If you're feeling burnt out, down, or stressed about life in general, never underestimate the power of a great sad song. Sure, it may feel counterintuitive, but some of the best slow, emotional tracks allow us to acknowledge our feelings—a painful but necessary step in the right direction. Here are 41 of them to listen to as you stare plaintively out of a bus/car/train/home office window.
If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Lifeline network is available 24/7 across the United States. Call 1-800-273-8255.
"16 Carriages" by Beyoncé
Beyoncé went country in 2024, tapping into her Texas upbringing and leaning into the genre’s expert storytelling on her record Cowboy Carter. The opening track explores a loss of innocence at a young age, diving into how frightening that can be and how much resilience it takes. With the amount of emotion relayed by her soulful delivery, she makes evident how spending nearly her life in the spotlight has been a dream come true, but comes at a cost. The compelling rootsy instrumentation that crescendos at the song’s end only adds to its emotionality
"20 Something" - SZA
Is there anything scarier than being in your 20s? We don’t think so, and SZA doesn’t either. As she says to all 20somethings out there, good luck and god bless.
"Appointments" - Julien Baker
So beautiful, so emotional, you'll find yourself welling up (at the very least). It's Julien Baker, after all.
"Asleep" - The Smiths
The Smiths’ “Asleep” is a lullaby—but it’ll bring you to tears, not to sleep. “Sing me to sleep / I don't want to wake up on my own anymore,” Morissey sings, lamenting about loneliness, how the weight of the world can be too much sometimes, and suicidal ideation. The song’s narrator greatly expresses a loss of hope, and resolves that the only solution for pain is through death, expressing, “There is another world / There is a better world / Well, there must be,” before repeating, “Bye,” in the final verses. It’s extremely solemn but a song that has touched many Smiths fans; its reach is even depicted in the book/film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, as it's the main character Charlie’s favorite song.
"Bad Religion" - Frank Ocean
"It's a bad religion to be in love with someone who could never love you." You really feel for Frank Ocean as he sings about struggling with his sexuality, though the sense of impossibility is much more pervasive than that.
"Beyond" - Leon Bridges
This song is so sweet. The music video is so sweet. Leon Bridges is so sweet. Just everything about this song is so sweet. "Beyond" is about dating someone and feeling that emotion of knowing that it's beyond any other feeling you have felt for someone before.
"Blackberry Stone" - Laura Marling
"I'd be sad that I never held your hand as you were lowered / But I'd understand that I'd never let it go." This song cuts to the chase quickly, but you'll enjoy it as you bleed out.
"Call Your Mom" - Noah Kahan
A song about being there for a loved one struggling with mental health issues, “Call Your Mom” is a reminder of the importance of reaching out, and as Noah puts it, “All lights turned off can be turned on.”
"cowboy like me" - Taylor Swift
Countless Taylor Swift songs can bring a range of emotions, from tearing up to sobbing. If we had to pick just one for when you're trying to unwind from a draining week and are not in the mood to do anything, "Cowboy Like Me" is perfect bubble bath music.
"Dreaming of You" - Selena Quintanilla
You're going to need several boxes of tissues for this one. The '90s mid-tempo jam is about longing for your beloved, but its heartbreak factor multiplies times a million when you realize that it was one of the last songs Selena recorded before her tragic passing in 1995.
"Fourth of July" - Sufjan Stevens
This song off Sufjan Stevens’ acclaimed album Carrie & Lowell, largely about his mother’s death and her relationship with her second husband, details the final conversation the indie-folk musician had with his mom on her deathbed. Dying from stomach cancer, the two express immense love for one another, while Stevens imagines being able to resuscitate her. “Did you get enough love, my little dove? / Why do you cry?” Stevens repeats as his mother’s last words to him, speaking to how boundless the warmth of their relationship is.
"From the Dining Table" - Harry Styles
This song is so intimate we almost feel guilty listening to it. "Why won't you ever say what you want to say? Even my phone misses your call, by the way." For a heart-shattering listen, we recommend using headphones.
"hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have, but i have it" - Lana Del Rey
You can't create a sad songs list without a Lana Del Rey song... or five. "Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have" was one of the first singles from her album, Norman Fucking Rockwell—a heartbreakingly beautiful reminder that sometimes hope is all we have.
"How to Disappear Completely" - Radiohead
This is a song so melancholy that you'll feel like you're an astronaut who's become untethered from the space station. The line most likely to make you say "same:" "I’m not here / This isn’t happening."
"Hurt" - Nine Inch Nails
The true meaning behind this 1994 song has been disputed over the years, with its lyrics seemingly referring to self-harm, heroin addiction, and general feelings surrounding succumbing to sadness. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor sings in almost a whisper and the track carries a haunting guitar before it devolves into fuzzed-out, dizzying guitars, essentially drowning out his pleas. The industrial rock instrumentation and production further feed into the narrator’s all-consuming pain, as if it can’t be managed. Years later in 2002, Johnny Cash released a cover of “Hurt,” transforming it into a sobering outlaw country song that many also love (and have mistaken as an original).
"I Have Nothing" - Whitney Houston
The third single from the hit film Bodyguard is right up there in the top five songs to sing at the top of your lungs in the shower. You won't be able to tell whether it's tears or water from the shower head cascading down your cheeks, but it doesn't really matter does it?
"I'll Never Love Again" - Lady Gaga
Even if you didn't see the ultimate tearjerker A Star Is Born, you can infer the emotional complexities of the song from the title.
"Landslide" - Fleetwood Mac
"Landslide" never fails to make us think about how quickly life passes by while reminding us to appreciate every moment—even during the hard times.
"Last Words of a Shooting Star" - Mitski
Many fans look to Mitski for her poetic lyricism about sadness and loneliness, finding solace in it, and that’s existed throughout her discography. “Last Words of a Shooting Star” is an early song from 2014’s Bury Me at Makeout Creek and an indie folk-rock ballad that imagines a narrator approaching the end of their life on a crashing plane, imagining how they’d like to be remembered. It’s wrapped up in heartbreaking complexities, though, because the narrator doesn’t even believe the things about themself that they’d like others to recognize, and wonders whether they lived to the fullest.
"Liability" - Lorde
Say hello to the magnum opus of Lorde's second studio album, Melodrama. You feel her heart (and yours simultaneously) being ripped out in every single line. It makes you want to stick it to anybody who thought you were "too much" for them. Good cry guaranteed.
"Lost Ones" - J.Cole
J.Cole is a skilled storyteller, and in "Lost Ones," he tells the story of a couple who is forced to confront their respective traumas when faced with a major hurdle in their relationship. Taking on the perspective of both the man and the woman in each verse, the song gradually gets sadder and sadder until you realize that you've been weeping for a full four minutes and 23 seconds.
"My Heart Will Go On" - Céline Dion
"My Heart Will Go On" from the classic movie Titanic never fails to strike a chord, mainly because all we can think about is Rose letting go of Jack.
"Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby" - Cigarettes After Sex
"Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby" is one of those songs that can transport you to somewhere else in an instant. We still can't decide if the song or the YouTube comment section of the video is more heartwarming.
"Past Life" - Maggie Rogers
Maggie Rogers' "Past Life" is a far departure from some of her breakout hits like "Fallingwater" and "On + Off." It's a clear reflection of who she was, and who she's becoming—something we should all make room for every once in a while.
"Punisher" - Phoebe Bridgers
When you need a moment to sit with your feelings, allow Phoebe Bridgers's incredibly soothing voice in "Punisher" to help you process your emotions.
"Purple Rain" - Prince
Want to make everyone at karaoke cry? This epic ballad will do the trick. Between Prince's powerful guitar solo and the dreamy lyrics (which The Purple One so poetically described as the "end of the world and being with the one you love"), there won't be a dry eye in the house.
