeville

MCR really knows how to paint a sordid and ill-fitting picture – they do it right here!

11. “This Mess We’re In” by PJ Harvey ft. Thom Yorke

GenreAlt-Rock
Year of Release2000
AlbumStories from the City, Stories from the Sea
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To have song lyrics talk about sunshine blues like this is really something else.

12. “Merry Happy” by Kate Nash

GenrePop
Year of Release2007
AlbumMade of Bricks
Merry Happy

Much famed for her breakthrough hit “Foundations”, this song also has its merits as a pop song with heartfelt lyrics.

13. “Stay the Night” by James Blunt

GenrePop Rock
Year of Release2010
AlbumSome Kind of Trouble
Blunt, James - Stay The Night

Who wore this voice better, the 13th Floor Elevators or James Blunt?

14. “Indian Sunset” by Elton John

GenrePop Rock
Year of Release1971
AlbumMadman Across the Water
Indian Sunset

Are we to suppose that Elton John himself is the so-called madman across the water? Or perhaps he is garbing himself in the exotic of the Indian and calling that part of himself the madman. Who’s to say?

15. “Sunset” by Demi Lovato

GenrePop
Year of Release2021
AlbumDancing With the Devil… The Art of Starting Over
Demi Lovato Signature Vinyl Waterproof Sticker Decal Car Laptop Wall Window Bumper Sticker 5"

Lovato takes the time to chronicle her path forward and what lies in the wreckage behind her.

16. “Sundown” by Bruce Springsteen

GenreRock
Year of Release2019
AlbumWestern Stars
Sundown

Soundtracking the film of the same name, this epic will leave anyone dying for a loved one by their side.

17. “Red Sails in the Sunset” by Nat King Cole

GenreJazz
Year of Release1951
AlbumCompilation
Red Sails In The Sunset (Remastered 1991)

The supposedly inimitable actually had a voice rather like Oscar Peterson and was also a highly accomplished pianist in his own right.

18. “Shadow Of The Day” by Linkin Park

GenreAlternative
Year of Release2007
AlbumMinutes to Midnight
Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight (Recorded Versions Guitar)

Only Linkin Park could bear to turn the sunset trope of popular songs on its head and make it so damn miserable.

19. “Gypsy” by Lady Gaga

GenrePop
Year of Release2013
AlbumArt Pop
A r t p o p

Though only a lesser-known album cut from her seminal album Art Pop, this song packs no less of a punch for it.

20. “Must Do Something About It” by Paul McCartney and Wings

GenreRock
Year of Release1976
AlbumWings at the Speed of Sound
Must Do Something About It (Paul's Version / 2014 Remaster)

The seminal rebound project Wings offers forth one of their most iconic songs here allowing Paul McCartney to explore the sunset trope in greater detail.

21. “Arabella” by Arctic Monkeys

GenreIndie Pop
Year of Release2013
AlbumAM
Arabella

By this point in their career, the Arctic Monkeys has well and truly dominated the world as much as they could through compromise, especially as they are known for writing drop-D songs for guitar.

22. “Queen of Peace” by Florence + the Machine

GenreIndie Pop
Year of Release2015
AlbumHow Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
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Despite offering a bolder and more cinematic sound, this album and the singles therein failed to grab the attention of the masses to the same extent as any other previous releases. It is what it is – a cruel industry.

23. “When the Sun Goes Down” by Fleetwood Mac

GenreFolk
Year of Release1990
AlbumBehind the Mask
When the Sun Goes Down

Everyone’s favorite cocaine-indicted swingers join forces after the departure of Lindsey Buckingham to release their final album before their Greatest Hits really cemented their inability to conjure up the old magic.

24. “Payphone” by Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa

GenrePop
Year of Release2012
AlbumOverexposed
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Reaching rock bottom, both in terms of relevancy and within the context of the song, this is a song of a band on the brink of nothing.

25. “Everything’s Beautiful” by Dolly Parton

GenreCountry
Year of Release1972
AlbumMy Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner
DOLLY PARTON WILLIE NELSON KRIS KRISTOFFERSON 45 RPM EVERYTHING'S BEAUTIFUL (IN IT'S OWN WAY) / PUT IT OFF UNTIL TOMORROW

Parton pays her dues here to her alleged favorite songwriter, Porter Wagoner, an astonishing country artist in his own right.

26. “Hawaiian Sunset” by Elvis Presley

GenrePop
Year of Release1961
AlbumBlue Hawaii
Hawaiian Sunset

Everyone’s favorite appropriator of African-American musical styles turns his attention toward the Hawaiian-American outliers for his next pillaging.

27. “Tears Dry On Their Own” by Amy Winehouse

GenreSoul
Year of Release2006
AlbumBack to Black
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The late, great Amy Winehouse teaches us a vital lesson about the science of the drying of tears.

28. “She’s A Rainbow” by The Rolling Stones

GenrePsychedelic Pop
Year of Release1967
AlbumTheir Satanic Majesties’ Request
She’s A Rainbow (Remastered 2017 / Stereo)

Though they could never quite fill the shoes of the Beatles, they did a damn good job sometimes.

29. “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” by the Walker Brothers

GenrePop
Year of Release1966
AlbumPortrait
Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

Though the song is more about the use of the sun setting as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of this flame, it can be taken any other way you like.

30. “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles

GenreFolk Pop
Year of Release1969
AlbumAbbey Road
Here Comes The Sun (Remastered 2009)

Though undoubtedly more of a sunrise song, this is still a luscious song worth mentioning in any context, undoubtedly one of the best guitar songs to learn.

Final Tones

So, there you have it! Hopefully, you have now found at least one sunset song that you love and can take with you to that next sunset. Why not learn it and soundtrack the sun as it sets?

FAQs Songs About Sunset

What song is related to sunsets?

There are plenty of songs relating to sunsets in popular culture, including “Waterloo Sunset” by the Kinks and “California Sunset” by Neil Young.

What creates sunsets?

The clue is very much in the name. When the sun sets – i.e. when it passed beyond the horizon onward to the other side of the earth – then we are privy to a sunset.

Are the songs in Selling Sunset real?

Bizarrely so, yes, even though it sounds like it could be AI-generated at times. Using up to 150 songs per season would accrue an unfathomable sum if these songs were by artists people actually knew and liked. Thus, the producers use music that is either royalty free or incredibly cheap to facilitate this immense number of songs.

By Nate Pallesen

Nate is just your average (above average) guitar player. He's no Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page - wait this site is about acoustic guitars (sorry) He's no Django Reinhardt, Chet Atkins, or Michael Hedges, wait? who!? He's no Robert Johnson, Eric Clapton or Ben Harper - more familiar? Anyway you get the point :-)

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