10 Songs With Lyrics People With Depression Can Relate To

It’s been said that music is extremely therapeutic. As someone who has been going up and down on a depression roller coaster for the past two years, I tend to agree. Some days it helps to just listen to the song as a whole, but I have also found that some lyrics in songs have helped me so much. These are just ten examples of lyrics that put my feelings into words better than I ever could.

1. “Fix You” by Coldplay

“When you try your best but you don’t succeed / When you get what you want but not what you need … When the tears come streaming down your face / When you lose something you can’t replace.”

These might be my favorite lyrics of any song ever, because they do an amazing job of showing what depression does to you. It steals your innocence, your happiness and your will to do anything. All you can do sometimes is cry.

2. “Stone Cold” by Demi Lovato

“You see me standing, but I’m dying on the floor / Stone cold, stone cold / Maybe if I don’t cry, I won’t feel anymore.”

On the outside, the majority of people with depression may look fine. They can maybe fake a smile and pretend everything is OK. It’s so easy, when everything feels too much, to become so numb that you don’t feel anything at all.

3. “Gone” by Bebe Rexha

“Numb me down to the core / Cause love don’t live here anymore / And we fought hard but we lost the war / Without you, what am I living for?”

Depression is a war with yourself, and just like in a real war there are casualties. First goes your confidence, then your joy and eventually love is a thought, not a feeling. All you feel is numb and broken.

4. “Hold on” by Chord Overstreet

“The joy and the chaos, the demons we’re made of / I’d be so lost if you left me alone.”

Everyone has demons. Sometimes they are so loud it’s deafening. Without everyone else around, we would just be lost in our own thoughts. We need you.

5. “I Can’t Breathe” by Bea Miller

“A time when I / Didn’t feel like there was something missing / Now my body and mind are so distant.”

In my opinion, the best way I can explain depression to someone who doesn’t have it is this: Your body and your mind are a thousand miles apart. Your body is isolated, lost, alone and going through the motions of your day without really processing. You’re basically a zombie and instead of brains, you want sleep.

6. “Keep Breathing” by Ingrid Michelson

“I want to change the world / Instead I sleep.”

When you were a kid, did you dream about changing the world? Me too. Now the only thing I feel like changing is the TV channel. When did this shift happen, and when will it change back?

7. “Halo” by Ane Brun

“Remember those walls I built, / Baby they’re tumbling down, / They didn’t even put up a fight, / They didn’t even make up a sound.”

A very human response to pain is to build up walls. Its like a dam. If my walls are built up then nothing can touch me and I won’t have to deal with my own heartbreak. What happens when the walls break down? Outbursts of sadness are called breakdowns for a reason. It’s because the last part of your dam has come unhinged and you are instantly engulfed by your thoughts and emotions. It’s hell. Eventually the dam is rebuilt and you are OK for a while but it’s the most flimsy dam in the world, and its prone to breaking spontaneously.

8. “Breathe Me” by Sia

“Help, I have done it again / I have been here many times before / Hurt myself again today / And the worst part is there’s no one else to blame.”

Depression is a cyclone. It’s the constant cycle between pain and feeling nothing. The problem with a cyclone is that it only ends when something stops it. Maybe it runs out of energy. Maybe it goes out to sea, never to been seen again. Either way your time in the funnel can be a constant cycle of confusion, hurt and numbness with no end in sight. All you can do is hold on to those close to you and pull your inner warrior out.

9. “Cry” by Kelly Clarkson

“Is it over yet? / Can I open my eyes? / Is this as hard as it gets? / Is this what it feels like to really cry?”

A common question heard among people with depression is, “When will this end? Is it over yet? Can I feel again?” All we want is for color to come back into the world and for the shackles on our ankles to break. Right now, we keep fighting knowing that we can get better, but when?

10. “Skinny Love” by Birdy

“I told you to be patient / I told you to be fine / I told you to be balanced / I told you to be kind.”

People can tell you every morning that it gets better, but that doesn’t make it better. Imagine depression as a wild kid. You can tell the kid to clean up their toys a thousand times, but it won’t happen until the kid makes the decision to do it themselves. In the same way, you can tell yourself every day to hold it together, to be nice, don’t let them see you cry, but at the end of the day your decisions come from your heart. You won’t have full control until you make the choice to pick up the pieces.

It takes time, and I’m not saying you aren’t responsible for your actions, but no one can heal you. No one can fill you up. That is always in your control and it’s a choice that you have to make every day. It’s a hard choice to make, but it’s one that will change your life for the better.

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