"Re: Stacks" - Bon Iver
This sad, reflective song explores a love of running cold and having to sit with what was lost. It may sound very relaxing but it's also very emotional.
"Righteous" - Juice WRLD
What makes this song incredibly sad isn't solely the fact that Juice WRLD is no longer with us, but that his lyrics alluded to his death. "Over ice, I'm freezing / Beautiful eyes, deceiving / We may die this evening / Coughing, wheezing, bleeding."
"The River" - Joni Mitchell
This classic off the iconic album Blue isn’t a Christmas song, but it is set around Christmastime, and fully leans into how, no matter how spirited the holiday season is, it can make you feel a little bit down. That’s especially the case as Mitchell mines what led to a breakup, particularly looking inward at how one’s own shortcomings contributed. “I wish I had a river / I could skate away on,” she repeats—a sentiment that will freeze over and ring true in anyone with escapist tendencies’ memory.
"Roman Candle" - Elliott Smith
Much of the late, great singer-songwriter and emo pioneer Elliott Smith’s discography is full of heartbreaking music. “Roman Candle” is among the most tragic, as the musician reflects on how his abusive stepfather mistreated him and his complicated feelings around wanting to “hurt him” and “give him pain.” Poetically, he equates himself to a Roman candle, a firework known for causing accidents, over a frantic, shakey guitar to relay how unstable he feels.
"The Scientist" - Coldplay
We're officially drafting a petition to classify "Coldplay" as the Original Sad Song™ in the dictionary.
"Slow Burn" - Kacey Musgraves
Golden Hour may have won four Grammys, but "Slow Burn" deserves 100 more—simply for every tear we've shed listening to it and allowing ourselves to process us emotions.
"Somebody Else" - The 1975
"I don't want your body, but I hate to think about you with somebody else. Our love has gone cold. You're intertwining your soul with somebody else." A lyric like no other, for a sad-but-happy-sounding song like no other.
"traitor" - Olivia Rodrigo
If you're going through a heartbreak, Olivia Rodrigo's Sour is incredibly cathartic, but "traitor" especially hits if any emotional cheating was involved. Sending you love!
"To Build a Home" - The Cinematic Orchestra
Cue the song that plays during every sad, devastating, emotional, or brutal moment in a movie. Nevertheless, it gets the job done.
"Transatlanticism" - Death Cab for Cutie
The title track from indie rock icons Death Cab for Cutie’s breakout 2003 album equates the Atlantic Ocean to a long-distance relationship. Ben Gibbard’s lull about feeling further and further from his lover haunts, mirroring the everpresent loneliness that comes from being away from the one you love. “I need you so much closer,” he repeats before evolving into, “So come on”—which is sure to inspire tears, as it can be interpreted as desperation, disbelief, or hopefulness.
"Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart" - Alicia Keys
More than 10 years after its release, this heartbreaking Alicia Keys song has rightfully earned its place on every sad girl™'s "songs to cry to" playlist.
"we can’t be friends (wait for your love)" - Ariana Grande
This may be one of Ariana Grande’s hits of 2024 and a synth-pop bop at that, but lyrically, it’s a bittersweet breakup song that’ll make you sniffle. The pop superstar relays the fallout of a relationship (speculated to be her marriage to Dalton Gomez) and how ultimately they can’t remain friends, even though she wishes they could be. To add to the sadness here, the music video (like the title the song is off) is inspired by the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which imagines a couple going through a procedure to wipe their memories of one another.
"when the party's over" - Billie Eilish
When the party's over? More like when the crying sesh is over.
"When We Were Young" - Adele
Adele has perfected the art of the sad song. "You still look like a movie / You still sound like a song / My God, this reminds me of when we were young." Excuse us while we wipe away a tear.
"Wonderful Tonight" - Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton knew what he was doing when he wrote this song for '60s icon Pattie Boyd. "I feel wonderful because I see the love light in your eyes / And the wonder of it all is that you just don't realize how much I love you." Swoon.
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