It’s never easy to get out of a dark place. There have been times where nothing seemed like it was worth anything. But between exercise, friends, substances, nothing ever helped me as much as music did. These ten song lists are a collection of the tracks that have impacted me personally at different points in my life. They’ve gotten me through my worst and put me back at my best, and I hope they do the same for anyone else who hears them.
10. Phosphorescent- Song for Zula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcdOLKx2XG8
Rarely do you see a song talk about love as critically as in “Song For Zula”. It personifies the concept itself and then spends six minutes mellowly lambasting it. Love isn’t burning to Houck, it’s fading, fickle and caging. It changes us into someone we don’t recognize, it chains us when we want to be free. You might not want to agree with what he’s saying, but it does leave you with a warped sense of optimism if you pay close enough attention. Despite it’s hypnotic and morose beat, “Song for Zula” is the kind of song that makes you want to be happy again.
9. Snow Patrol- How To Be Dead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNSGCVPPXvk&feature=emb_title
It may not be as morbid as it sounds, but “How To Be Dead” is certainly not a cheerful song. Discussing breakups, drug abuse, infidelity and introspection, the song is Snow Patrol’s most understated work. As Gary Lightbody sings “Please take it easy it can’t all be my fault”, you can hear the aching frustration behind an otherwise calming voice. When the song progresses your realise he too is at fault, as he deflects his share of the blame onto self-inflicted drug abuse. It’s more straightforward than most of the songs here but more often than not, that’s enough to impact you.
8. The Talking Heads- This Must Be The Place
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9gK2fOq4MY
I never knew what sound truly represented unabashed happiness till I heard this masterpiece from David Byrne and co. The repetitive beat pulls you in till you just find yourself hopelessly in love with each ebb and flow of it. Referring to a time and place when life was perfect and nothing could go wrong, the song has always been my go to homesick song. It’s no surprise that The Talking Heads remain as influential as they are. “Home is where I want to be” is sometimes all you want to hear.
7. Parquet Courts- Instant Disassembly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKVARXSHZD8
Parquet Courts do not sound like a band that belongs in the 21st century. At seven minutes long, “Instant Disassembly” is their most ambitious track. “Mamacita” cries Andrew Savage at the start of every verse describing his deteriorating relationship. It’s monotonously addictive. Savage himself might be talking about a relationship, but to me the song is more than that. It’s about suffocating and trying to break through, something we’ve all felt at some time.
6. Alkaline Trio- Radio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2qerZ8KOrU
This list wouldn’t be honest if I excluded emo rock. Every teenager has gone through that phase, or so I hope. And across the entire catalogue that represents My Chemical Romance, Blink-182, and a host of other whiney and angst filled tunes, “Radio” to me is the genre’s peak. The song aggressively and perhaps even morbidly illustrates a relationship where the singer is simply done trying anymore. It’s as angry as it gets. With a chorus that starts with, “I’ve got a big fat fucking bone to pick, with you my darling”, and ends at a far more grim place, it is the perfect song to vent.
5. Kanye West- Family Business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwAjANmjajc
For the longest time, my affection for Hip-Hop, while immense, was never one that had quite the same emotional hold over me that rock did. That was, until I heard the entirety of Kanye’s debut album. “Family Business” is nothing like a normal Kanye song but at the same time it’s everything like one. Incorporating some of his most beautiful samples, it’s his most genuine, heartfelt, and uplifting song. The interlude in particular with a choir singing “Rain rain go away” is impossible not to smile with. From some of his most personal raps to the gospel backing, “Family Business” just exudes positivity.
4. My Chemical Romance- Disenchanted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol63bo1mv6s
Honestly, I could have picked a number of My Chemical Romance songs for this list but “Disenchanted” has always been my personal favourite. From the opening acoustic to the overwhelmingly crashing chorus, the song is an emotional ride. In context of the album, the song is about “The Patient’s” realization that life is devoid of any meaning. It’s masterfully composed, building from a soft place and ending at a shout from the top of your lungs finale. “You’re just a sad song with nothing to say, about a life-long wait for a hospital say”.
3. The Velvet Underground- Heroin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFLw26BjDZs
The word ‘musical journey’ is often tossed around lightly to describe lengthier tracks, but in the case of “Heroin” that descriptor couldn’t be more appropriate. A dark and gritty rollercoaster of emotions and sounds, the song discusses Reed’s addiction. Somehow, it’s relatable. The frantic all over the place instrumental that hits right when he sings “Heroin be the death of me” is one of my favourite moments in music. By the end of its ride, there’s a blissful catharsis to be had.
2. Linkin Park- Shadow of the Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1PCW0C1aiM
I don’t think any music is worth listening to entirely devoid of context. This song just means so much more ever since Chester died. It’s hard to even listen to it without feeling the pain that he must have gone through writing it. Despite it’s dark subject matter, there’s something hopeful about the song, something that makes you want to fight after you finish listening to it. Holding the tears back is never easy though.
1. Avenged Sevenfold- Fiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02aSDWsM_9c
“Fiction” was the last song ever written and recorded by one of the best drummers of the modern age, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan. Beginning with a haunting organ intro, the song is a hard listen to anyone who knows why it was written. The closing “I hope you’ll find your own way, when I’m not with you tonight” is just so emotionally delivered by Shadows that it pulls the whole song together. Just watch this performance once and you’ll understand.