We've all been there. There are those times in life when all you want to do is sit down and listen to someone else put into music and words the tumultuous feelings inside. There will always be times in this life when we must grieve. The loss of a loved one, the victory that never was, the unrequited love, there are many, MANY a reason to grieve, and that grieving process is healthy. So here. I've assembled a list of the songs that I use to grieve by.

Everything's Alright from the video game To the Moon; as sung by Laura Shigihara

Short steps, deep breath
Everything is alright
Chin up, I can't
Step into the spotlight
She said, "I'm sad,"
Somehow without any words
I just stood there
Searching for an answer

When this world is no more
The moon is all we'll see
I'll ask you to fly away with me
Until the stars all fall down
They empty from the sky
But I don't mind
If you're with me, then everything's alright

Why do my words
Always lose their meaning?
What I feel, what I say
There's such a rift between them
He said, "I can't
Really seem to read you. "
I just stood there
Never know what I should do

When this world is no more
The moon is all we'll see
I'll ask you to fly away with me
Until the stars all fall down
They empty from the sky
But I don't mind
If you're with me, then everything's alright
If you're with me, then everything's alright

Everything's Alright is the song that grips you in the midst of a game all about investigating the past life and marriage of a dying man, To The Moon. Let's just say it's a tear-jerker. Moving on...

Sweet and Low by Darlingside

Nothing tastes like sugar
it's all sweet and low
Nothing drinks like lemonade,
nothing skips like stone
Nothing runs like water
when your one true love is gone
And every day that comes along
has a silver medal on
---
Nothing soars like falcons
it's all paper planes
Nothing stings like thistles
and nothing floods like rain
Nothing roars like fire
when you're standing on your own
No shelter from the coming storm
will ever feel like home
---
Nothing's cut like diamond
it's all shades of coal
Nothing breaks like tidal waves,
nothing mends like bone
Nothing tastes like sugar
when your love can never return
How to feel with half your heart
is the toughest thing to learn

Okay, let's be real: Sweet and Low is straight-up losing a loved one, perhaps even a spouse. It's such a difficult subject to touch on, but I think this brilliant poetry captures the loss of one's other half. Get your tissues nearby.

Dream by Imagine Dragons

In the dark
And I’m right on the middle mark
I’m just in the tier of everything that rides below the surface
And I watch from a distance seventeen
And I’m short of the others dreams of being golden and on top
It’s not what you painted in my head
There’s so much there instead of all the colors that I saw

We all are living in a dream,
But life ain’t what it seems
Oh everything’s a mess
And all these sorrows I have seen
They lead me to believe
That everything’s a mess
But I wanna dream
I wanna dream
Leave me to dream

In the eyes
Of a teenage crystallized
Oh the prettiest of lights that hang the hallways of the home
And the cries from the strangers out at night
They don’t keep us up at night
We have the curtains drawn and closed

We all are living in a dream,
But life ain’t what it seems
Oh everything’s a mess
And all these sorrows I have seen
They lead me to believe
That everything’s a mess
But I wanna dream
I wanna dream
Leave me to dream

I know all your reasons
To keep me from seeing
Everything is actually a mess
But now I am leaving
All of us were only dreaming
Everything is actually a mess

We all are living in a dream
But life ain’t what it seems
Oh everything’s a mess
And all these sorrows I have seen
They lead me to believe
That everything’s a mess
But I wanna dream
I wanna dream
Leave me to dream

I wanna dream
I wanna dream
Leave me to dream

Life is... Life is messy. By no means is everything straightforward! Dream seems to encapsulate that realization that there is so much more to the world than what we make of it, and it's convoluted to say the least. Wouldn't it better to just ignore it all, and dream?

