Some Of My Favorite Songs For Hard Times

Posted On October 22, 2020

Samantha Colleran, October 2020

In honor of the whirlwind of changes the past couple of months has brought, I felt it was important to make a post dedicated to some of my favorite songs about pushing through hard times, songs with motivational messages, or songs that just remind me to get up because I’m alive and breathing and everything will be okay. Music can heal, and these songs have helped me in a number of ways. The songs listed are in no particular order, and there are definitely more that fit this category but if I listed every single one it would be far too long, so I stuck with a select few. As always feel free to tell me your favorite song from this list or your favorite motivational songs that I may have missed!

“It’s A Beautiful Day”, Queen

From the final Queen album and first release two years after the passing of frontman Freddie, “It’s A Beautiful Day” opens the Made In Heaven album. It’s a simple song led mainly by a beautiful piano track and Freddie’s powerhouse voice on lead vocals. The vocal track was recorded years earlier, a demo that was never used for Queen’s The Game, so Brian, Roger, and John put the instrumentation together (thank Deaky for the beautiful classical composition!) and created this simple yet beautiful standout track for the final Queen album. The lyrics are simple yet powerful, they’re a reminder to look around and take in the day surrounding you and power through the bad feelings. “Sometimes I feel so sad/ So sad, so bad/ But no one’s gonna stop me now”, Freddie delivers the lyrics effortlessly. It’s a short yet impactful song, the lyrics are a gentle reminder that things will be okay. 

“Chiquitita”, ABBA

This song is an ABBA classic. Meaning “little one” in Spanish, “Chiquitita” sees the ladies of ABBA singing to a protagonist who is “enchanted by [your] own sorrow” and “so sad, so quiet”. The chorus is a powerful breakout moment backed by the classic ABBA piano sound. Heartaches come and go, scars leave, we cry. At the end of the day, we’re reminded that “the sun is still in the sky/ And shining above you”, things will be okay and “You’ll be dancing once again” when things start to look up. 

“Times Like These”, Foo Fighters

It’s almost impossible to feel any sense of normalcy this year. The Foo Fighters were completely ahead of their time with this release. Things seem hard and it feels near impossible to navigate so many new normals, but with this rock driven chorus we’re reminded that, well… shit happens! It’s during the bad times we really learn about ourselves, and the world around us. We learn to live again, give again, love again. It’s a straightforward Foos number, but one with an important message. Tough times are tough, but focusing on the positive aspects can make it a little easier to get through. 

“I’m Still Standing”, Elton John

What would a list of songs about hard times be without an Elton classic? Elton’s had a rough go at life, which has been depicted in the biopic Rocketman and his autobiography Me, so what better way to prove that he’s overcome those hardships than to write a song? It’s about coming out on the other end of the tough times, showing those who may have doubted you that you made it through whatever it was that was holding you back or keeping you down. An upbeat reminder from Sir Elton that even when things seem tough, you’re stronger than you know and can work through!

“OK (Anxiety Anthem)”, Mabel

With a lot more uncertainty surrounding nearly everything in the world, anxiety is feeling like more of a common occurrence in a lot of people’s everyday lives. In this vulnerable song, Mabel is here to tell us all about her experience with anxiety, she tells her listeners it’s okay to feel pain and anxiety. “It’s okay not to be okay/ It’s fine, you’re allowed to break/ As long as you know, as long as you know/ Everything’s gonna be okay”, she sings. It’s a reminder that things can get hard, and it’s okay to feel and have bad days, but there is that message of “tomorrow’s another day” and things will look up eventually.

“Rainbow”, Kacey Musgraves

Kacey tugs at heartstrings in the piano driven “Rainbow”, it’s a song about the calm after a storm. She tells her listeners she knows it’s hard to come out of bad times, and realizing that those bad times are in the past is sometimes even harder. She tells the person in question that although they’re going through a hard time, she sees someone who is strong, resilient, someone who’s always had “a rainbow hanging over [your] head”. With a gentle voice she tells her listeners that “tie up the boat, take off [your] coat/ And take a look around/ Everything is alright now”.  It’s a beautiful song about the aftermath of a storm, and it’s such a beautiful pick me up.

“Don’t Let It Break Your Heart”, Louis Tomlinson

This one is a true anthem of bad times. Sure, Louis knows better than anyone that “life gets hard and it gets messed up” and “give[ing] so much, but it’s not enough”, yet he turns those bad times into something more hopeful and positive. After all he is the one that’s been known to tell his younger sisters, “It’s not a bad life, it’s just a bad day”. Louis tells his audience to keep pushing on, “even when it hurts like Hell” to do so. It’s incredibly healing to listen to a song as uplifting as this one. It reminds you to keep your head held high, power on, and even when life deals you a bad hand, keep a positive outlook because it will all lead to something better. 

“Sign Of The Times”, Harry Styles

“Remember everything will be alright”. A lyric that, since I first heard it on that early April morning over three years ago, has served as a motivator and a phrase I think to myself when things get hard or stressful. Hearing this lyric live in 2018 is one of the highlights of my entire life. That sounds rather dramatic, but when you’ve turned to a particular lyric during really crappy days to pull you through, and you finally get to hear the person you admire more than anyone in the whole world reaffirm that thought right in front of you, it lifts a weight off of your chest and makes you feel freer. And sometimes you need Harry Styles to tell you to just stop your crying, because bad things happen, and bad things will always happen, but you have the strength inside of you to hold your head up high and work through whatever it is that’s holding you back. 

There are plenty of other songs that help with the bad times, but as I said before, I can’t list them all. Let me know your favorite songs for hard times in the comments, and if you gave any of these songs a chance let me know as well! You can find a YouTube playlist of all the songs mentioned in this post linked below!