Songs that Comfort During Times of Loss and Death

Sometimes when you've lost someone, the only means of comfort is through music. Though there are many different kinds of loss: change, breakups, and death; this song list applies primarily to those who have suffered the death of someone close to them.

Here are the songs that I have gone to for comfort during the trying times of death and loss; I hope that they will provide some solace for you, just as they have for me over the years. You'll find that most of the songs listed, with the exception of one or two, are by one artist, this is because I have found Jackson Browne to be the most prolific and astute in the topic of death and loss.

Songs that Comfort During Times of Loss and Death: For a Dancer by Jackson Browne

For a Dancer, on the 1974 album Late for the Sky, is probably one of the all-time best lyrical attempts at understanding and dealing with death. If you are searching for someone who has experienced the loss of someone too soon / too young, and is grappling with the uncertainty left in the minds of those who have survived the loss; this song provides the much needed empathetic companionship. And ever rare in songs of this nature, there is a strong thread of hope and surviving. For a Dancer stands out as a musical anthem for those who have lost, but have yet remembered that life is to be lived and not mourned.

"I don't know what happens when people die
Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It's like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
That I can't sing
I can't help listening"
-From the song For a Dancer by Jackson Browne

Songs that Comfort During Times of Loss and Death: Late for the Sky by Jackson Browne

The title track of the above mentioned 1974 album, Late for the Sky, confronts the feelings of regret associated with the death of a loved one, and the desire to be reunited. For as sad and heartbreaking as this song is, there is that ever present element of resilience in Jackson Browne's music.

Songs that Comfort During Times of Loss and Death: These Days by Jackson Browne

From the album, Saturate Before Using, These Days is primarily a song about the moods and thoughts that come after a loved one is lost; the time spent alone and thinking, the inability to be social.

" Well I've been out walking
I don't do that much talking these days
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
For you
And all the times I had the chance to."
- From the song These Days by Jackson Browne

Songs that Comfort During Times of Loss and Death: The Fuse by Jackson Browne

Though not specifically about death, The Fuse, from Jackson Browne's 1976 album, The Pretender, encompasses the themes of time, life, death, and the state of the world.

Sometimes even just a well-put poetic lyric that sticks in your head can help you confront the day during difficult times; give this song a listen if you're needing a mantra of perseverance to get you through the day.

Songs that Comfort During Times of Loss and Death: Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate by Jackson Browne

Again, this song does not directly pertain to the topic of death; it's more about time and indirectly touches on change and loss accrued over the course of many living years. Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate is also on the 1976 album, The Pretender.

Songs that Comfort During Times of Loss and Death: Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton

I don't think it's possible to not tear up just a little when listening to Clapton's outpouring in Tears in Heaven after his son's untimely death. Though you definitely want to moderate just how much you listen to sad songs like this during a time of loss, often these will be the songs that pull you through. Tears in Heaven appears on the album 1992 album, Rush.

Songs that Comfort During Times of Loss and Death: Candle in the Wind by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

From Elton John's 1973 album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Candle in the Wind was written originally in reply to Marilyn Monroe's untimely death but contains the universal theme of loss.

Though it does feel incredibly morbid to come up with a list of songs that center on the topic of death and loss, I know how much they have comforted me during those times. I hope that if you are dealing with a loss right now that you'll find a kindred spirit in one or more of these songs.

SOURCES:

All information contained in this article, relating to the songs and albums (including lyrics), is from my own personal knowledge of these songs obtained from my personal home music collection.