Let’s be honest, when I say slow, I mean sad. Technically, some of these songs are not sad but their melodies have a much more dejected or heart-broken tone. And then of course, some of them are just plain sad. I know you probably don’t want to listen to sad music because it might squash your mood or bring up things you’d rather not think about. But sometimes you really just need to be upfront about your emotions and, in my opinion, one of the best ways to do this is through music. Maren Morris says it best: “there’s a song for everything.” Sometimes nothing can be more relatable than a random stranger singing their heart out about even the tiniest of emotions.
There are nearly 8 billion people on this planet, so you’re kidding yourself if you think you’re the only one who has had to deal with something. Chances are, there are a thousand songs in a hundred different languages ranting about whatever you’re feeling. I have been making a playlist of all these songs since my junior year of high school, but I definitely have a few favorites. Here are just a few of them.
- Favourite Ex – Maisie Peters
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Maisie Peters is definitely one of my all time favorite artists. The emotion in her voice is tangible in every note and gives a sense of familiarity. Favourite Ex is exactly what it sounds like. It follows the storyline of a relationship as it goes south. Despite being apart and moving on, though, there is something about that person that stayed behind even once they were gone, making them the “favourite ex”. The song is specifically about a partner-type relationship but the lyrics are relatable on any level. When it comes to the people that matter the most to us, there is just something about them, their presence, that can’t be forgotten or replaced. It doesn’t matter if they’re family, friends or a romantic partner.
- Details – Maisie Peters
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Life is all in the details, isn’t it? Absolutely. We make detailed observations, detailed memories and have detailed lives. The little things make a difference. And sometimes the little things are exactly what we wish we didn’t know. Mix that in with romantic relationships and you’ve nailed this song. Because, really, who wants to know the little details of the exact thing they want but can never have?
- The First Time – Isak Danielson
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Isak Danielson should be arrested for murder because this song is a killer. Listening to it feels like a small dagger to the heart with a twisting of the knife. But in a good way. Make sense? Think of all the firsts in a relationship that have ended. Pretty bittersweet, but in this case, also endearing. As relationships end, people move on and try again and, in truth, this song is more about remembering the good parts of the ones or one that mattered the most, even if it didn’t make it to the finish line.
- Real Friends – Camila Cabello
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This song says what we all just feel sometimes: I need new friends. Often, we don’t always mean it that way but we get irritated and need some space. Or maybe it’s that we need a change of pace. Sometimes people change and they aren’t the friends we thought they were and that’s okay but it does force a reality check on us and this song directly relates to that understanding, that need for something stronger and better. Someone to stick around through the thick and the thin.
- Thursday – Jess Glynne
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Bothering to care what people think of you every day of every week is tiring and the only persons’ feelings we should really care about are our own. Singing along to this song is a reminder of all the little things we do to impress other people when we should really be doing those things for ourselves and only when we want to. Beauty is pain and all that, but feeling good about ourselves isn’t always easy, so who needs pain when it’s easier to feel good AND comfy when you’re not trying for someone else?
I could name a hundred more songs, but these are some of my all time favorite reminders that things are hard and bumpy sometimes. None of us are immune these times but are not alone in them and that we are capable of getting out of them and moving forward.
So here’s to the girl who feels better listening to sad music and to the girl who isn’t feeling amazing and needs a reminder that other people have felt the same and that there is something better ahead.