50 Best Rock Songs About Second Chances in Life
Rock Tracks That Feel Like Starting Over
There’s a strange quiet that comes with realizing you get another shot at something. Not a clean slate, exactly, but a small window to fix what cracked before. It creeps in after mistakes, after leaving, after long nights spent thinking you’d blown your only chance. Then one day a riff kicks in, steady and raw, and something inside feels like it might still work. These tracks catch that pulse. The shaky confidence, the flicker of hope that feels half-earned. They don’t try to sound triumphant. They sound like getting up anyway.
Some of these songs were never meant to be redemption anthems, yet they fit the moment. The way a lyric written for heartbreak starts to feel like it’s talking to your future self. The guitars drag a little, the drums come in too soon, and it all feels perfectly uneven, like trying again when you’re still not sure how. They pull from pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that twist their meaning in hindsight. Even when the words don’t line up exactly, the feeling lands.
There’s something raw in that second wind—half regret, half relief. You hear it in the strained vocals that sound like someone finding their footing mid-song. Maybe it’s Foo Fighters or Kings of Leon, maybe something older that still hits at the right time. Either way, these tracks carry that messy spark that feels like starting over without pretending it’s easy. Here are the best rock songs about second chances in life.
Top 10 Second Chance Rock Songs
1. 'Second Chance' by 38 Special
2. 'I Will Buy You a New Life' by Everclear
3. 'Breakaway' by Kelly Clarkson
4. 'It's Not Over' by Daughtry
5. 'Dare You to Move' by Switchfoot
6. 'New Sensation' by INXS
7. 'Amazing' by Aerosmith
8. 'Change (In the House of Flies)' by Deftones
9. 'Starting Over' by Chris Stapleton
10. 'The Climb' by Miley Cyrus
Essential Rock Tracks About Starting Over #11 to 20
11. 'Here Comes the Sun' by The Beatles
12. 'Learning to Fly' by Pink Floyd
13. 'That Was Yesterday' by Foreigner
14. 'Solsbury Hill' by Peter Gabriel
15. 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved' by The Script
16. 'The Great Escape' by Boys Like Girls
17. 'Beautiful Day' by U2
18. 'Brand New Day' by Sting
19. 'New Skin' by Incubus
20. 'I Can See Clearly Now' by Johnny Nash
Rock Songs Focused on Positive Change #21 to 30
21. 'Brand New Start' by Paul Weller
22. 'Right Now' by Van Halen
23. 'I'm Movin' On' by Rascal Flatts
24. 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra
25. 'Best Day Of My Life' by American Authors
26. 'Hurricane' by Lifehouse
27. 'Come Clean' by Hilary Duff
28. 'Everybody's Changing' by Keane
29. 'Tomorrow' by Silverchair
30. 'The River' by Bruce Springsteen
Hard Rock Songs About Fresh Beginnings #31 to 40
31. 'Breaking the Habit' by Linkin Park
32. 'It's Time' by Imagine Dragons
33. 'One Day At A Time' by Joe Walsh
34. 'The Long and Winding Road' by The Beatles
35. 'The Art of Starting Over' by Demi Lovato
36. 'Tubthumping' by Chumbawamba
37. 'New Day' by Alicia Keys
38. 'Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)' by Phil Collins
39. 'Starting Over' by John Lennon
40. 'Fresh Start Fever' by You Me At Six
Redemption and Restart Rock Songs #41 to 50
41. 'Start Again' by OneRepublic featuring Logic
42. 'The End of the Innocence' by Don Henley
43. 'Start Today' by Gorilla Biscuits
44. 'Don't Stop Believin'' by Journey
45. 'Only the Beginning' by Chicago
46. 'Today My Life Begins' by Bruno Mars
47. 'New Year's Day' by U2
48. 'The Phoenix' by Fall Out Boy
49. 'Get Up, Stand Up' by Bob Marley & The Wailers
50. 'Second Chance' by Shinedown
© 2025 Carson McQueen
