Top 100 1940s Wedding Songs
The 1940s saw the US entering WWII as well as ending it. Ticker tape parades and famous kisses celebrated victories in Europe and Japan. Emerging from that war changed the mood of the country and gave birth (literally) to the Boomer Generation. The songs of the 1940s make us feel good, want to get off our chairs, and dance all night long. That’s why they are the perfect decade to add to your wedding reception playlist!
What Makes the 1940s Songs Special?
When you think of 1940s songs, you likely think of swing and big bands. Jazz became popular and its swing became the pop music of that era. The 1940s gave birth to rock and roll — not yet accepted by the masses.
Popular big band artists from the 1940s include Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey (brothers), Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie. The 1940s jazz artists include Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra. A form of jazz called scat also became popular with artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, scat music “is a jazz vocal style using emotive, onomatopoeic, and nonsense syllables instead of words in solo improvisations on a melody.”
Table of Contents:
- 1940s Wedding Songs
- 1940s Wedding Songs Spotify Playlist
- Top 10 1940s Songs
- Questions about 1940s Songs
Best 1940s Songs For Your Wedding
We’ve calculated our favorite 1940s songs to get people on the dance floor at your wedding. Did we miss your favorite?
1940s wedding song list curated by Matthew Campbell
Last Updated: March 30, 2021
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| Song | Amazon Link | |
|---|---|---|
| Al Jolson Anniversary Song 1946, Jazz |  | |
| Ames Brothers Rag Mop 1950, Pop | | |
| Art Mooney I’m Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover 1948, Big Band | | |
| Artie Shaw Frenesi 1940, Jazz | | |
| Artie Shaw Stardust 1941, Big Band | | |
| Benny Goodman Jersey Bounce 1942, Big Band | | |
| Benny Goodman And His Orchestra Symphony 1946, Big Band | | |
| Billie Holiday God Bless the Child 1942, Jazz | | |
| Billie Holiday Lover Man (Oh Where Can He Be) 1945, Jazz | | |
| Bing Crosby Be Careful It’s My Heart 1942, Vocal | | |
| Bing Crosby I Love You 1944, Vocal | | |
| Bing Crosby Only Forever 1940, Vocal | | |
| Bing Crosby Sunday, Monday or Always 1943, Vocal | | |
| Bing Crosby & The Andrew Sisters Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive 1944, Swing | | |
| Blue Barron Cruising Down The River 1949, Big Band | | |
| Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys New San Antonio Rose 1940, Country | | |
| Buddy Clark Peg O’ My Heart 1947, Pop | | |
| Buddy Clark & Ray Noble & His Orchestra I’ll Dance At Your Wedding 1947, Pop | | |
| Charlie Christian & Benny Goodman Orchestra Solo Flight 1944, Big Band | | |
| Cliff Edwards When You Wish Upon A Star 1940, Vocal | | |
| Coleman Hawkins Body and Soul 1939, Jazz | | |
| Dick Haymes I’ll Get By (As Long as I Have You) 1940, Vocal | | |
| Dinah Shore Buttons And Bows 1949, Pop | | |
| Dinah Shore Dear Hearts And Gentle People 1949, Pop | | |
| Dinah Shore Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly 1946, Pop | | |
| Dinah Shore I’ll Walk Alone 1944, Pop | | |
| Dizzy Gillespie A Night in Tunisia 1942, Jazz | | |
| Dizzy Gillespie Groovin’ High 1945, Jazz | | |
| Django Reinhardt & Stéphane Grappelli Nuages 1940, Jazz | | |
| Dooley Wilson As Time Goes By 1942, Vocal | | |
| Doris Day Again 1949, Vocal | | |
| Duke Ellington Black, Brown and Beige 1943, Jazz | | |
| Duke Ellington In a Sentimental Mood 1935, Jazz | | |
| Duke Ellington Take The ‘A’ Train 1941, Jazz | | |
| Earl Scruggs Foggy Mountain Breakdown 1949, Bluegrass | | |
| Eddy Howard To Each His Own 1946, Vocal | | |
| Edith Piaf La Vie En Rose 1947, Pop | | |
| Ella Fitzgerald and The Ink Spots I’m Making Believe 1944, Jazz | | |
| Ezio Pinza Some Enchanted Evening 1949, Vocal | | |
| Francis Craig Orchestra Near You 1947, Country | | |
| Frank Sinatra Day By Day 1946, Pop | | |
| Frank Sinatra Five Minutes More 1946, Pop | | |
| Frank Sinatra Oh! What It Seemed To Be 1946, Pop | | |
| Frank Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra I’ll Be Seeing You 1940, Jazz | | |
| Frank Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra In The Blue of Evening 1940, Jazz | | |
| Glenn Miller Chattanooga Choo Choo 1941, Big Band | | |
| Glenn Miller In The Mood 1939, Big Band | | |
| Glenn Miller String Of Pearls 1941, Big Band | | |
| Glenn Miller Pennsylvania 6-5000 1940, Big Band | | |
| Glenn Miller Tuxedo Junction 1940, Big Band | | |
| Glenn Miller Orchestra Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me) 1942, Big Band | | |
| Glenn Miller Orchestra Elmer’s Tune 1941, Big Band | | |
| Glenn Miller Orchestra Imagination 1940, Big Band | | |
| Glenn Miller Orchestra Jukebox Saturday Night 1941, Big Band | | |
| Glenn Miller Orchestra Moonlight Cocktail 1942, Big Band | | |
| Guy Lombardo Auld Lang Syne 1928, Big Band | | |
| Harry James I’ve Heard That Song Before 1943, Big Band | | |
| Harry James Sleepy Lagoon 1942, Big Band | | |
