101 Depression Songs That Will Help You Feel Less Alone
This playlist of 101 songs about depression covers every type of music
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Beyond feeling sad, depression can leave a person feeling hopeless, apathetic and worthless. Some people deal with major clinical depression all of their lives, while others suffer from situational depression after a major loss, such as the death of a loved one or the end of an important relationship. Some cope by self-medicating with substances that lead to addiction. It’s one of the most common mental heath issues in the country, so it’s not surprising to find it reflected in the songs we listen to, no matter what type of music—pop, metal, rock, rap or country.
If you're dealing with depression, it's always important to seek the health of a trained mental health professional sooner rather than later. But in the meantime, We’ve collected this list of 101 songs that delve into every aspect of living with depression—from feeling isolated to coping with addiction to asking for help and fighting one's way out—based on explanations by the artists themselves, critics’ interpretations and, perhaps most importantly, discussions among those who live with depression and find solace in the lyrics.
101 Songs About Depression
1. "Breathe Me" — Sia
Ouch I have lost myself again/Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found/Yeah I think that I might break/Lost myself again and I feel unsafe
2. "Day ’N’ Nite" — Kid Cudi
Now look at this/ Madness to magnet keeps attracting me/I try to run but see I’m not that fast
3. "Fade to Black" — Metallica
Life it seems to fade away/Drifting further every day/Getting lost within myself/Nothing matters no one else
4. "Zero" — Imagine Dragons
Let me tell you what it’s like to be a zero, zero/Let me show you what it’s like to always feel/Like I’m empty and there’s nothing really real
5. "Be OK" — Ingrid Michaelson
Open me up and you will see/I’m a gallery of broken hearts/I’m beyond repair, let me be?/And give me back my broken parts
6. "Runaway Train" — Soul Asylum
It seems no one can help me now/I’m in too deep/There’s no way out/This time I have really led myself astray
7. "Lithium" — Evanescence
I can’t hold on to me/Wonder what’s wrong with me
8. "Fell on Black Days" — Soundgarden
Whatsoever I’ve feared has come to life/Whatsoever I’ve fought off became my life/Just when every day seemed to greet me with a smile/Sunspots have faded and now I’m doing time/Now I’m doing time?’Cause I fell on black days
9. "Lovely" — Billie Eilish and Khalid
Isn’t it lovely, all alone?/Heart made of glass, my mind of stone/Tear me to pieces, skin to bone/Hello, welcome home
10. "Car Radio" — Twenty One Pilots
My skin will scream reminding me of/Who I killed inside my dream
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11. "Mad World" — Tears for Fears
And I find kinda funny, I find it kinda sad/That the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had
12. "I Should Have Known Better" — Sufjan Stevens
I should have known better/To see what I could see/My black shroud/Holding down my feelings/A pillar for my enemies
13. "Danko/Manuel" — Jason Isbell
I ain’t living like I should/A little rest might do me good/Got to sinking in the place where I once stood
14. "I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry" — Hank Williams
Hear that lonesome whipporwhill/He sounds too blue to fly/The midnight train is whining low/I’m so lonesome I could cry
15. "Telescope" — Cage the Elephant
I don’t think you understand/There’s nowhere left to turn
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16. "u" — Kendrick Lamar
And if those mirrors could talk it would say ‘you gotta go’
17. "Paint It Black" — Rolling Stones
I see a red door and I want to paint it black/No colors anymore I want them to turn black
18. "Dark Times" — The Wknd
In my dark times I’ve still got some problems I know/Driving too fast but just moving too slow/And I’ve got something I’ve been trying to let go/Pulling me back every time
19. "No Rain" — Blind Melon
And I don’t understand why I sleep all day/And I start to complain that there’s no rain/And all I can do is read a book to stay awake/And it rips my life away but it’s a great escape
20. "A Better Son/Better Daughter" — Rilo Kiley
But the lows are so extreme/That the good seems f-----g cheap/And it teases you for weeks in its absence
21. "This Depression" — Bruce Springsteen
Baby I’ve been down/But never this down/I’ve been lost/But never this lost
22. "Hurt" — Johnny Cash (originally by Nine Inch Nails)
Everyone I know/Goes away in the end
23. "Away From The Sun" — 3 Doors Down
I’m so tired of living in the dark/Can anyone see me down here
24. "Rain" — Patty Griffin
Strange how hard it rains now/Rows and rows of big dark clouds
25. "Gravity" — John Mayer
I’ll never know what makes this man/With all twelve that his heart can stand/Dream of ways to throw all away
26. "You Don't Know" — from the Broadway show Next to Normal, performed by Alice Ripley
Do you wake up in the morning and need help to lift your head?/Do you read obituaries and feel jealous of the dead?
