50 Best Sad Songs About Leaving Friends
Songs That Hit When You’re Leaving Friends Behind for School or Something New
There’s a weird kind of silence that follows the last hangout before everything changes. The goodbye feels half-finished, like you’re all pretending it’s temporary even when you know it isn’t. Maybe someone cracked a joke at the end to keep it light, or you hugged too fast and waved like it wasn’t a big deal. Then you're walking home with your headphones in, and a song you didn’t plan hits harder than it should. That’s the space these tracks live in. The ones that don’t clean anything up, that let the goodbye sit for a while without trying to make it meaningful.
There’s nothing graceful about leaving your people. It feels too fast or too slow, or like you’re the only one who didn’t plan ahead. Someone cries early and throws the whole vibe off. Someone else disappears before the group pic. You start packing and realize none of it’s actually ready. These songs tap into that restless, hollow mood. You’ll hear it in the piano line that lingers too long, or the voice that cracks at the wrong moment. They’re not trying to be deep. They’re just stuck in that feeling with you.
This isn't the kind of sad that gets resolved. It’s the kind that drags out in texts that say “miss you already five minutes after the Uber pulls away. You don’t need a pep talk. You need a playlist that matches the ache and gives it some room to breathe. These are the best pop, rock, country, and R&B songs for when you're caught in that in-between space of leaving people who still feel like home. Here’s the list.
Top 10 Goodbye Songs
1. 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)'—Green Day
2. 'I Will Remember You'—Sarah McLachlan
3. 'See You Again'—Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth
4. 'Landslide'—Fleetwood Mac
5. 'It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday'—Boyz II Men
6. 'The Kids Aren't Alright'—Fall Out Boy
7. 'I Lost A Friend'—FINNEAS
8. 'Already Gone'—Kelly Clarkson
9. 'Tell Me How'—Paramore
10. 'Don't You (Forget About Me)'—Simple Minds
Songs About Friends Drifting Apart #11—20
11. 'Miss You'—Incubus
12. 'Somebody That I Used to Know'—Gotye ft. Kimbra
13. 'Growing Apart'—97honestav
14. 'The Last Time'—Taylor Swift
15. 'People You Know'—Selena Gomez
16. 'Liability'—Lorde
17. 'Clean'—Taylor Swift
18. 'Kids Again'—Sam Smith
19. 'Bad Friend'—Rina Sawayama
20. 'Broken Toy'—Keane
Musical Tributes to Friendship Endings #21—30
21. 'We Might As Well Be Strangers'—Keane
22. 'Leaving So Soon?'—Keane
23. 'Everybody's Changing'—Keane
24. 'A Bad Dream'—Keane
25. 'Hamburg Song'—Keane
26. 'Ghost'—Howie Day
27. 'Gravity'—Sara Bareilles
28. 'Over My Head (Cable Car)'—The Fray
29. 'I Miss You'—Adele
30. 'Goodbye My Friend'—Linda Ronstadt
Finding Comfort in Farewell Tunes #31—40
31. 'How Can I Help You Say Goodbye'—Patty Loveless
32. 'Goodbye to You'—Michelle Branch
33. 'Where Are You Now'—Honor Society
34. 'The Long Goodbye'—Rory Gallagher
35. 'Moving On'—Bad Company
36. 'Goodbye Stranger'—Supertramp
37. 'Leaving on a Jet Plane'—John Denver
38. 'The Parting Glass'—Boygenius and Ye Vagabonds
39. 'How Do I Say Goodbye'—Dean Lewis
40. 'Photograph'—Ed Sheeran
Essential Songs for Friend Departures #41—50
41. 'Castle on the Hill'—Ed Sheeran
42. 'Forever Young'—Bob Dylan
43. 'I Hope You Dance'—Lee Ann Womack
44. 'Graduation (Friends Forever)'—Vitamin C
45. 'The Climb'—Miley Cyrus
46. 'I'll Always Remember You'—Hannah Montana
47. 'Story of My Life'—One Direction
48. 'Real Friends'—Camila Cabello
49. 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'—Elton John
50. 'All Good Things (Come to an End)'—Nelly Furtado
© 2025 Carson McQueen