| Harry James And His Orchestra You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want To Do It) 1941, Big Band | | |
| Harry James Orchestra I’m Beginning To See The Light 1945, Big Band | | |
| James Baskett Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah 1946, Vocal | | |
| Jimmy Dorsey Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy) 1941, Big Band | | |
| Jimmy Dorsey Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much) 1944, Big Band | | |
| Jimmy Dorsey Green Eyes 1941, Big Band | | |
| Jimmy Dorsey Maria Elena 1941, Big Band | | |
| Jimmy Dorsey The Breeze And I 1940, Big Band | | |
| John Lee Hooker Boogie Chillen’ 1948, Blues | | |
| Kay Kyser And His Orchestra Jingle, Jangle, Jingle 1942, Big Band | | |
| Les Brown My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time 1945, Big Band | | |
| Les Brown And His Orchestra I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm 1946, Big Band | | |
| Les Brown Band Sentimental Journey 1944, Big Band | | |
| Lionel Hampton Flying Home 1942, Big Band | | |
| Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t (My Baby) 1944, R&B | | |
| Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five Caldonia 1945, Blues | | |
| Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five G.I. Jive 1944, Blues | | |
| Margaret Whiting A Tree In The Meadow 1948, Jazz | | |
| Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer Baby, It’s Cold Outside 1949, Jazz | | |
| Nat King Cole Get Your Kicks On Route 66 1946, R&B | | |
| Nat King Cole I Love You For Sentimental Reasons 1946, R&B | | |
| Nat King Cole Nature Boy 1948, R&B | | |
| Pee Wee Hunt Twelfth Street Rag 1948, Big Band | | |
| Perry Como Prisoner Of Love 1946, Pop | | |
| Perry Como Till The End Of Time 1945, Pop | | |
| Red Foley Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy 1950, Country | | |
| Rita Hayworth Dearly Beloved 1942, Pop | | |
| Sammy Kaye Daddy 1941, Big Band | | |
| Sammy Kaye That’s My Desire 1946, Big Band | | |
| Sammy Kaye The Old Lamp-Lighter 1946, Big Band | | |
| Stan Kenton Artistry in Rhythm 1946, Big Band | | |
| The Andrews Sisters Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy 1941, Swing | | |
| The Andrews Sisters I Can Dream, Can’t I? 1949, Swing | | |
| The Andrews Sisters Rum And Coca-Cola 1945, Calypso | | |
| The Ink Spots I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire 1941, R&B | | |
| The Mills Brothers Paper Doll 1943, Jazz | | |
| Thelonious Monk ‘Round Midnight 1944, Jazz | | |
| Tommy Dorsey I’ll Never Smile Again 1940, Big Band | | |
| Tommy Dorsey Opus One 1944, Big Band | | |
| Vaughn Monroe Ballerina 1947, Big Band | | |
| Vaughn Monroe There! I’ve Said It Again 1945, Big Band | | |
| Woody Guthrie This Land Is Your Land 1940, Folk | | |
| Wynonie Harris Good Rockin’ Tonight 1948, Blues | | |
| Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra Amor 1940's, Big Band | | |
| Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra Brazil 1940's, Big Band | | |
Do you have a favorite 1940s wedding song? Please share the song below and why it is special to you.
Top 5 1940s Songs
- “Paper Doll” by Mills Brothers
- “Moonlight Cocktail” by Glenn Miller
- “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons” by The King Cole Trio
- “Sentimental Journey” by Les Brown & Doris Day
- “Ballerina” by Vaughn Monroe
The Culture Shift in the 1940s
The 1940s was stricken with the war ending with the finality of dropping the first nuclear bomb. This decade saw women going to work while men were off fighting a war. The war also got America out of the depression by creating many jobs. Popular film stars included actors Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Clark Gable, and Humphrey Bogart. An invention prominent in the music industry took place in 1949 with the rpm 45 records. Although television’s debut was in 1939, commercial television with 13 stations became available to the public in 1947.
Radio was the main source of news, music, and entertainment in the 1940s. Pin-up girls became icons with enlisted men, such as Rita Hayworth and Betty Grable. A new look for women was introduced after the war ended – feminine dresses with long, full skirts, and tight waists. Men’s fashion was at its apex with their zoot suits. It’s difficult to separate culture, fashion, and music. So, what makes the music special?
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Swing Dancing and The Jitterbug
From the upbeat sounds came a widely popular dance style – the Jitterbug. For a younger military generation, the Jitterbug overtook the slower waltz and foxtrot which were seen as boring and outdated. However, in the mid to late 1940s, the Jitterbug style recreated itself. It became easier to dance and regenerated itself as the beginning of rock and roll.
Swing became a very popular dance style in the 1940s. Swing dance types include lindy hop, east coast swing, and west coast swing. Two other popular dances of the Best 1940s music were the jive, part of swing, and tap dancing.
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