5 Día de los Muertos Songs for Spanish Class
Día de los Muertos is one of those units students remember. There are marigolds, sugar skulls, and stories about the people who came before us, and it's a celebration of memory more than a spooky holiday.
Music is a natural way in. The five songs below are all on Roxxem with translated lyrics, music videos, and song games, and they range from beginner-friendly Coco songs to an upbeat cumbia your class will want to replay.
A quick note on the holiday
Día de los Muertos is celebrated mainly on November 1 and 2, especially in Mexico and in many communities across the United States. Families build ofrendas (altars) with photos, cempasúchil flowers, candles, pan de muerto, and the favorite foods of loved ones who have died. The idea is to welcome their memory home, with a lot more joy than sadness.
That focus on remembering, family, and celebration runs through every song on this list.
1. "Recuérdame" from Coco (Carlos Rivera)
Level: Novice High (A2)
The song from Coco that many students already know. It's gentle, repetitive, and built around one big idea: please remember me.
Teach with it: commands with pronouns (recuérdame), the future tense (te cantaré, me tendrás), and expressions like me tengo que ir and no llores.
Activity idea: After listening, students write a short "Recuérdame" note to someone in their life, using one command and one future tense verb.
Explore "Recuérdame" on Roxxem
2. "Un Poco Loco" from Coco
Level: Novice High (A2)
A playful duet from the same movie, and a great energy boost after a slower song. The chorus is easy to catch, so even beginners can sing along by the second listen.
Teach with it: present tense, colors (azul, rojo), and fun expressions like un poquitito and me he vuelto chiflado.
Activity idea: Play Whac-A-Word and have students race to catch loco and mi amor. Then ask them to write one "un poco loco" thing they do every day.
Explore "Un Poco Loco" on Roxxem
3. "Mis Muertos" (Julieta Venegas)
Level: Intermediate Mid (B1)
A short, beautiful song about feeling loved ones close, written in the spirit of the ofrenda. It's calm and reflective, which makes it a strong choice for the day you talk about what the holiday really means.
Teach with it: the future tense (me acompañarán, me darán), vocab like tranquilidad, tristeza, and el más allá, and the idea of turning sadness into song.
Activity idea: Students design a mini ofrenda for a person, a pet, or a historical figure they admire, and label it with three words from the song.
Explore "Mis Muertos" on Roxxem
4. "Calaverita" (La Santa Cecilia)
Level: Intermediate High (B1+)
A folk-rooted celebration of the holiday, full of calaveras, altars, flowers, and dancing. It's longer and richer in vocab, so it works well for upper-level classes or a second week of the unit.
Teach with it: holiday vocab (calavera, altar, flor), the verb invitar, and verbs of wanting and feeling (quiero, tengo).
Activity idea: Pair it with the tradition of calaveritas literarias, the short, funny rhyming poems written for the holiday. Students write a four-line calaverita about a fictional character.
Explore "Calaverita" on Roxxem
5. "Cumbia de los Muertos" (Ozomatli)
Level: Intermediate High (B1+)
This is the one that gets the class moving. It's a joyful cumbia about the spirits of loved ones coming back to dance, and a great way to close the unit on a happy note.
Teach with it: the gerund (bailando, gozando), family words (mi hermano, mi mamá), and exclamations like qué buena and qué rica.
Activity idea: Run Sentence Snake on the chorus, then have students list who would be dancing at their own family's cumbia and why.
Explore "Cumbia de los Muertos" on Roxxem
How to build a mini unit with these songs
If you have a week, here's one way to order them:
- Monday: "Recuérdame" to introduce the theme of remembering
- Tuesday: "Un Poco Loco" for energy and a beginner-friendly win
- Wednesday: "Mis Muertos" plus the mini ofrenda activity
- Thursday: "Calaverita" and calaveritas literarias
- Friday: "Cumbia de los Muertos" as a celebration, with a live game
Every song has four games (Whac-A-Word, Vocab Harvest, Sentence Snake, and Quiz Ninja). With Pro Teacher, you can also generate a full lesson, slides, and handouts for any of them. For a step-by-step plan, see How to Build a Full Language Lesson Around One Song.
Want to end the week as a class? Try a Co-op Boss Battle on "Cumbia de los Muertos": your whole class plays together to take you down. Here's how Co-op and Teams work.
FAQ
When is Día de los Muertos?
It's celebrated mainly on November 1 and 2. Many teachers start their unit in the last week of October.
Is Día de los Muertos the same as Halloween?
No. They fall close together, but Día de los Muertos is a celebration of loved ones who have died, focused on memory and family rather than fear.
What's a good Día de los Muertos song for beginners?
"Recuérdame" and "Un Poco Loco" from Coco are both rated Novice High (A2) on Roxxem and have catchy, repetitive choruses.
Are these songs school appropriate?
Each song's maturity rating appears on its Roxxem page. Four of these five are rated G, and "Recuérdame" is rated PG, so give each video a quick preview with your class in mind.