Four Songs to Help You Through Loss

I’ve always been the type of person who turns to music when I’m in need of a little pick-me-up. Sometimes it’s hard to talk to others about how you’re feeling which in turn can make you feel alone and isolated. When you’re experiencing grief after the loss of a loved one, music is a way to remind us all that there are others who are feeling the same way we are. Below I’ve listed four songs that I always listen to when I’m feeling sad but can’t quite put into words the way I’m feeling to others.

1. Jonas Brothers: A Little Bit Longer

For almost the entire last decade, the Jonas Brothers have been the band I look to for some cheering up. Even though they’re not together anymore, their songs still hold meaning. ‘A Little Bit Longer’ is about Nick Jonas’ initial diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes and his continuous acceptance and battle with it. While the song is not directly related to loss, it can easily be attributed to any sort of growth with grief. The song is telling us to just hold on because if we wait just ‘a little bit longer,’ everything will be okay. The pain may never be entirely absent, but a sense of acceptance is achievable.

2. Carrie Underwood: See You Again

Carrie Underwood’s ‘See You Again’ is definitely a song any person going through loss must listen to. It’s basically reassuring us that there will be a day when we will reunite with our loved one. “This is not where it ends. I will carry you with me, till I see you again.”

3. Celine Dion: My Heart Will Go On

As a 90’s child, I used to listen to Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ on constant repeat with the dream of Jack Dawson whisking me away. Now I see the song in a whole new light. When my dad passed away, my friend, who also lost her dad, gave me a picture frame holding a picture of both of us with our dads. Written on the frame were the lyrics, ‘Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you. That is how I know you go on.’ I instantly began listening to the song over and over and realized how it’s all about the death of a loved one. The song reminds us that those we lost are never truly gone because we keep them alive in our hearts.

4. Eric Clapton: Tears In Heaven

I remember listening to ‘Tears In Heaven’ on the radio and my mom telling me Clapton wrote this about his young son who passed away. Instead of being a song full of reassurance, it’s a song mostly of questions that we all wonder about. ‘Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same if I saw you in heaven?’ There are times when you wonder if the relationships with those we lost will be the same once we’re reunited. I believe they will be because I see it as though our loved ones are still with us, we just can’t see them.

What are the songs you listen to when you’re feeling down?