10 Songs That Get Me Emotional

Music gets me in a lot of feelings. I can have the worst day and all I have to do is put on some songs to get me dancing or walking in a good mood. The same goes for the other way around, I can have the best day of my life and something can cause me to have a bad day off so I listen to music reflecting what I'm feeling. These 10 songs in no particular order gets me emotional and it usually depends because sometimes I can understand the lyrics, but I can also focus on the way it sounds, so some songs may not be emotional to whoever reads this but maybe they share how I feel as well.

10. Roberta Flack - 'Killing Me Softly'

When I was a kid, I've always been used to listening to The Fugees' version of this song which would get me emotional as well, but I'm placing the original on the list because of the way it sounds. I love it when musicians do something different with a song that already exists, but sometimes you can't beat a classic. I was watching one of Dave Chappelle's comedy specials on Netflix and when it was starting, I heard this song and it got me hooked so I went on Spotify to listen to it. When I heard the whole song, I obviously knew this was nothing like The Fugees' version but one thing was for sure, if I had to choose between this one and The Fugees', I'd listen to this.

9. Hans Zimmer - 'On Thin Ice'

After seeing this movie a month after finishing high school, I would listen to a lot of film scores from Hans Zimmer or classical music from Gustav Holst. I listened to this song when I was realizing that life was hitting me harder than I thought. I fell into a deep sadness because I wasn't doing anything while everyone else had everything going for them. The way the song starts, it makes me see a time when things were more simple but something doesn't feel right like there's a bomb that's about to go off and I didn't know about it until it was too late. Then, as it's ending, it's like even though everything is destroyed for me now, I'm rising from the ashes but I'm not the same person I used to be. I can't explain it but the best thing I can say is listen to it.

8. The Weeknd - 'Try Me'

This song didn't really have me in tears like "Hurt You," but I'll say that it's one of those songs that butters me up before I get put into the oven of emotion. It's one thing when the way the music sounds can get you in a certain feeling and it's another thing when the lyrics can paint the whole picture for you, it's on another level when you can relate to the lyrics too. I may not have asked someone to leave their lover to be with me but I do know what it feels like to have someone you like string you along especially when you've been through that with different people.

7. Childish Gambino - 'Heartbeat'

This song came in at the perfect time for me and it got me to write a different kind of lyrics for me because I was realizing that I liked Sofia from "Me, Ellen, and The Girl I Wish I Never Liked." As soon as the piano starts, it feels like I need to lay down with a blanket and wrap myself in it. I enjoy the song more than when I listened to it for the first time but I remember when I had feelings for her and it still hurts sometimes. Other than that, the very last verse is like a roller coaster of emotions that just doesn't stop especially when I rap along to it.

6. Childish Gambino - 'The Night Me and Your Mama Met'

The music helps you make your own story or remember something but think of it in a different way like for me, I met a girl in 2014 in my acting class named Kara. She ended up going to Arizona when school ended but when I listen to this, I can't help but wonder if she stayed and we dated. I'd even wonder if she's okay or even ask myself questions like how long we'd last together? What would our chemistry be like between us? Would we be happy with each other? But the harsh reality hits and makes me realize that I never tried. Eventually, I did learn that she would've strung me along as well but I still have those questions sometimes.

5. gnash feat. Olivia O'Brien - 'i hate u, i love u'

Last year, I spent all summer fighting depression and this song became my anthem. It was a really hard time for me because it was something that triggered me and I didn't know that could happen to me. It was hard to talk about because hardly anyone cares when a guy has depression so the only choice I saw was to hold it all in until I found my comfort in not only movies but in music, too except music found me. The song is perfect for me because when I feel my mind remembering something about Sofia, I would think about the times I spent with her and there are some days where I love her and some days where I hate her plus it was an experience that changed me a lot.

4. The Weeknd - 'I Was Never There'

When I heard this song for the first time, I was working at Dollar Tree and it was playing over a loud speaker in the store so it was a little loud for me but when I heard it through my earphones the next day, I knew the song would get me in a place I didn't want to be in especially when the song changes two minutes in and that's where things get darker. The song had me in a deep place that I ended up listening to it to cry myself to sleep whenever I couldn't sleep on my own.

3. Kendrick Lamar - 'PRIDE.'

The song starts with "Love's gonna get you killed but pride's gonna be the death of you and me," and from there, the beat is laidback but at the same time, it makes me think of how prideful I am when it comes to love and how I avoid it because of the damage that happened to me already. I still listen to it just to remind me who I became after I got pride when it came to my feelings plus I really believe that love can get you killed.

2. The Weeknd - 'Hurt You'

I relate to this song because I walk around with a warning sign on my back and if there was a sound to reflect how I was feeling, this would be it. It was like everything had come crashing down on me like Thanos threw the moon at me except the moon is my feelings between me and Sofia along with when I found out she was dating Ellen and everyone was so focused on them but I'm not wearing anything to protect me. I don't like remembering it and I still don't.

Honorable Mention: Childish Gambino - 'I. Flight of the Navigator'

The way this song sounds would make me think of a time I was really good friends with this girl, Jennifer. We met in ninth grade and I would catch feelings for her a few times but we were still good friends but when I found out she was pregnant in our senior year of high school, I knew everything had changed but we still kept in contact until we lost it one day. I found out she's engaged now and it's hard accepting the fact that life for both of us changed.

Honorable Mention: The Weeknd feat. Kendrick Lamar - 'Pray for Me'

Even though this song is meant to be hopeful and it talks about how hard it is to be a superhero, Kendrick's verse really gets to me. The first time I heard it and he says, "I fight the world, I fight you, I fight myself, I fight God, just tell me how many burdens left," I remembered how far I've come to be the man I am today but at the same time, there's a lot of conflict I have and it's hard to put up with it. It feels like I'm a hero who's becoming a villain which is hard to deal with sometimes since I'm always the villain of someone else's story these days.

1. Sara Bareilles - 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'

I really love Elton John's version but this was also an anthem I had last year in the summer during my bout with depression, Sara carries this song with just the piano and her voice. I don't know what it is with me but the piano is one of those instruments that makes music a little more personal for me and when I listen to this song, I can feel some of my happiness from when times were more simple leave me before things got really complicated. By the second verse and the heavy sound of the piano, I'm an emotional mess so I only listen to it when I'm depressed.