Here are 17 songs I listen to when I need a song that just gets how I'm feeling.

1. Pink Rabbits, The National

It wasn't like the rain, it was more like the sea
I didn't ask for this pain, it just came over me
I love a storm but I don't love lightning
All the waters coming up so fast its frightening

I have a Spotify playlist of The National songs and theres some rainy, gloomy days where I literally just lay on my couch and listen to them all on repeat. Depression sucks and you don't choose to feel that way. The National just gets that.

2. I'm Not Okay (I Promise), My Chemical Romance

What will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems?

3. Dark Blue, Jack's Mannequin

4. All That I've Got, The Used

I'll be just fine, pretending I'm not.
I'm far from lonely, and it's all that I've got.

Depression is confusing. This song understands the angst mixed up with all the pretending and loneliness that goes along with depression.

5. Unwell, Matchbox 20

I'm not crazy I'm just a little unwell
I know, right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me

When you're at your worst sometimes you feel like screaming how this isn't how it always is. You're not crazy, you're just a little unwell.

6. Lipstick Covered Magnet, The Front Bottoms

And I'm scared I'm going to die as lonely as I feel right now.

For those moments you don't think things will get better. They will, but for now, just revel in the angst.

7. I Won't Go Home Without You, Maroon 5

Every night you cry yourself to sleep
Thinking, "Why does this happen to me?
Why does every moment have to be so hard?"

Adam Lavigne

8.When You Were Young, The Killers

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save your from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now, here he comes

Sometimes you just want someone else to save you, but you're older now and realize thats not how it works anymore.

9. Don't Swallow the Cap, The National

I'm not alone
I'll never be
Into the bone
I'll never grieve
And if you want, (too seriously)
To see me cry. (don't swallow the cap)
Play Let It Be (pat yourself on the back)
Or Nevermind, (too seriously)

I could literally make a list of only The National songs for this list. I settled with just two.

10. Nobody's Home, Avril Lavigne

Well, I couldn't tell you
Why she felt that way
She felt it everyday
And I couldn't help her
I just watched her make
The same mistakes again

If you've never listened to Avril and cried we can't be friends.

11. Hurt, Nine Inch Nails (Johnny Cash Cover)

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real

This video is a masterpiece. One of the last things he recorded before he passed. YouTube this immediately. RIP Johnny.

12. Mockingbird, Eminem

I can see you're sad,
Even when you smile,
Even when you laugh,
I can see it in your eyes,
Deep inside you want to cry

Eminem singing about his daughter always brings the tears.

13. The A Team, Ed Sheeran

But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries
And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us

Years later and I'm still not over the lyric "The worst things in life come free to us." It's just so perfect.

14. The Scientist, Coldplay

Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start

This song is iconic. Those piano chords are simple and haunting. It's the kind of song you put on and people go OH GOD NO MAKE IT STOP because they don't want to feel the feels.

15. Born to Die, Lana Del Ray

Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Lets go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone

You gotta swim
Swim for your life
Swim for the music
That saves you
When you're not so sure you'll survive
You gotta swim
Swim when it hurts
The whole world is watching
You haven't come this far
To fall off the earth

Music is everything. Sometimes its the only thing that keeps you from giving up. This song is a beautiful reminder of that.