27. "Mercy Street" — Peter Gabriel
She pictures the broken glass, she pictures the steam/She pictures a soul/With no leak at the seam
28. "Fire and Rain" — James Taylor
I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain/I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end/I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
29. "Is That All There Is?" — Peggy Lee
Is that all there is, is that all there is?/ If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
30. "Both Sides Now" — Joni Mitchell
I’ve looked at life from both sides now/From win and lose and still somehow/ It’s life’s illusions I recall/ I really don’t know life at all
31. "A Day Without Me" — U2
Started a landslide in my ego/Looked from the outside to the world I left behind
32. "Down in a Hole" — Alice in Chains
Down in a hole feelin’ so small/Down in a hole, losin’ my soul/ I’d like to fly, but my wings have been so denied
33. "Anxiety" — Julia Michaels and Selena Gomez
All my friends, they don’t know what it’s like/They don’t understand why I can’t sleep through the night/I’ve been told that I could take something to fix it/Damn, I wish it was that simple
34. "Diary of a Madman" — Ozzy Osbourne
Screaming at the window/Watch me die another day/Hopeless situation/Endless price I have to pay
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35. "The Dark Side" — Muse
You’d be scared living with my despair/ And if you could feel the things I am able to feel
36. "Adam’s Song" — Blink 182
I never thought I’d die alone/Another six months I’ll be unknown
37. "Runaway" — Kanye West
And I always find, yeah I always find something wrong/You been putting up with my *** just way too long/I’m so gifted at finding what I don’t like most
38. "Million Years Ago" — Adele
Sometimes I just feel it’s only me/Who can’t stand the reflection that they see
39. "She’s Falling Apart" — Lisa Loeb
She gets home from school too early/And closes the door to her room/There’s nothing inside her/She weak and she’s tired of feeling like this
40. "Rainy Days and Mondays" — The Carpenters
Hangin’ around/Nothing to do but frown/Rainy days and Mondays always get me down
41. "Swim Good" — Frank Ocean
I’m about to drive in the ocean/I’ma try to swim from something bigger than me
42. "Under the Bridge" — Red Hot Chili Peppers
It’s hard to believe/That there’s nobody out there/It’s hard to believe/That I’m all alone
43. "Cough Syrup" — Young the Giant
Life’s too short to even care at all/I’m losing my mind losing control
44. "Lithium" — Nirvana
I’m so lonely but that’s OK I shaved my head/And I’m not sad
45. "Heavy" — Linkin Park
I keep dragging around what’s bringing me down
46. "Anything Worth Holding Onto" — Chrissy Metz and Matt Bloyd
It takes effort to fight/I don’t have the strength/I’m holding on to what’s still left of me
47. "Breaking Down" — Florence and the Machine
All alone on the edge of sleep/My old familiar friend/Comes and lies down next to me/And I can see it coming from the edge of the room/Smiling in the streetlight even with my eyes shut tight/I still see it coming now/ Ah I think I’m breaking down again
48. "Please Be Patient With Me" — Wilco
It doesn’t mean that I don’t care/It means I’m partially there
49. "New Dawn Fades" — Joy Division
Directionless so plain to see/A loaded gun won’t set you free/So you say
50. "Rainbow in the Dark" — Dio
When I see lightning/You know it always brings me down/‘Cause it’s free and I see that it’s me? Who’s lost and never found
Related: 101 Quotes About Depression to Help You Not Feel So Alone
51. "I’m Only Happy When It Rains" — Garbage
Pour your misery down on me
52. "I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times" — Beach Boys
Sometimes I feel very sad (Can’t find nothin’ I can put my heart and soul into)
53. "Hope Is A Dangerous Thing For a Woman Like Me To Have" — Lana Del Rey
Don’t ask if I’m happy, you know that I’m not/ But at best I can say I’m not sad/‘Cause hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have
54. "Here Comes The Rain Again" — Eurythmics
Here comes the rain again/Raining in my head like a tragedy/Tearing me apart like a new emotion
55. "I Go To Extremes" — Billy Joel
Sometimes I’m tired, sometimes I’m shot/Sometimes I don’t know how much more I’ve got
56. "Gasoline" — Halsey
I think there’s a flaw in my code/These voices won’t leave me alone
57. "You Don’t Know" — Katelyn Tarver
Let me just stop trying/Let me just stop fighting/I don’t want your good advice/Or reasons why I’m alright
58. "Something Vague" — Bright Eyes
Now and again it seems worse than it is/But mostly the view is accurate
59. "Irvine" — Kelly Clarkson
I don’t have much to go/Before I fade completely
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60. "Behind Blue Eyes" — The Who
No one bites back as hard/On their anger/None of my pain and woe/Can show through
61. "Pretty Hurts" — Beyoncé
But you can’t fix what you don’t see/It’s the should that needs the surgery
62. "How Soon Is Now" — The Smiths
I am the son and heir/Of nothing in particular
63. "Nobody Knows" — Pink
It’s win or lose not how you play the game/And the road to darkness has a way/Of always knowing my name/But I think nobody knows
64. "Lucky" — Britney Spears
She’s so lucky, she’s a star/But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking/If there’s nothing missing in my life/Then why do these tears come at night?
