50 Best Rock Songs About Islands
Rock Songs That Capture the Island Feeling
There’s something strange that happens when you think of islands. Not the brochure kind with cocktails and infinity pools, but the quieter picture that drifts in when the noise fades. Salt air, slow hours, that sense of being far from everything familiar. Some rock tracks land right in that headspace. They echo the hush, the drift, the slight ache that comes from being surrounded by nothing but open sky and water. Not every one of these songs deals with islands in a literal way, but they circle the same mood—distance, isolation, a kind of freedom that makes you rethink what home even feels like.
Sometimes it’s a soft guitar loop that sounds like waves hitting the shore. Sometimes it’s a voice that feels like it’s been sunburned and weathered by time. Rock bands have always known how to stretch a simple riff into something that feels like waiting for the tide to turn. A few of these tracks even cross over into pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that bend the same theme, all carrying that restless pull toward somewhere else. They’re not all escape anthems. Some sound like staying put, watching the light shift, knowing you might not get off this metaphorical island anytime soon.
There’s a looseness in the way these songs breathe. The kind that fits long drives along the coast, or late nights when you start scrolling through photos of places you might never visit. They hold both the calm and the unease that comes with being surrounded by edges. Here are the best rock songs about islands.
Top 10 Island-Themed Rock Songs
1. 'Island in the Sun' by Weezer
2. 'Isla de Encanta' by Pixies
3. 'Islands' by King Crimson
4. 'Living On An Island' by Status Quo
5. 'On An Island' by David Gilmour
6. 'Cracker Island' by Gorillaz featuring Thundercat
7. 'Thunder Island' by Jay Ferguson
8. 'Desert Island Disk' by Radiohead
9. 'Lady of the Island' by Crosby, Stills & Nash
10. 'Island of Lost Souls' by Blondie
Essential Rock Songs About Tropical Life #11 to 20
11. 'Rock Island Line' by Lonnie Donegan
12. 'Island Girl' by Elton John
13. 'I Am An Island' by Richard Clapton
14. 'Van Diemen's Land' by U2
15. 'Islands on the Coast' by Band of Horses
16. 'The Island' by The Decemberists
17. 'Spike Island' by The Stone Roses
18. 'Island of No Return' by Billy Bragg
19. 'Back to the Island' by Leon Russell
20. 'Island' by Mastodon
Iconic Rock Songs for That Remote Island Vibe #21 to 30
21. 'Island' by The Starting Line
22. 'Bermuda Triangle' by Fleetwood Mac
23. 'Christmas Island' by Depeche Mode
24. 'Pumice Stone Island' by Pond
25. 'Coconut' by Harry Nilsson
26. 'San Tropez' by Pink Floyd
27. 'Turtle Island' by Beach House
28. 'Island' by Coheed and Cambria
29. 'Ears of Tin' by Jethro Tull
30. 'Island Song' by Zac Brown Band
Best Rock Songs About Island Mentality #31 to 40
31. 'Wedding Cake Island' by Midnight Oil
32. 'Devil's Island' by Megadeth
33. 'Coney Island Baby' by Lou Reed
34. 'No Man is an Island' by NOëP
35. 'The Isle of Avalon' by King Harvest
36. 'Islands' by Young the Giant
37. 'Island Song' by The Swell Maps
38. 'Island of Dreams' by The Seekers
39. 'My Island Home' by Warumpi Band
40. 'Heligoland' by Overseer
Top Rock Songs With Island Reference #41 to 50
41. 'Kokomo' by The Beach Boys
42. 'Escape (The Pina Colada Song)' by Rupert Holmes
43. 'Island' by The Cure
44. 'Vacation' by Dirty Heads
45. 'Islands' by Mike Oldfield featuring Bonnie Tyler
46. 'I Wanna Take A Trip To The Islands' by The Surfaris
47. 'Island' by The Starting Line
48. 'The Island' by The Kinks
49. 'Isle of Flight Birds' by twenty one pilots
50. 'I Am a Rock' by Simon & Garfunkel
© 2025 Carson McQueen
