29 Anxiety-Reducing Songs to Add to Your Summer Playlist

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.