Songs to feel all your feelings to:
A playlist by Sierra Walsh
2020 is one of those years that has the audacity to throw every curveball under the sun at us. Many of us may be hit with those curveballs in the form of overwhelming emotions that are all at once and almost impossible to process. Maybe everything has become numb. I’m over it, too. However, music often saves the day. So, for everyone that is feeling all of the feels, I compiled a playlist that helps validates my feelings, helps me cry, and then is there to give hope while I heal. I hope it helps you as well.
Nobody’s Home – Avril Lavigne
One of Avril’s most underrated songs, especially considering how Ben Moody co-wrote it. The lyrics are from a second party perspective, observing how “I couldn’t help her/I just watched her make the same mistakes again” which can tie in with how some of us feel like we’re simply watching ourselves go through the motions. Despite how we might feel there’s “too many problems” this song can give the sense that someone is encouraging us to “be strong, be strong now,” even if that “someone” is the more logical and calm part of our psyche.
GTS – Machine Gun Kelly
I have a rough draft of an essay on why Binge doesn’t get the respect it deserves, but that’s a different conversation for a different day. While “Lately” was the first track that pulled me into my feelings and is still one I listen to when I’m feeling numb, (almost as much as Linkin Park’s “Numb”), “GTS” made the list because it encompasses anger perfectly. Something about “been in my room like a recluse/look what the f*ck you people made me do” hits different when you’re angry at the government, society, and/or the world. Maybe too many days have you feeling like it’s better to lock yourself away for a while. While that is completely valid, might I suggest listening to this song a few times and screaming along with the line, “I’ve been through so much that what I took is not enough?” It certainly speeds up the desire to go back outside again. Your friends miss you.
Dear Agony (Aurora Version) – Breaking Benjamin ft. Lacey Strum
The original album version is still good, but this re-released version with Lacey Strum brings a whole level of new magic to this song. Breaking Benjamin has a way of bringing sound to bargaining with turmoil and this is especially evident in “Dear Agony,” “Give Me a Sign,” and “Rain.” I chose this one because I like the way agony is personified in the lyrics, and the singer is bargaining “don’t bury me/faceless enemy.” The aurora version of “Dear Agony” has a softer sound overall and of course Lacey sounds incredible. If you’re looking for something heavier, the original is one Breaking Benjamin’s album of the same name.
Don’t Go – Bring Me the Horizon (featuring Lights)
Aside from how much that I meme this song, it’s an extremely powerful piece. Fifteen year old me would put this on repeat to cope with the horrors of high school. To this day, “Don’t Go” is one of my Go-Tos when I feel like I need to scream, cry, and reach out to someone I love when I need someone to “save me from the ones that haunt me in the night.” On a side note, I think “Don’t Go” is a pretty important song because of how rare the raw vulnerability in the track is, especially from a man. That’s a whole conversation for a different time, but it’s worth noting about this gorgeous song.
Let Me Be Sad – I Prevail
The entire Trauma album is a masterpiece, and this is one of my favorite songs off it. Rarely does a song come along that explains why allowing yourself to be sad for a little while provides a “chance to catch my breath.” Allowing yourself to feel everything without feeling guilty is an entirely different beast compared to being sad in the first place, and this song provides the validation we occasionally need.
Drag the Lake – The Amity Affliction
Easily one of the pretty metal songs that focuses on self-transformation. As is custom among metal heads, the song revolves around the aspects of “I’ll tear myself apart/to see what I’ve become” which is a much more brutal side to rebuilding oneself. Allowing old habits to die comes with the willingness to unlearn unproductive behavior which is rarely a comfortable stage in healing. It’s necessary, though, and this song perfectly encompasses the whole process – along with some stellar headbangs.
Stand in the Rain – Superchick
Very much like “Nobody’s Home,” this tells the story of a girl that feels like the world is caving in on her. However, the track takes a more empowering note where the lyrics validate wanting to “give up and lie down” while encouraging her to “stand up when it’s all crashing down.” There’s the notion that the singer knows that keeping a strong spirit through everything is insanely difficult, but the girl is stronger than the issues she faces and has the ability to overcome them with power and grace.
Famous Last Words – My Chemical Romance
Emo kids, it’s our time. I want to top off the list on a battle cry. A way to really stick to the sorry mental state. A final statement that screams, “You can’t break me.” No one screams and gets back up like My Chemical Romance and no song makes me want to brave the world quite like this one. At the end of every day, you’re the one picking yourself back up and not being “afraid to walk this world alone.” This is the survivor’s anthem, the song you can pull yourself up and walk outside to, “awake and unafraid.” You got this.
Hang in there, friends. We’re fighting through it together.
