What are good songs to sing at a nursing home?

Question:I'd like to sing modern ballads but I'm thinking they are going to want to hear songs from their era. Any suggestions welcome.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I'd like to sing modern ballads but I'm thinking they are going to want to hear songs from their era. Any suggestions welcome.

It's okay to do a little of both. I'd go heavy on the oldies, but they won't object to hearing a newer song as long as it's tasteful.

* "But Not For Me" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
* "Embraceable You" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
* "Get Happy" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen
* "Lazy River" w.m. Hoagy Carmichael & Sidney Arodin
* "On the Sunny Side of the Street" w. Dorothy Fields m. Jimmy McHugh
* "Send For Me" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
* "Walking My Baby Back Home" w.m. Roy Turk & Fred Ahlert
* "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" - Glenn Miller
* "In the Mood" - Glenn Miller
# "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
# "Friendship" w.m. Cole Porter
# "How High the Moon" w. Nancy Hamilton m. Morgan Lewis. Introduced by Alfred Drake and Frances Comstock in the revue Two for the Show.
# "I Hear Music" w. Frank Loesser m. Burton Lane
# "The Last Time I Saw Paris" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
# "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" w. Eric Maschwitz m. Manning Sherwin. Introduced in the revue New Faces by Judy Campbell.
# "Well, Did You Evah?" w.m. Cole Porter
# "When You Wish Upon a Star" w.m. Ned Washington & Leigh Harline, from the film Pinocchio
# "You Are My Sunshine" w.m. Jimmie Davis & Charles Mitchell
* "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" - Al Jolson
* "Bewitched" - Doris Day
* "A Bushel And A Peck" - Perry Como & Betty Hutton
* "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" - Red Foley
* "Dream a Little Dream of Me" - Frankie Laine
* "A Dreamer's Holiday" - Buddy Clark & The Girlfriends
* "Goodnight, Irene" - The Weavers with Gordon Jenkins
* "Mona Lisa" - Nat King Cole
* "Music! Music! Music!" - Teresa Brewer
* "Play A Simple Melody" - Gary Crosby & Friend (Bing Crosby)
* "The Tennessee Waltz" - Patti Page
* "The Thing" - Phil Harris

Wow. I don't know far back you're going with this. If there will be more than one female singer you can lookup songs done by the McGuire Sisters, Andrew Sisters, and Lennon Sisters. Their songs involved three and four part harmonies.

Good luck to you. This is a very nice thing you for you to do.

I agree about the era - anything WWII oriented will be a hit. "There are blue skies over the White Cliffs of Dover" etc if you have a ballad-friendly voice. Look up Vera Lyn songs if all else fails.