If you’re familiar with our mental health Facebook page, you know we often ask you for songs that help get you through tough times — whether that be a panic attack, a depressive episode, the comedown from mania or just a difficult day in your life. Since we can’t always include every song you send our way, we’ve found ourselves with a surplus of good tunes and wanted to make sure we got them in front of you.
So, as sort of a bonus to our tips and tricks for dealing with anxiety at music festivals, we compiled some songs you’ve sent us in the past (and a few picks of our own) from bands touring this summer. Jump into our Spotify playlist at the bottom, or (if you can/want to!) try to catch one of these groups in person this summer.
1. “Doing It for the Money” — Foster the People
“I am shouting to the world / Let them know that we won’t / Be afraid to step into the fight / When you can’t see the light.”
2017 festivals: Neon Desert Music Festival (5/28), Mad Cool Festival (7/8), WayHome Music & Arts Festival (7/28), Mo Pop Festival (7/29-30), Lollapalooza (8/4), Osheaga Festival (8/4-6), The Meadows Music and Arts Festival (9/15-17), Austin City Limits (10/6-8 & 10/13-15)
2. “Cranes in the Sky” — Solange
“But it’s like cranes in the sky / Sometimes I don’t want to feel those metal clouds.”
2017 festivals: Boston Calling (5/26-28), Primavera Sound (5/31-6/4), FPSF (6/3-4), We Love Green(6/10), Glastonbury (6/21-25), Essence Music Festival (6/30), Montreux Jazz Festival (6/30-7/15), North Sea Jazz Festival (7/8), Pitchfork Music Festival (7/14-16), FYF Fest (7/21-23), WayHome (7/29), Panorama NYC Music Festival (7/28-30), Mo Pop (7/29-30), Osheaga (8/4-6), Outside Lands (8/11-13), Lowlands Festival (8/18), Bumbershoot (9/1-3), Made in America Festival (9/2-3), Austin City Limits (10/6-8 & 10/13-15)
3. “All We Got” — Chance the Rapper (Feat. Kanye West)
“Music is all we got / So we might as well give it all we got.”
2017 festivals: Hangout Festival (5/21), Boston Calling (5/26), Sasquatch! (5/28), Governors Ball Music Festival (6/2), Bonnaroo (6/10), Eaux Claires Festival (6/16), Firefly Music Festival (6/17), Essence (6/28-7/2), Wireless Festival (7/7), Pemberton Music Festival (7/13-16), Karoondinha Music & Arts Festival (7/22), Lollapalooza (8/3-6), Life is Beautiful Festival (9/23)
4. “Survival” — Muse
“And I’ll light the fuse / And I’ll never lose / And I choose to survive / Whatever it takes.”
2017 festivals: Bunbury Festival (6/4), Firefly (6/18), Pemberton (7/13), RBC Bluesfest (7/15), Festival d’été de Québec (7/16), Lollapalooza (8/3), Osheaga (8/5), Leeds Festival (8/25), Reading Festival (8/27), Life Is Beautiful (9/23)
5. “Yellow Flicker Beat” — Lorde
“I’m a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm / And the scars that mark my body, they’re silver and gold.”
2017 festivals: Governors Ball (6/2), FPSF (6/3-4), Bonnaroo (6/8-11), Glastonbury (6/21-25), –> (6/29), –> (6/30), –> (7/2), –> (7/28-30), Lollapalooza (8/3), Osheaga (8/4-6), –>(8/11-13)
6. “Postpone” — Catfish & the Bottlemen
“And you feel like it all starts falling / And you feel like your luck needs changing / Yes I’ll be there when it all falls.”
2017 festivals: –> (5/13), –> (5/26), Sasquatch! (5/26-28), –> (6/8-11), –> (6/24), –> (7/1), –> (7/6), –> (7/8), –> (7/15), –> (7/21-23), Fuji Rock (7/28-30)
7. “I’m Alive (Life Sounds Like)” — Michael Franti & Spearhead
“Everybody wants me to be who they want me to be except you / All I wanna do is be with you.”
