50 Best Sad Songs About Self-Pity
Most Depressing Songs to Drown in Your Own Misery
There’s a low, sour flavor to certain days. You wake up with that lump in your throat you forgot to swallow the night before, and instead of reaching for something motivational, you scroll until you find a track that mirrors the pit. Not heartbreak. Not grief. Not anger. Just the sluggish, swampy feeling of being stuck inside your own head too long. These songs wallow a bit. The vocals slouch. The lyrics spiral. And honestly, that’s the whole point. They let you be pathetic without dressing it up.
It hits hardest when the rest of the world keeps spinning like nothing’s wrong. Your group chat’s making brunch plans. Someone on TikTok is going viral for doing taxes in a towel. You’re still in bed, fully horizontal, playing that same verse for the fifth time because it sounds exactly like self-sabotage. These tracks come from pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that don’t flinch at that kind of mood. They drag it out, hold it up to the light, and don’t clean it up for the camera. Some lyrics sound like they were written in an open Notes app during a full-body cringe. That’s what makes them sting.
Nobody wants advice in these moments. Not even a resolution. Just a verse that spirals the way you do when you’re overthinking your entire existence while staring at the back of a cereal box. These are the songs you put on when you’re spiraling but somehow not falling. Here are the most crushing self-pity songs that feel like crawling into a hoodie and disappearing.
Top 10 Self-Pity Songs
1. 'Hurt'—Johnny Cash
2. 'Creep'—Radiohead
3. 'Mad World'—Tears for Fears
4. 'Everybody Hurts'—R.E.M.
5. 'Yesterday'—The Beatles
6. 'Fix You'—Coldplay
7. 'Chasing Cars'—Snow Patrol
8. 'Liability'—Lorde
9. 'The Sound of Silence'—Simon & Garfunkel
10. 'Hallelujah'—Leonard Cohen
Songs Expressing Wallowing Feelings #11—20
11. 'Tears in Heaven'—Eric Clapton
12. 'Someone Like You'—Adele
13. 'All by Myself'—Eric Carmen
14. 'My Immortal'—Evanescence
15. 'What Hurts the Most'—Rascal Flatts
16. 'Iris'—Goo Goo Dolls
17. 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'—Green Day
18. 'How to Save a Life'—The Fray
19. 'Let Her Go'—Passenger
20. 'Say Something'—A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera
Melancholy Self-Reflection Songs #21—30
21. 'Hello'—Adele
22. 'Gloomy Sunday'—Billie Holiday
23. 'Ne me quitte pas'—Jacques Brel
24. 'Je suis malade'—Serge Lama
25. 'Non, je ne regrette rien'—Edith Piaf
26. 'La Chanson de Prévert'—Serge Gainsbourg
27. 'Mon Dieu'—Edith Piaf
28. 'Padam Padam'—Edith Piaf
29. 'Sous le ciel de Paris'—Edith Piaf
30. 'La vie en rose'—Edith Piaf
Songs About Personal Anguish #31—40
31. 'Les Feuilles mortes'—Yves Montand
32. 'C'est Si Bon'—Eartha Kitt
33. 'Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)'—Doris Day
34. 'Moon River'—Audrey Hepburn
35. 'Unchained Melody'—The Righteous Brothers
36. 'Stand by Me'—Ben E. King
37. 'Imagine'—John Lennon
38. 'Bohemian Rhapsody'—Queen
39. 'Stairway to Heaven'—Led Zeppelin
40. 'Hotel California'—Eagles
Sadness and Self-Worth Songs #41—50
41. 'Sweet Child o' Mine'—Guns N' Roses
42. 'Wonderwall'—Oasis
43. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'—Nirvana
44. 'Livin' on a Prayer'—Bon Jovi
45. 'Don't Stop Believin''—Journey
46. 'Billie Jean'—Michael Jackson
47. 'Like a Prayer'—Madonna
48. 'I Will Always Love You'—Whitney Houston
49. 'My Heart Will Go On'—Celine Dion
50. 'Un-Break My Heart'—Toni Braxton
© 2025 Carson McQueen
