What is it about being sad that causes us to want to listen to sad music? I’ve spent a long time pondering this and i’ve come to a conclusion. I think sometimes when we are not in a good mental state, we tend to isolate ourselves because of a sort of feeling of dissociation from the normal life routines we adapt to everyday. If I am depressed, I want to keep to myself because in a way it’s socially unacceptable to be quiet and visibly sad out in public. This tends to isolate the mind and make me feel a bit lonely. Where music comes into play, is that it kinda lessens any feeling of loneliness. Not only might the lyrics resonate with you in letting you know you’re not alone in feeling down, but the calming / relaxing vibes also help soothe you, helping fight anxiety in a sense. Anyhow, these are some of the sad songs i’ve been listening to recently, to kind of take you into what vibe i’ve been on lately.
FKA TWIGS – HIDE
This song is so damn beautiful and FKA Twigs looks a like a whole angel in the video. Twigs’ older music is insanely good.
KELELA – JUPITER
I’ve definitely teared up to this song enough times to say that i’m ready for another Kelela album to play with my heart.
FRANK OCEAN – SEIGFRIED
I couldn’t not put this song in here. One of my favorite songs ever. One of the best songs Frank Ocean ever made, period. If this song doesn’t make you have an existential crisis whenever it comes on you might not have a soul.
BALTRA – FADE AWAY
This track by Baltra is an especially good one to sort of zone-out to. Its sad but at the same time kinda makes you wanna dance which is honestly the type of music I wanna thrive to make.
LEONARD COHEN – THERE FOR YOU
Im channeling my inner : cigarette smoking / crime novel reading / middle aged man in a tank top vibes with this song. Something about Leonard Cohen’s voice always soothed me.
TIM HECKER – BLACK REFRACTION
When I was younger I stumbled across this genre of noise music that I had never heard, which was a bunch of sad chords mixed with distortion and textures. Tim Hecker was always my favorite artist doing it, but this song in particular is mad pretty.
MOUNT KIMBIE FT. JAMES BLAKE – HOW WE GOT BY
This song is just an example of a great collaboration, Mount Kimbie has some insane production, and then James Blake is always ridiculous.
JAMES BLAKE – MODERN SOUL
James Blake dropped one of the greatest albums i’ve ever heard I actually used to fall asleep to it every night the first year it came out, so it’s safe to say his music comforts me forreal.
SOLANGE – CRANES IN THE SKY
I wanna bring it out of just sad music and end with a song that motivates me and leaves me hopeful. Solange really changed the whole game with this song and that makes it timeless. This song kinda helps take me out of a funk, motivating me to be productive. I guess that’s the beautiful thing about music. It can impact your life in so many different ways.
I hope this list didn’t make you sad, but if you were already, I hope it offered some tracks to help you get through it. No matter how sad we get, the silver lining is that it will always get better, those feelings won’t last forever, and no one is ever truly alone in their being sad or depressed. Hope you have a good productive day!
