50 Best Rock Songs About Rising Up
Rock Anthems for Getting Back Up
There’s a certain moment that knocks you flat and leaves you staring at the ceiling like it might answer back. Could be heartbreak, a failed shot, a fallout that echoes for days. Then a riff cuts through the noise, rough and defiant, like someone lighting a match in a dark room. These tracks catch that flicker. Not heroic or triumphant, but raw and restless. They crawl out of the wreckage with dirt still on their hands, still shaking. The kind of songs that remind you the climb’s never clean, but the noise helps.
You can tell when a band has lived it. The cracked vocals, the scratch of distortion that sounds like it’s trying to claw its way through something bigger. Some of these tracks hit straight from the gut, others circle it and let the rhythm do the talking. They don’t preach or promise anything neat. They sit in the stumble, the sweat, the slow swing toward standing again. A few tracks might not even be literally tied to that climb, but the way they feel—how they hum and burn—still fits the pulse of rising up.
The best kind of comeback soundtrack lives in the overlap of pop, rock, country, and R&B songs, each pulling from its own version of getting back on your feet. Some are loud, some feel like breathing again after too long underwater. They carry that bruised kind of hope that doesn’t sparkle, it grinds. Here are the best rock songs for rising up when the ground’s still shaking.
Top 10 Rising Up Rock Songs
1. 'Eye of the Tiger' by Survivor
2. 'We Will Rock You' by Queen
3. 'I Won't Back Down' by Tom Petty
4. 'The Rising' by Bruce Springsteen
5. 'It's My Life' by Bon Jovi
6. 'Dream On' by Aerosmith
7. 'We're Not Gonna Take It' by Twisted Sister
8. 'Carry On Wayward Son' by Kansas
9. 'Uprising' by Muse
10. 'I'm Still Standing' by Elton John
Rock Music for Overcoming Challenges #11 to 20
11. 'Don't Stop Believin'' by Journey
12. 'Walk' by Foo Fighters
13. 'Stronger' by Kanye West
14. 'Rebel Rebel' by David Bowie
15. 'Born to Run' by Bruce Springsteen
16. 'Best of You' by Foo Fighters
17. 'You've Got Another Thing Comin'' by Judas Priest
18. 'My Generation' by The Who
19. 'Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2' by Pink Floyd
20. 'Killing in the Name' by Rage Against the Machine
Songs About Defiance and Self-Belief #21 to 30
21. 'Lose Yourself' by Eminem
22. 'Kick Out the Jams' by MC5
23. 'Rebel Girl' by Bikini Kill
24. 'Breaking the Law' by Judas Priest
25. 'Bad Reputation' by Joan Jett
26. 'Youth Gone Wild' by Skid Row
27. 'Go Your Own Way' by Fleetwood Mac
28. 'Fortunate Son' by Creedence Clearwater Revival
29. 'Roll With It' by Steve Winwood
30. 'Fighter' by Christina Aguilera
Powerful Rock Songs for Perseverance #31 to 40
31. 'Unwritten' by Natasha Bedingfield
32. 'The Man' by The Killers
33. 'Born to Be Wild' by Steppenwolf
34. 'The Fight Song' by Marilyn Manson
35. 'War Pigs' by Black Sabbath
36. 'Revolution' by The Beatles
37. 'Anarchy in the U.K.' by Sex Pistols
38. 'Fight the Good Fight' by Triumph
39. 'This Is War' by Thirty Seconds to Mars
40. 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor
Essential Rock Songs About Triumph and Resilience #41 to 50
41. 'Don't Give Up' by Peter Gabriel
42. 'Living on a Prayer' by Bon Jovi
43. 'Keep on Truckin'' by Eddie Kendricks
44. 'Wasted Years' by Iron Maiden
45. 'Fight Song' by Rachel Platten
46. 'Believer' by Imagine Dragons
47. 'The Man in the Mirror' by Michael Jackson
48. 'We Are the Champions' by Queen
49. 'Get Up, Stand Up' by Bob Marley & The Wailers
50. 'I'll Fight' by Daughtry
© 2025 Carson McQueen
