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| Song Title | Description | Categories | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abide with Me | Much-loved church hymn | ballad, moderately easy | |
| All of Me | Circles beautifully | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Almost Like Being in Love | From "Brigadoon" | moderate up, moderately easy | |
| Anniversary Song | Jolson made this famous. Great to sing at wedding receptions | ballad, not contestable, moderately easy | |
| Anything Goes | Cole Porter at his best: sophisticated lyrics. | up-tune, not contestable, moderately easy | |
| April Showers | Innovative second chorus variations. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Atlanta, G.A. | Tribute to a great town | up-tune, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Be a Clown | Great in a circus package. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Black-Eyed Blues | Fellow rhapsodizes about his Latin beauty. | up-tune, contestable, strongly rhythmic, moderately easy | |
| Breezin' Along With the Breeze | up-tune, moderately easy | ||
| Brown Eyes - Why Are You Blue? | Sing it soft and tender. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| By My Side | Easy swing tune, very straightforward, plain and simple lyric. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| By the Time I Get to Phoenix | Jimmy Webb favorite from the 70's. Strong bass pulse and neutral syllables, melody in baritone. | ballad, novelty/show tune, not contestable, strongly rhythmic, moderately easy | |
| California and You | Instead of Dixie, I'm going back to my girl in California! | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Candy | That's what I call my sugar! Easy swing, lots of echoes, patter and other rhythmic devices. | ballad/up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Carolina Moon | A great moon and state song | ballad, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Christmas in Killarney | Bagpipe simulations, seasonal. | up-tune, not contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Close As Pages in a Book | From "Up in Central Park." Beautiful love ballad. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Congratulate Me | ... I'm in love! | up-tune, contestable, show opener, moderately easy | |
| Dancin' Dan | This dancin' fool has got a gal no matter where he goes. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Dear Heart | Henry Mancini's classic. Great love ballad. | ballad, not contestable, moderately easy | |
| Down by the O-Hi-O | ... I've got the sweetest little o-my-o! | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Down the Old Ox Road | Great undiscovered swing tune, marvelous lyric. Remember the HiLos doing this? | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Entertainer, The | The Scott Joplin rag. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Fingerprints | May be too much of a tear-jerker for modern audiences. Very much like the Mid-States Four did it many years ago. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Free for All | Inspiring patriotic gut-buster! | up-tune, moderately easy | |
| Galway Bay | Beautiful Irish tune, melody passed among all four. | ballad, not contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Golden Barefoot Days | There will always be a memory of those.... Steeped in nostalgia. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Grizzly Bear | How to do one of those crazy dances of the 20's. | up-tune, novelty/show tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Growin' Old Can Be Fun | Nice attitude for seniors. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Hard-Hearted Hannah | You won't believe how bad this gal is to the guys. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Have You Even Been in Heaven? | What a date with a beautiful girl can make you say. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| High Cost of Loving, The | This guy has got to stop lovin' a while—it costs too much! Cute lyrics. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Honey Bun | From S. Pacific…..guy just loves this girl! | up-tune, moderately easy, strongly rhythmic | |
| How Many Hearts Have You Broken? | With those great big beautiful eyes! | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| I Don't Know Enough about You | 30's-40's feel. Swingy. | ballad/up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| I Don't Want to Walk Without You | Very swingy 40's tune, big bandish. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| I'd Love to Fall Asleep and Wake Up (in My Mammy'S Arms) | Another back to Mammy in Alabamy kind of song. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| If I Had You | Passionate ballad, a paean to romantic love. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| If My Friends Could See Me Now | My friends would never believe how good I got it! | up-tune, contestable, show opener, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| I Miss That Mississippi Miss That Misses Me | Gotta get back to see her, this time to Mississippi, not Alabama. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| I Miss You Most of All | Haunting ballad with emotional punch. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| I Walk with Music | One of the best songs Hoagy every wrote. Inspiring! | ballad, moderately easy, show opener or closer | |
| In My Harem | Very early Irving Berlin. This guy's got lots of girls. Clever and amusing lyric. | up-tune, novelty/show tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Irish Blessing, An | The arranger's melody and harmony to the familiar poem ("May the road rise to meet you...") | ballad, not contestable, show closer, moderately easy | |
| Is It True What They Say About Dixie? | Does the sun really shine all the time? Unusual: a ballad about Dixie! | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| It Could Happen to You | Harmonies galore in this love song | ballad, moderately easy | |
| It's Goin' to Be a Cold, Cold Winter | But I'll never freeze when you're around! Clever lyric ... bouncy. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Josephine | Inspired by the Mid-States Four's rendition. Bouncy. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| June Medley | Just when you thought you'd heard enough of June/spoon/croon. Great intro and glue; combines "Did You Ever Get That Feeling in the Moonlight?" "Give Me a June Night," and "Give Me a Night in June." | ballad/up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Last Dance, The | We're still dancing and can't let go | ballad, moderately easy | |
