Healing and recovery from rough situations is a long continuous process that needs a lot of patience and effort. While it’s a roller coaster of sad, angry, and some peaceful moments, it becomes better with time. Whatever you are trying to heal from, healing music is one of the most tried and tested ways to make your healing process smoother and probably faster. Here are 21 great songs about healing.
“Fix you” – Coldplay
“Fix you” is one of Coldplay’s most iconic songs of all time. Its inspiration was Chris Martin, the lead singer of the British band, who was trying to get Gwyneth Paltrow through the grief following her father’s death. The song is an uplifting melody to comfort you through trying times through its lyrics “When you try your best, but you don’t succeed…when you feel so tired, but you can’t sleep”.
“Heal” – Tom Odell
Tom Odell is an English singer known for his raw music about heartbreak and healing. “Heal” is a beautiful and vulnerable melody that is featured in his debut album “Long Way Down,” which expresses the need to get reassurance in a relationship. The song highlights the need to have emotional pain from the past to be lifted and to get healed from the agony.
“Thank u” – Alanis Morissette
This precious hit by Alanis Morissette is a subtle reminder to look at the bigger picture as you go through your healing process. In the song, she is grateful for all the things, situations, and people that caused her pain, leading her to where she is in life at the moment. The song’s message is that tough experiences are just that – bad experiences – and are they are supposed to help you appreciate the good moment more.
“And the healing has begun” – Van Morrison
This heartwarming melody makes you feel optimistic and cheerful in your healing journey. It is a reminder that everything will get better in the end, and the days ahead will be brighter. Its powerful lyrics serve as a gentle assurance that you’ll get back on your feet and smile again. It encourages you to stand up, dress up, and enjoy summer because your healing has begun.
“Easy on me” – Adele
“Easy on me” is a catching song by Adele, an award-winning English singer, and songwriter. The song highlights her broken marriage and her plea to her son to take it easy on her. It is an expression of regret, nostalgia, and forgiveness.
Through her powerful vocals and sweet melody, the song serves as an encouragement to take it easy and forgive ourselves because we made our choices based on the circumstances we were faced with.
“Everybody hurts” – R.E.M
“Everybody hurts” is a popular hit by the award-winning American rock band, R.E.M. It will make you understand the fact that everybody goes through tough times and that it is normal to feel low every once in a while. The song reminds you that the tough times are not permanent, and you can overcome anything. It conveys a powerful message that you should not give up on yourself because everyone hurts, and we all cry sometimes.
“Claire De Lune” – Flight Facilities
“Clair De Lune” is a French song that means “Moonlight” in English, sang by Flight Facilities. It is a sweet melody with powerful lyrics that gently remind you of your worth even in your worst moments. It helps you refocus your thoughts on a more positive perspective and reminds you to look at the beauty of life, like the birds on trees, the beautiful fountains, and marble statues.
It takes you to another dimension where everything is more beautiful, and life is more positive, and helps you appreciate the positive parts of your life more.
“Heal me” – Lady Gaga
“Heal me” is a moving soundtrack from the award-winning movie “A star is born,” performed by the legendary songstress Lady Gaga. Using a combination of powerful lyrics and a sweet melody, the song is a great source of comfort when faced with tough times.
The song provides reassurance that you are not alone even in your loneliest moments, and someone will be there to inspire you even in moments where you cannot find inspiration to move forward by yourself. Lady Gaga is known for pouring her heart out through her lyrics and helping her listeners overcome tough situations.
“Stop crying your heart out” – Oasis
“Stop crying your heart out” is a moving and comforting heart to keep you strong and help you throughout your healing process. It is a hit by the English rock band ‘Oasis,’ who release heartfelt songs enjoyed globally. The song reminds you that you cannot go back to change your past, but you can look forward to a better future. It gently tells you to stop being scared and walk with a smile because, in the end, we are all-stars, and we’ll overcome.
“Heal the world” – Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson is arguably the greatest musician of all time. His mega hit “Heal the world” reflects how society needs healing for the coming generations to have a better world. The song’s message is that we need to heal ourselves first so that the entire world can be healed and make it a better place.
“Broken” – Seether featuring Amy Lee
This rock ballad is one of the best songs about healing from trauma. While the lyrics could discuss a broken heart, the power and pain in the singers’ voices make it seem much more profound.
The track explores how broken people feel when someone’s gone away, implying they’ll never come back due to something more extreme than a breakup.
This song is ideal for people who want to wallow in their feelings and explore their hurt before they try to heal.
