5 Sad Songs That Helped Me Learn A Lot About Life!
People tend to have different tastes in music, sometimes depending on their mood, sometimes the environment, sometimes the people they are around and sometimes the genre they prefer. You might not notice but people don’t just pick any song at any random place and start listening to it, they go through their playlist, which is made by selecting few songs from a very long list depending on different aspects, and play that one song which suits their current situation and mood the best. I have different playlists for different places, moods, and even people I am listening to the songs with.
I often get asked to recommend songs, the first thing I ask is the genre they like and then the mood the person is in. Genre and mood are poles apart because being happy does not mean someone wants to hear metal, so both these aspects are important to me when it comes to recommending songs. My favorite genre has to be sad songs, it takes that one right kind of sad song to hit you in the feels and then bring out all the repressed emotions you have been building up inside your heart, and trust me getting them all out, once in a while, helps you move on and grow as a person. I normally find out a lot about a person from the sad songs they listen to, it expresses something a person hides behind their smile. You relate to a song that speaks for you, putting your feelings in the right words.
So, starting with my favorite go-to sad songs which also help me heal, by bringing peace to my mind and heart and somewhat motivate me to let go of things that have been pulling me away from achieving great things in life and move forward are:
Before You Go — Lewis Capaldi
I first heard this song in the background of a fan-made video of a Netflix series I was watching and instead of paying attention to the video I instantly searched the comments to see what this song was, that is how eagerly I wanted it to get in my playlist. Lewis Capaldi has the kind of voice you want to hear on repeat even if you are not sure what he is talking about. The song itself just adds sprinkles on top, to be honest, it hits right in the feels, the lyrics and the music everything blends perfectly well giving you a sad song about losing a person and wondering if there was anything you could have done to make their lives better.
“It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless.”
There are times when you cannot directly relate to the theme of the song because you have not encountered something similar, but there is this one line that gets stuck in your mind because you can relate to it so well it feels like it has been written for you. This line above is that one line for me in the song, I feel like the society today makes you feel so insignificant at times that you forget what it is like being happy, they impose the idea of you having no real value of your own which is absolutely wrong. Fighting your own thoughts is one of the biggest hurdles people have to come across in life.
I Found — Amber Run
I first heard this song, years ago, and something clicked inside me but I never really paid attention to it until very recently when I finally searched for it. It’s the kind of song you’d like to hear when you are alone, lost, sad, or feel like there is no point in trying. What I love about sad songs is how you do not feel alone; they give you a sense of other people around the world going through similar things. They help you think clearly and help make up your mind about certain things. We all have a specific time to bloom, a time when it’s the darkest around you is when the light starts coming. Stop trying to fit in the idea of ‘perfect’ the world inflicts in people’s minds. You are unique and perfect in your own sense; let the world try to fit in your block instead of you compromising your happiness over people or things that are not worth your peace of mind and heart.
“I found love where it wasn’t supposed to be.”
In order to achieve big things in life, you need to take that one baby step you are always fearing, without it, you will never be able to grow out of your shell but this does not assure you will succeed in the first try, it will take time, but slowly you will climb the ladder and reach the top which almost seemed impossible before. The tip is not to give up, keep trying, and then maybe you will find success and happiness where you least expected it to be.
All I Want — Kodaline
Every time someone asks me to recommend a sad song, this is the first one that comes in my mind. My sad song recommendation or even the playlist is incomplete without All I Want. What makes this song come at the top of my playlist is the heartbreaking yet beautiful music video by Kodaline, and not just one but both versions of the video leave you crying also highlighting the true face of the society and how the outer appearance means more to the world than the wonderful soul a person holds.
“I lay in tears in bed all night.”
One thing the music video of this song teaches you is that no matter how hard the world gets for you, stay true to yourself, and eventually people will come to realize the gem of a person you are. When you start changing for the world, you always end up disappointed because no matter how much effort you put into being accepted, there will be people making you feel bad for existing but when you stay the same person and gain confidence in the way you are, good people will find you. You shine the most when you are true to yourself, so instead of trying to become one of those who despise others, become a person comfortable in your own skin, this way people who have been struggling for the same reasons will look up to you.
Dancing With Your Ghost — Sasha Sloan
I don’t clearly remember where I first heard this song but it has been in my playlist for a while. There are times someone recommends you a song and you just add it in your playlist without really giving it a try and after sometime when your playlist is on shuffle, a song comes in which you do not remember hearing before nor have you ever heard its name but it instantly makes you fall in love with it, yes, this song exactly is my ‘how did I not hear it before’ song. I then put this song on repeat and heard it till everyone around me was aware of what song I am obsessing over these days.
“I stay up all night tell myself I’m alright.”
While listening to sad songs people usually presume you’re going through a breakup or you lost someone close to you but sad songs are not always about others, sometimes they can be about your own self, it just depends on how you interpret a song. This for me is that song when I read the lyrics of this song it felt like I was talking to my younger, the carefree self. Now that I am sometimes stuck with studies and other times stressing over the future, I believe I am missing out on so much. I have stopped enjoying life, happiness has become my least priority, I don’t take swings anymore, I don’t eat ice cream anymore, I don’t watch animated movies anymore, after listening to this song I realized how on the journey to a successful life I somehow lost the happier side of mine, the side which will take risks, which will do things because they make me happy and not because they will get me accepted by the society. So ‘dancing with your ghost’ for me is the ghost of happiness I lost while growing up.
Fix You — Coldplay
Is there a list of sad songs even complete without a Coldplay song? I think not. Every Coldplay song hits home, every Coldplay song feels like it has been written for you, every cold play song is super relatable and this the exact Coldplay song screaming “lights will guide you home”. Coldplay expresses my generation more than anyone can. You’re missing out on a lot if you have not heard any of Coldplay’s songs before. And when we talk about sad songs, we can’t miss out on fix you — the sad song that is my favorite go-to sad song always tearing me up.
“Stuck in reverse.”
Are we all not stuck somewhere waiting for the lights to guide us? There are points in life where you just want to stay back and wait for a hand to pull you out of the mess you are surrounded by, there are times when you are so tired of giving your all but the results are unsatisfactory, and there are times when instead of being available and dependable you want to depend on someone. No matter how strong we act, no matter how hard we try to succeed with a positive mindset, but we all have off days, we all have days where nothing makes sense so we just want to shut everything out and wait for that one hand that can direct us to the road we have lost while listening to us, without questioning, without judging.
Sad songs always teach you more about life than real-life experiences, they help you think with a clear mind and heart, and the moment you realize you are not the only one struggling, everything becomes much better. Just like everyone else battling to make their ends meet but are still not giving up, you, too, move forward, thinking since we are all in the same chapter of different books, we can all make this a better place, together. Plus there is nothing wrong with beings sad, we are human beings and we need to feel all kinds of emotions to evolve into the better versions of ourselves and learn more about life and sad songs help you do exactly that.