2017 festivals: Greenroom Festival (5/20), Bottlerock (5/26-28), Mountain Jam Festival (6/18), Saskatchewan Jazz Festival (6/29), Jam Sandwich Festival (7/1), Blissfest (7/8), California WorldFest (7/13-16), Floydfest (7/26-30), WhaleRock Music & Arts Festival (9/16-17)
8. “Don’t Save Me” — HAIM
“All my life I wasn’t trying to get on a highway / I was wondering which way to go.”
2017 festivals: Pemberton (7/13-16), Leeds (8/25), Reading (8/27), Bumbershoot (9/1-3), Life is Beautiful (9/22-24)
9. “I Know a Place” — MUNA
“I can recall when I was the one in your seat / I still got the scars and they occasionally bleed / Cause somebody hurt me / Somebody hurt me / But I’m staying alive”
2017 festivals: Governors Ball (6/2), Firefly (6/17), NXNE (6/24), Summerfest (7/1), Go Fest (7/2), Osheaga (8/4), Outside Lands (8/11-13), Leeds (8/25), Reading (8/27), Austin City Limits (8/6-8 & 8/13-15), Lost Lake Festival (8/20-22)
10. “Have Some Love” — Childish Gambino
“Have a word for your brother / Have some time for one another / Really love one another / It’s so hard to find”
2017 festivals: Governors Ball (6/3)
11. “Pink + White” — Frank Ocean
“You kneel down to the dry land / Kiss the Earth that birthed you / Gave you tools just to stay alive”
2017 festivals: Hangout Music Festival (5/19-21), Parklife (6/10-11), Lovebox (6/14), FYF Fest (7/21-23), WayHome (7/28-30), Panorama (7/28-30)
12. “All Our Lives” — Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
“I thought, ‘If I could tell her something, I would tell her this: / There’s only two mistakes that I have made / It’s running from the people who could love me best / And trying to fix a world that I can’t change.’”
2017 festivals: Hangout (5/19), Slam Dunk Festival (5/27), Summerfest (7/8), Panorama (7/30), Lollapalooza (8/4), Austin City Limits (10/6)
13. “Recovery” — Broods
“I will be your home, keep you warm when it’s cold / I will try to be what you need when you’re low”
2017 festivals: Pemberton (7/13), Bumbershoot (8/1), Life is Beautiful (9/22-23)
14. “Plastic” — Moses Sumney
“I know what it is to be broken and be bold / Tell you that my silver is gold”
2017 Festivals: Boston Calling (5/27), Sasquatch! (5/28), Essence (6/30), Blissfields Festival (7/7), FYF Fest (7/23), End of the Road Festival (9/2)
15. “Migraine” — Twenty One Pilots
“Am I the only one I know / Waging my wars behind my face and above my throat?”
2017 festivals: Hangout, Sasquatch!, Firefly
16. “Dreamers” — K.Flay
“This one goes out to all the dreamers at sea / This life is only what you want it to be / And I want more, I want more”
2017 festivals: –> (5/13), Firefly (6/15-18), –> (6/23-25), –> (6/23-25), –> (7/14-16), –>(7/15-16), Outside Lands (8/11-13), –> (8/19), –> (9/22-23)
17. “Yes I’m Changing” — Tame Impala
“I saw it different, I must admit / I caught a glimpse, I’m going after it / They say people never change but that’s bullshit / They do.”
2017 festivals: Panorama (7/28-30)
18. “Don’t Swallow the Cap” — The National
“I’m not alone, / I’ll never be. / And to the bone, / I’m evergreen.”
