Beyond feeling sad, depression can leave a person feeling hopeless, apathetic, worthless. Some people deal with major clinical depression all of their lives; some suffer with situational depression after a major loss, such as the death of a loved or 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, I’ve collected this list of 40 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—
1. “Breathe Me” — Sia
"Ouch I have lost myself again/Lost myself and I'm 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 everyday/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 everyday 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
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
