Which Song Should You Add To Your 3 AM Cry Playlist?
One of the greatest things about music is its ability to make us smile, dance, sing - and cry. One of the greatest inventions of modernity is the playlist. Combine the two, and you get playlists to dance to, playlists to sing along to, playlists that make you happy, and what is possibly the eighth wonder of the natural world: the playlist to cry to. What would life be without a perfectly curated soundtrack to play in the background as you shed a tear dramatically in the quiet privacy that is found only in those lonely moments around 3 AM? This list of sad songs will give you some exquisitely painful music to add to your own playlist (if you don’t already have it on there) based on why they would make you cry.
If you’re crying because you’re on the brink of adulthood, you’re afraid of the future and its uncertainty or you’re desperately holding on to your fleeting youth:
listen to this to cry more: Class of 2013 - Mitski
listen to this to feel a little better: A letter to my younger self - Ambar Lucid
If you’re crying because you’ve had to part ways with someone you love to let them grow, you’re reminiscing about a relationship that didn’t end on bad terms or you’re still in love with an ex but trying to move on:
listen to this to cry more: i luv him. - Catie Turner
listen to this to feel a little better: Be OK - Ingrid Michaelson
If you’re crying because you’re tired of feeling sorry for yourself all the time, you’re blue for no real good reason or you’re comparing your personal struggles to someone else’s and they seem too small to be of any merit:
listen to this to cry more: Funeral - Phoebe Bridgers
listen to this to feel a little better: Pretty Shining People - George Ezra
If you’re crying because you’re scared of not being good enough for someone, you’re feeling like you don’t bring anything of value to a relationship, or you’re thinking that you’re inadequate:
listen to this to cry more: Boy Who Has Everything - Annika Bennet
listen to this to feel a little better: Better Together - Jack Johnson
If you’re crying because you’re stressed about school or work, you’re overwhelmed by everything on your to-do list or you’re struggling under the weight of other people’s expectations:
listen to this to cry more: Nothing Special - tiffi
listen to this to feel a little better: Hexagons and Other Fun Materials - Sidney Gish
If you’re crying because you’re afraid of opening up to other people, you’re keeping your feelings bottled up or you think that telling people about your personal problems would do more harm than help:
listen to this to cry more: feelings are fatal - mxmtoon
listen to this to feel a little better: Ready Now - dodie
If you’re crying because you’re dealing with the aftermath of a breakup, you’re single but you don’t really want to be or you’re working on yourself instead of pursuing romantic relationships but it’s still lonely:
listen to this to cry more: i can’t get hurt it i’m alone - iain andrew
listen to this to feel a little better: You Are Enough - Sleeping At Last
If you’re crying because you’re feeling insecure about how you look, you’re dealing with a negative self-image or you wish you were prettier, cuter, or more attractive:
listen to this to cry more: No Matter the Season - Sara Kays
listen to this to feel a little better: 21 - Lola
If you’re crying because you’re frustrated, you’re still angry about something that happened in the past and can’t seem to let it go or you feel like you were wronged by somebody else:
listen to this to cry more: Liability - Lorde
listen to this to feel a little better: Picture to Burn - Taylor Swift
If you’re crying just to cry:
listen to this to cry some more: I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes) - The 1975
listen to this to feel a little better: You’ll Be Alright - MARO
Everybody needs a good cry now and then. A good song can make that cry better. So go forth and add the songs you like best to that playlist set aside for long nights and low moods; sometimes what we need most is to give our sadness a soundtrack as we let it move through us. Sometimes, we just need to sit and listen and cry. And then when we’re done, we get to pick ourselves up, put on a happier song, and go on - until we need to sit and listen and cry again. As we cycle through emotions, perpetually moving between sadness, happiness, anger, and back again, music moves with us the whole way. Put some Mitski on and cry your heart out! And when you’re done, you’ll feel alright again, and the songs you cry to will always be there for you to come back to when you need them.