2017 festivals: Glastonbury (6/21), –> (8/12), –> (11/2)
19. “Wildflowers” — Tom Petty
“You belong among the wildflowers / You belong in a boat out at sea / You belong with your love on your arm / You belong somewhere you feel free”
2017 festivals: BottleRock (5/27), Mountain Jam (6/17), Summerfest (7/5-6), Bluesfest (7/16), –> (9/17),
20. “Weekend’s Long” — Ziggy Marley
“Don’t be afraid for what is to come / It’s been too long since that bell was rung”
2017 festivals: –> (6/25-26), –> (6/28), Summerfest (7/2), –> (7/9), –> (8/13)
21. “Hang on to the Night” — Tegan and Sara
“Hang on to your hope / You have so much you gotta get through / Hang on to yourself / No good’ll come from being untrue”
2017 festivals: Boston Calling (5/27), –> (6/4), Bonnaroo (6/10), Summerfest (7/6), RBC Bluesfest (7/8), WayHome (7/30), Lollapalooza (8/4), –> (8/5), Osheaga (8/6), –> (8/12), –> (8/18), The Meadows Music & Arts Festival (9/15-17)
22. “Our Own House” — MisterWives
“We built our own house, own house / With our hands over our hearts / And we swore on that day / That it will never fall apart”
2017 festivals: Firefly (6/18), Summerfest (6/28), –> (7/21-23)
23. “Blak and Blu” — Gary Clark Jr.
“I need something to hold on to / While the world is spinning ’round and ’round / It could crumble any moment / I keep my feet on solid ground, for now”
2017 festivals: –> (6/10), –> (6/11), –> (6/16-18), Mountain Jam (6/17), –> (7/12), –> (8/4-5), –> (8/27)
24. “Warmth” — Bastille
“Hold me in this wild, wild world / ‘Cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be / And in your heat I feel how cold it can get”
2017 festivals: –> (5/26), Northside (6/9), Isle of Wight (6/11), –> (6/30), –> (7/14), –> (8/3), –> (8/11), –> (8/18), Lowlands (8/19), –> (8/20), –> (8/23), –> (8/24), Reading (8/25), Leeds (8/26)
25. “Insane” — Judah and the Lion
“But I think that we’re all going insane / Hiding behind some smiling face / I don’t know if you can relate / But I fight the devil most of the days”
2017 festivals: BottleRock (5/27), Governors Ball (6/2), Firefly (6/17), Forecastle (7/15), Sloss Fest (7/16)
26. “Never Be Like You” — Flume (Feat. Kai)
“What I would do to take away / This fear of being loved, allegiance to the pain”
2017 festivals: Governors Ball (6/2), FPSF (6/4), Bonnaroo (6/10), Firefly (6/16), Summerfest (6/28), –> (6/30), Festival d’été de Québec (7/12), RBC Bluesfest (7/13), WayHome (7/28), –> (8/10), –> (8/11), –>(8/12), –> (8/14), –>(8/17), –> (8/18-20), Lowlands (8/18-20), Pukkelpop (8/19), –> (8/24), –> (8/25), Reading (8/26), Leeds (8/27), Bumbershoot (9/1-3)
27. “Roll Up Your Sleeves” — Meg Mac
“It’s easier to fake it, oh oh / So I’ll go and I’ll join the free / There’s people there, they’re just like me”
2017 festivals: Firefly (6/16), Splendour in the Grass (7/23)
28. “Can’t Stop” — Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Can’t stop the spirits when they need you / This life is more than just a read through”
2017 festivals: Bonnaroo (6/10), Summerfest (6/28), –> (7/13), –> (7/18), –> (7/21), Lollapalooza Paris (7/23), –> (7/29), KAABOO (9/15), The Meadows Music & Arts Festival (9/17), Rock in Rio (9/24), Austin City Limits (10/6 & 13)
29. “On to the Next One” — Jay Z
“I move forward, the only direction / can’t be scared to fail / search and perfection”
2017 festivals: –> (8/19-20), Made in America (9/2-3), The Meadows Music & Arts Festival (9/15-17), Austin City Limits (10/6 & 13)
What would you add? Let us know in the comments below.
Hi, Mighties! I'm the Editor-in-Chief of The Mighty. I previously edited The Huffington Post’s Good News vertical. I'm a graduate of Syracuse University, where I studied magazine journalism and English. I currently live in Los Angeles with my labradoodle, Thurman (@thurmanthedood). You can follow me on Twitter @megangriffo or email me at megan@themighty.com.
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