“Survivor” – Destiny’s Child
Not all songs about healing are sad and slow. Destiny’s Child has an empowering song with “Survivor.” Instead of being unhappy about a failed relationship, the singers feel better without their former partners bringing them down.
They compare what the ex thought he would do to them to how they thrive in their new situations.
“Survivor” is one of the most popular songs about healing. The album of the same name debuted at number one and sold over 650,000 copies in the first week—a record for a female group. Heal by listening to this energetic song and taking the lyrics to heart.
“Getting Better All the Time” – The Beatles
Another upbeat song to help people heal is “Getting Better All the Time” by the Beatles. It has the signature poppy sound that’s sure to put a smile on the listener’s face. The band wrote this song based on the idea that people can change the course of their lives.
It might not seem like it’s one of the songs about healing the world, but the lyrics address things that make people angry and want to retreat from their lives. They sing that the world is getting better all the time because it can’t get worse.
“Strong (What Doesn’t Kill You)” – Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson has one of the most popular songs about healing. This pop track will help listeners feel better as soon as they hear the opening beats.
Like the Destiny’s Child song, Clarkson appreciates how her life is going now that she’s not with her ex. The bed feels warmer, the world’s colors seem brighter, and she feels like she’s a new person.
Clarkson’s lyrics inspire the listener to stand taller and believe in themselves, even if they feel afraid of tackling life alone. She reminds everyone that it’s possible to be alone without feeling lonely.
“Better Days” – Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls have some great songs about healing, with “Better Days” standing out as one that can help people accept their feelings and move on, all within the scope of the track.
The singer doesn’t want much except the chance to experience better days. He doesn’t focus on the dark sides of life but addresses them vaguely before going on to hope for a fresh start. He forgives everything from the past to begin anew tonight without waiting for any resolution or landmark day.
“Shine” – Collective Soul
This rock track by Collective Soul is one of the band’s best-known songs about healing pain. It was the first single from their debut album. The lyrics refer to Heaven, and the guitarist says the song sounds like a prayer, but the band isn’t Christian.
It stands out as an uplifting song from the grunge era, encouraging the listener to look around for the good things in life, including finding light and love in unexpected places.
“Burn” – Usher
There are plenty of pop and rock tracks to listen to when people want to wallow in their pain. However, there are songs about healing in R&B, too. Usher’s song, “Burn,” is about realizing a relationship isn’t working. Even though he still loves his partner, he knows the situation isn’t good for either of them.
“Burn” is how Usher describes his feelings. What he’s telling his partner hurts him deeply because he loves her but isn’t happy. Along with burn, he uses words like bruise, twisted, and breakdown to express his pain.
“Faith” – Celine Dion
Celine Dion’s powerful voice makes “Faith” one of the top songs about healing. The song opens with lyrics about being unafraid of feelings, which empowers the listener to embrace their situation, even if it hurts. The song talks about having faith in someone regardless of their flaws, making it an excellent track for people struggling in relationships.
“A Little Bit Stronger” – Sara Evans
People looking for songs about healing a broken heart will love this track by Sara Evans. “A Little Bit Stronger” is a powerful song about overcoming a breakup. She sings about how hard it is to get up and go about her regular habits.
However, with each thing she accomplishes, like brushing her teeth or going to work, she realizes that she’s getting stronger.
Brief spoken word sections help the listener relate to the singer’s struggle. She repeatedly sings about how the healing won’t happen overnight, but before long, the listener will notice that they’re not even thinking about the person who broke their heart.
“Breathe (2 AM)” – Anna Nalick
Anna Nalick sings powerful songs about healing pain, including “Breathe (2 AM).” The lyrics talk about how life puts people in challenging situations, like a friend not loving their partner or a young soldier drinking to feel better about what he’s done while enlisted.
Despite the specific occurrences shared in each verse, the song’s chorus calms listeners and helps them heal. Nalick sings about breathing and moving forward with life because it’s impossible to rewind and change anything in the past.
“I’ll Fly Away” – Gillian Welch and Alison Kraus
Gillian Welch and Alison Kraus took one of the catchiest songs about healing gospel and made it country. The song appears on the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack, along with high-quality country, bluegrass, gospels, and blues songs.
The lyrics talk about how free the narrator will feel when they’re free from all the constraints of life. While it sounds like a dire subject, the song is lovely to listen to for healing. The original, by Albert E. Brumley, is a well-known gospel song often played at funerals.
Born and raised in Austin, David is a dedicated writer and avid fragrance lover. When he's not trying out perfumes, he enjoys traveling and exploring new restaurants.