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Wellness > Mental Health

20 Songs to Listen to When You Need a Good Cry This Winter

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.

It’s December. The assignments are piling up, extracurriculars are busier than ever, finals are approaching, and the holidays seem so close yet so far. I’ve probably said “I’m just pushing through to the end of the semester” six times this week already. There are absolutely going to be days that you just need to let the frustration out and cry. So, to get the most out of your cry, here’s twenty songs that hit me right in the feels every time. Guaranteed to make you sob.

Don’t tell My Mom – ReneƉ Rapp

Honestly, ReneĆ©’s songs usually make me cry, but this one specifically just makes me tear up every time. The lyrics are beautiful, heartbreaking and unfortunately a little too relatable for most of us.

scott street – phoebe bridgers

Yeah. This one will do it.

all i want – kodaline

This one along with the rest of “The Fault in Our Stars” soundtrack has been making me cry since 2014.

rivers and roads – The head and the heart

The lyrics to this one somehow make me miss friends who haven’t even graduated or moved away yet. Specifically “a year from now we’ll all be gone, all our friends will move away,” “nothin’ is as it has been, and I miss your face like hell” and “been talkin’ ’bout the way things change, and my family lives in a different state” punch me right in the heart every time.

night changes – one direction

It’s the childhood nostalgia.

angelina – lizzy mcalpine

This song is so beautiful and so sad. Absolutely a great one to cry in the shower to.

strange – celeste

The piano. The lyrics. The voice. A recipe for a great sad song.

turning page – sleeping at last

I don’t really have an explanation for this one. Don’t ask me why the wedding song from Twilight makes me cry, it just does.

Nothing new – taylor swift and phoebe bridgers

“I’ve had too much to drink tonight / How did I go from growin’ up to breaking down? / And I wake up in the middle of the night / It’s like I can feel time movin’.'”

somewhere only we know – keane

Disney used this song in a teaser trailer for “Winnie the Pooh” that used to play with the trailers of my “Little Mermaid” DVD, so now every time I hear it I get hit with childhood nostalgia. Also, it’s just a really pretty song with pretty lyrics.

love like this (acoustic) – kodaline

Moral of the story: If you need to cry, go for Kodaline.

Latch (Acoustic) – Sam Smith

Okay, so this one on its own does not make me cry. But this does make an excellent addition to a crying playlist if you’re already emotional and teary-eyed. The violin and Sam Smith’s voice in this are so beautiful it’s hard not to tear up just at how pretty the music is.

love is not enough – ashe

Ashe’s music is so incredible. Most of her songs could make me cry at the drop of a hat, but this one deserves a special mention.

always – ashe

Like I said, Ashe knows how to make a girl cry and deserved two mentions on this list.

in the kitchen – ReneƉ Rapp

This song is just too good. The piano, the harmonies, HER VOICE. This song is a tear-filled water balloon to the face.

I’m Sorry – joshua bassett

Something about his voice and the guitar just kill me.

tv – billie eilish

Billie just has one of those voices that makes the perfect crying soundtrack.

i miss you, i’m sorry – gracie abrams

This is arguably one of the saddest break-up songs of all time. 10/10 will make you cry.

young & Sad – noah cyrus

The audio clip at the beginning combined with the lyrics trigger tears so quickly. Noah knew what she was doing with this one.

i can’t breathe – bea miller

“Somebody get me a hammer / Wanna break all the clocks and the mirrors / And go back to a time that was different / A time when I didn’t feel like there was something missing / Now my body and mind are so distant / Don’t know how to escape from this prison.”

Happy crying! I hope it helps you release some stress and have a good sleep, because we all need a good sleep right now.

Emma is a fourth-year Elementary and Early Childhood Education major at Penn State University with a minor in Sociology. When she's not writing, you can usually find her singing, reading, painting, going on walks, hanging out with friends/her incredible boyfriend, and drinking iced chai lattes. Outside of Her Campus, Emma is the President of the Penn State Singing Lions, a second grade student teacher, and a member of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the Phi Eta Sigma Honors Fraternity.