Enjoy Hypebot’s Thanksgiving Playlist 2025

At a time when discussing politics, morality, lifestyle and just about anything else around the Thanksgiving table is fraught with danger, music remains a relatively safe topic. In that spirit, we bring you our Thanksgiving Playlist 2025 Edition.

As Bono of U2 said, “Music can pull people together as surely as politics can pull people apart.” And as songstress Ella Fitzgerald said: “Music is the universal language… it brings people closer together.”

With that lofty goal, we diverge from our regular music industry programing to bring you Hypebot’s Thanksgiving Playlist filled with ecletic songs about giving thanks and reasons to be thankful.

But first, our personal Thanksgiving Playlist favorites…

Bruce Houghton: “As my friend Solomon Burke sang, now more than ever ‘I Need A Holiday.’ And if those I’m spending the day with can’t move to Kool In The Gang’s ‘Celebration,’ they won’t be invited back next year.

As for my favorites, Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’ and Van Morrison’s ‘Glad Tidings’ may be more about Christmas, but they also capture the many complex emotions swirling around Thanksgiving incredibly well.”

Jeremy Young: “We’ve done playlists in the past that were more literally tied to the themes of Thanksgiving, cooking, and family, but this year, with everything feeling so divided these days, we wanted to pick songs that elevate us and bring us together.

So many of these tracks are just the best at getting you out of your seat and out of your tryptophan coma: like Cheryl Lynn’s ‘Got to be Real,’ Lionel Richie’s ‘All Night Long,’ and of course, Earth, Wind & Fire’s ‘September’ (widely considered the happiest song of all time!). To me, this holiday is all about celebrating joy.”

Bruce Houghton is Founder & Editor of Hypebot, Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, a Berklee College Of Music professor and founder of Skyline Artists.