| Little Patch of Heaven (Way Out West) | Great country out here! Come visit! | up-tune, moderately easy | |
| Lost in the Stars | Spiritually uplifting. Correct melody. | ballad, not contestable, show closer, moderately easy | |
| Love Letters in the Sand | Now my poor heart just aches ... Great chance for emotional projection. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Make America Proud of You | Stirring patriotic foot-tapper | up-tune, moderately easy, strongly rhythmic | |
| Makin' Love Ukelele Style | Have one or more play the uke - chord symbols provided. | ballad/up-tune, novelty/show tune, not contestable, moderately easy | |
| Memphis in June | Another great southern song by Hoagie | gentle up-tune, moderately easy | |
| Mickey Pretty Mickey | Beautiful song to a beautiful girl | ballad, moderately easy | |
| Mistaken in You | Heart-wrenching to have been so wrong about her. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| M-O-T-H-E-R | Perhaps the most famous of the mother songs. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Muppet Show Theme | Open your act with this; all the "boomers" know it! | up-tune, novelty/show tune, show closer, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time | Bounce your way into the judge's hearts with this toe-tapper. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Old Fashioned Locket | Sentimental—almost syrupy. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| On the Mississippi Queen | Smacks of riverboats and ragtime | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Parkin' in the Moonlight | Finally, a song about what couples really do. Fun! | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Play Ball! | Great to start a baseball game ... have your chours or quartet sing it right after the Star Spangled Banner! | up-tune, novelty/show tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Portrait of My Love | Tenor melody. Got a tenor with a solo voice? | ballad, novelty/show tune, not contestable, moderately easy | |
| Quiet Girl, A | Tenor melody. Sing it soft and gentle. | ballad, not contestable, moderately easy | |
| Rambling Rose | Not Nat Cole's—the other one. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Recipe for Making Love | Harry Connick, Jr. popularized this just recently. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Remembering Time Medley | Consists of "Remembering Time," ("Where the blue of the night meets...) and "My Buddy." Great Glue. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Ring, Telephone Ring | Full of both anguish and gorgeous chords | ballad, moderately easy | |
| Roll Out of Bed With a Smile | Inspired by the Nighthawks' rendition. Great to open a show. | up-tune, contestable, show opener, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Rosanne | Tenor melody. Beautiful, tender love song. | ballad, not contestable, moderately easy | View Sample (PDF) |
| Rose Of Tralee, The | gorgeous tribute to Ireland | ballad, moderately easy | |
| San Francisco | (Open your golden gate) Great tune even if you're not from there! | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Sleepy Time Gal | Popular swing tune. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Standing on the Corner | ... Watching all the girls go by. Light and bouncy. | ballad/up-tune, not contestable, strongly rhythmic, moderately easy | |
| Susie's Feller | I just wanna be known as ... Takes lots of energy. Great intro and tag. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Sweetest Song in the World, The | Pure barbershop. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Sweet Little Mother of Mine | One of the best of the mother ballads. Great chance for pathos. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Tain't No Sin | ... To take off your skin and dance around in your bones. | up-tune, novelty/show tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Thank You Very Much | A perfect way to thank your audience, and a chance to sing the name of your quartet or chorus. | up-tune, not contestable, show closer, moderately easy | |
| That Brown-Eyed Baby of Mine | Don Reeves original. Driving. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| That Old Feeling | I saw you last night and .. | ballad, moderately easy | |
| There's No You | Sweet nostalgia | ballad, moderately easy | |
| There's Something about a Soldier | WWI song ... could be medleyed. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| This Is All I Ask | Great for senior quartet ... nostalgic | ballad, moderately difficult | |
| Tie Me to Your Apron Strings Again | Inspired by the Four Teens version of 1952. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Tired Hands | The most beautiful "Mother" ballad I know. Pathos plus. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| True Love | Great love ballad. Remember Crosby and Kelly in "High Society"? | ballad, not contestable, moderately easy | |
| Unchained Melody | Shows off the lead. Opportunities for stylizing. | ballad, novelty/show tune, not contestable, moderately easy | |
| Was There Ever a Pal Like You? | One of the best mother songs. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| What'll I Do? | One of Berlin's best ballads. Much loved. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Where Is Love? | Tenor melody. Gorgeous song—great arrangement! | ballad, not contestable, moderately easy | |
| Where the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day | Lots of appeal to this golden oldie. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| White Cliffs of Dover, The | One of the few WWII songs that works well for us. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Who Said Dixie? | Familiar theme but a powerhouse song and arrangement. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| Who's in the Strawberry Patch With Sally? | Sparkles ... with cute words. | up-tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| You Gotta Have Skin | Parody on "You Gotta Have Heart." | novelty/show tune, contestable, moderately easy | |
| You Grow Sweeter As the Years Go By | Simple ballad, great for Seniors quartet. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy | |
| You'll Never Walk Alone | Lead down to C and up to G. Very effective if done just right. | ballad, novelty/show tune, not contestable, show closer, moderately easy | |
| Your Eyes Have Told Me So | Absolutely gorgeous ballad. Could win a contest for you. | ballad, contestable, moderately easy |
Note: Questions about contestability of arrangements should be directed to a qualified Music category judge. Standards are constantly changing, so ask before you sing!
Updated 5/2008