16 Friendship Songs That Will Make You Want to Call Your BFF ASAP (2024)

Traditional love songs are ubiquitous, unavoidable, and inevitable—which, in some ways, seems like a scam. Because what has been historically more lasting, more reliable, and more meaningful than romantic relationships is what we get from our friends (cue a large “awwww”).

So to celebrate our favorite pals, we’ve rounded up the best songs about friendship. From the Carters to the Beatles to The White Stripes, here are our favorite songs about Earth’s most important kind of platonic love.

“Friends” by The Carters

With shout-outs to Meek Mill, the Soho House, and BMWs, “Friends” is Beyoncé’s tale of kinship from the upper echelon. The cut from her joint album with husband Jay-Z includes the line, “Shared jewels, shared clothes, that’s how deep this shit goes,” making it known that being pals with Beyoncé comes with some A-1 perks.

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“We’re Going to Be Friends” by The White Stripes

“We’re Going to Be Friends” is convincing in its simplicity. Jack White lulls a tender lullaby, letting the melody lead as he sings of wholesome schoolyard memories.

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“Flowers (Sunship Edit)" by Sweet Female Attitude

I didn’t really need a hard sell to listen to something made by a group called Sweet Female Attitude, and “Flowers (Sunship Edit)” makes it stupendously easy anyway. A shining beacon of the best of the U.K.’s garage scene, the 2001 cut is a glaringly bright dance track that spares no energy or emotion, declaring over and over again, “I'll bring you flowers, I'll make your day / The tears you cry, I'll dry them all away.”

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“Best Friend” by Young Thug

While its verses are a lot of the usual Young Thug nonsense—a hilarious mix of bragging about clothes, cars, and girls—the chorus on “Best Friend” is a golden imprint of the Internet. Thugger declares proudly, “That’s my best, go best friend,” pulling a Vine reference from the millennial site that was gone too soon.

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“Summer Friends” by Chance the Rapper feat. Francis and the Lights and Jeremih

“Summer Friends” sounds like summer: a woozy, free-flowing mix that builds as time passes. But in this case, its core is a little less sweet, as Chance makes a case for less violence in Chicago’s seemingly unforgiving summers, noting all the friends he’s lost along the way.

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“Girl” by Destiny’s Child

Iconic Sex and the City–inspired video aside, “Girls” is the ever-important anthem of female friendship. The Destiny’s Child girls insist on dishing some extra love to a friend in a destructive relationship, despite her insistence that everything’s cool. No one’s got you like Beyoncé’s got you.

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“Alewife” by Clairo

Clairo’s “Alewife” is a hauntingly honest thank-you to a best friend. In her usual lo-fi renderings, the 21-year-old sings softly and matter-of-factly as she details the way her best friend saved her from a suicide attempt.

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“Crew” by GoldLink feat. Brent Faiyaz

“Crew” explains friendship by defining what it isn’t. Brent Faiyaz lays it out on the sinisterly smooth chorus: “But I was down and out like last week / Tell me where have you been?” Pair that with the satisfyingly nasal offerings from GoldLink’s verses, and “Crew” stands as a testament to the best of what the DMV scene (the District, Maryland and Virginia) had to offer in 2017.

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“Never Had a Friend Like Me” by 2pac

“Never Had a Friend” is a hilariously self-centric take on the traditional best friend song genre, as Tupac Shakur takes his time to brag about why he’s a good friend.

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“Just Friends” by Musiq Soulchild

“Just Friends” is Musiq Soulchild’s take on a potential friends-with-benefits situation, as he lays out the option for the hookup, but only if there’s consent, because he’s also totally cool with leaving it at friendship.

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“No New Friends” by DJ Khaled feat. Drake, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne

2013 was a telling time for Drake, as he teetered on the edge of his transition into hard rapper (i.e. the incoming Meek Mill feud), but was still very much so living in his R&B bag. “No New Friends” seems to hit that middle ground perfectly, as Drake takes himself a bit too seriously—but in a way that’s still endearing—as he pledges his allegiance to his “day ones” and no one else.

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“With a Little Help from My Friends” by The Beatles

From the tripped-out Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band record lies “With a Little Help from My Friends.” It’s a track that not only stands out for its straightforward melodies in an otherwise largely unhinged album, but it also features drummer Ringo Starr giving a convincing display on lead vocals.

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“Thank You for Being a Friend” by Andrew Gold

Golden Girls is a sitcom that found its glory in showing a corner of friendship that is maybe less thought about: the sassy world of a group of elderly women. “Thank You for Being a Friend” is the perfectly sunshiny intro to the sitcom that sounds exactly the way that you’d likely imagine an ’80 sitcom to sound.

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“You’re My Best Friend” by Queen

“You’re My Best Friend” is arguably the most famous, lasting, and ubiquitous track of all of the friendship songs ever made. Opening with its now instantly recognizable riff, it’s a song that has landed in basically every Hollywood BFF montage ever.

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“Best Friend” by Brandy

In the early ’90s, Brandy was an R&B force. “Best Friend” is a standout from her nascent catalogue, as she floats over the airy instrumental, declaring: “You’ve always been here right beside me / So I call you my best friend.”

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“Wannabe” by Spice Girls

“If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends” is a phrase that will live on forever thanks to the Spice Girls. “Wannabe” worked in part because it’s a pop banger, but also because every teen girl wanted in on the Spice Girls’ friendship (and tracksuits).

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Listen to all our picks in the playlist below and follow Harper's BAZAAR on Spotify.

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16 Friendship Songs That Will Make You Want to Call Your BFF ASAP (2024)

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