Warmth by Bastille

"When the event happens, there is little time to think of those things that people would like to have remain private"
"Getting caught up in the circus-like atmosphere, feeling less responsible to conventional ethical practices"

Never good, just the bad and the ugly
Laid in front of you
Nothing quite like seeing the world through the TV's window
Feeling helpless I look for distraction
I go searching for you,
Wandering through our city to find some solace at your door

I can't stop thinking about it
I can't stop thinking about it
Tell me did you see the news tonight

Hold me in this wild, wild world
Cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be
And in your heat I feel how cold it can get
Hold me in this wild, wild world
Cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be
And in your heat I feel how cold it can get
Now draw me close

So come on let's forget the emotion
Tie the blinkers on
Hold both hands right over my eyes
Deafen me with music
'Till we're lost in the heat of the moment
And I'm moving in you
Help me keep these hours alive
Help me chase those seconds

I just keep talking about it
But I'll do nothing about it
Tell me did you see the news last night

Hold me in this wild, wild world
Cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be
And in your heat I feel how cold you can get
Hold me in this wild, wild world
Cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be
And in your heat I feel how cold it can get
Now draw me close

Hold me in this wild, wild world

Hold me in this wild, wild world
Cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be
And in your heat I feel how cold it can get
Hold me in this wild, wild world
Cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be
And in your heat I feel how cold it can get
So draw me close, draw me close

This past year we saw many crazy events from the vantage point of our television/computer screen. Warmth by Bastille captures this in full, not only questioning why we can't do nothing about it, but even calling us out on distracting ourselves from the aching of the world. And here I am trying to deafen you with music.

Lament by My Epic

Today he died.
He stared in the void then took his own life
And you watched me cry
Alone in the parking lot as I felt the now and forever collide

And I fight in vain, try to deny, to push back the years, and the weight, and the gray
But it's in my face, the edge of the infinite, and we're all just inches and seconds away

My eyes are wide I feel the weight
Sit down, breathe out, and try not to faint
or be crushed by the scale of everything

What is man in the scope of existence
just a blink on a dot in the dark
But the patterns that weave through the distance
bare a voice that proclaims who we are

Your love oh God, I feel the weight
For who am I that you know thy name
And leave me the seas to display with the stars
That of all you have made you set man apart

For we are Your treasure

Your heartbeat (Your heartbeat) surrounds me (surrounds me)
There aren't words to describe what You've shown me
Each man is in your image
Walking around shining just like the sun

The depths are not void they resound with the truth
That there's no peace to rest in, till we find our place in You

I see their souls, and feel the weight
Oh God forgive each word I waste
Grant that my throat with the sun would be raised
To banish the dark because I cannot take
Another death in my silence

You know with a title like Lament that it'll be about grief. There's no denying that this song comes from a God-believing perspective either. And when it comes to matters like death (and in this case suicide), it matters what we think. Regardless, My Epic touches on the grief that comes through the suicide of a loved one, and they offer their own resolution on the matter from their faith as well. The question I would ask is: Is there a peace to find rest from wild world?

Run to You by Pentatonix

A light in the room
It was you who was standing there
Tried it was true
As your glance met my stare.
But your heart drifted off
Like the land split by sea
I tried to go, to follow,
To kneel down at your feet

I'll run, I'll run
I'll run run to you
I'll run, I'll run
I'll run run to you

I've been settling scores
I've been fighting so long
But I've lost your war
And our kingdom is gone
How shall I win back
Your heart which was mine
I have broken bones and tattered clothes
I've run out of time

I'll run, I'll run
I'll run run to you
I'll run, I'll run
I'll run run to you, oh

I will break down the gates of heaven
A thousand angels stand waiting for me
Ooh take my heart (take my heart)
And I'll lay down my weapons
Break my shackles to set me free

I'll run, I'll run
I'll run run to you
I'll run (I'll run), I'll run (I'll run)

I'll run run to you

Run to You is an original by Pentatonix. This is a subject they chose to elaborate on for themselves as opposed to their many remixes, covers, and medleys. Broken love, or whatever you will make of these lyrics, is oft the source of many griefs in our lives. It seems the answer given is to run, to surrender ourselves (kneel down at your feet) and persevere despite the losses.

In the end,

There's a lot that has been said about grief. There's a lot more to say about grief. Grief is never easy, never expected, and can even become debilitating. I encourage you to have your grief, to find its expression like these artists have, so that it can be let go off. Admittedly, not all grieves are so simple, but a healthy practice is what I have in mind here. Lastly, I was only able to include a few songs that express grief here, please feel free to comment and share the songs you may use to express grief.