65. "I Am a Rock" — Simon & Garfunkel
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain/It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain
66. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" — Green Day
I walk a lonely road/The only one that I have ever known/Don’t know where it goes/But it’s only me and I walk alone
67. "Man of Constant Sorrow" — Dan Tyminski with Alison Krauss and Union Station
For six long years I’ve been in trouble/No pleasures here on earth I found/For in this world I’m bout to ramble/I have no friends to help me now
Related: Bible Verses for Depression
68. "Cry Pretty" — Carrie Underwood
You can pretty lie and say it’s OK/ You can pretty smile and just walk away/Pretty much fake your way through anything/But you can’t cry pretty
69. "Everybody Hates Me" — The Chainsmokers
I’m so defeated, I can’t get outside my head
70. "I Am I Said" — Neil Diamond
I am, I said/To no one there/And no one heard at all/Not even the chair
71. "People Are Strange" — The Doors
People are strange when you’re a stranger/Faces look ugly when you’re alone
72. "Woke Up Hurting" — Frightened Rabbit
I woke up hurting/Though I can’t quite say why
73. "Sober" — Demi Lovato
Sometimes I just wanna cave/And I don’t wanna fight
74. "Purpose for Pain" — Scott Stapp
I shut every door but the right one/I fought the devil and he won
75. "Whiskey Lullaby" — Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss
He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger/And finally drank away her memory/Life is short, but this it was bigger/Than the strength he had to get up off his knees
76. "The A Team" — Ed Sheeran
She’s stuck in her daydream/Been this way since eighteen/But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries
77. "Sound and Vision" — David Bowie
Pale blinds drawn all day/Nothing to do, nothing to say/Blue blue
78. "Waiting 'Round to Die" — Townes Van Zandt
I got me a friend at last/He don’t drink or steal or cheat or lie/His name’s codeine/He’s the nice thing I’ve seen/Together we’re gonna wait around and die
79. "It’s Been Awhile" — Staind
Why must I feel this way?/Just make this go away/Just one more peaceful day
80. "Torn" — Natalie Imbruglia
I’m all out of faith/This is how I feel/I’m cold and I am shamed/Lying naked on the floor
81. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" — BeeGees
How can you mend a broken heart?/ How can you stop the rain from falling down? How can you stop the sun from shining?
82. "When It Rains" — Eli Young Band
When it rains, some people get down/They’re sporting a frown so I fit right in
83. "The Lonely" — Christina Perri
I’m a ghost of a girl/That I want to be most/I’m the shell of a girl/That I used to know well
84. "Sorrow" — The National
I live in a city sorrow built/It’s in my honey, it’s in my milk
85. "It Makes No Difference" — The Band
And it makes no difference how far I go/Like a scar the pain will always show
86. "Everybody Hurts" — REM
If you’re on your own/In this life/The days and nights are long/When you think you’ve had too much/Of this life/To hang on
87. "Move Along" — All America Rejects
So a day when you’ve lost yourself completely/Could be a night when your life ends/ Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving/All the pain held in your/Hands are shaking cold/Your hands are mine to hold
88. "Rise Up" — Andra Day
When the silence isn’t quiet/And it feels like it’s getting hard to breathe/And I know you feel like dying/But I promise we’ll take the world to its feet
89. "1-800-273-8255" — Logic ft. Alessia Cara, Khalid
It’s holding on, though the road’s long/And seeing light in the darkest things/And when you stare at your reflection/Finally knowing who it is/I know that you’ll thank God you did
90. "How To Save a Life" — The Fray
Where did I go wrong?/I lost a fried/Somewhere along in the bitterness/And I would have stayed up with you all nit/Had I known how to save a life
91. "Lullaby" — Nickelback
Please let me take you/Out of the darkness and into the light
92. "Last Hope" — Paramore
Every night I try my best to dream tomorrow makes it better/And wake up to the cold reality and not a thing is changed
93. "Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)" — Gary Allan
Every storm runs out of rain/Just like every dark night turns into day
94. "Creep" — Radiohead
I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo/What the hell am I doing here?/I don’t belong here
95. "Get Up" — Shinedown
If you were ever in doubt/Don’t sell yourself short, you might be bulletproof/Hard to move mountains when you’re paralyzed/But you gotta try
96. "Help" — The Beatles
Help me if you can I’m feeling down/And I do appreciate you being ‘round/Help me get my feet back on the ground
97. "Reason to Fight" — Disturbed
When the demon that’s inside you is ready to begin/And it feels like it’s a battle that you will never win/When you’re aching for the fire and begging for your sin/When there’s nothing left inside, there’s still a reason to fight
98. "Waving Through a Window" — from the musical Dear Evan Hansen, performed by Ben Platt
We start with stars in our eyes/We start believing that we belong/But every sun doesn't rise/And no one tells you where you went wrong
99. "Manhattan" — Sara Bareilles
And so it goes/One foot after the other/Till black and white begin to color in
100. "By The Grace of God" — Katy Perry
Thought I wasn’t enough and I wasn’t so tough/Laying on the bathroom floor
101. "I’m Movin' On" — Rascal Flatts
I’ve dealt with my ghosts and faced all my demons/Finally content with a past I regret/I’ve found you find you find strength in your moments of weakness/For once I’m at peace with myself
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