Songs To Play When You're Sad

These are the songs to play when you're just about ready to cry.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Music can be a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Talented artists are able to use the full spectrum of mood swings when crafting their songs. We can listen to a song to turn up to before going to the club, or turn down after a rough moment in life. For those darker times people love to listen to sad songs. For many it’s much easier to relate to a song about a bad breakup, than a song about millions in the ceiling.

From Blink 182 making us feel the pain of losing love on “I Miss You” to Eminem telling the story of an obsessed fan that feels ignored by his idol on “Stan,” these songs will all leave you feeling a little in the dumps. It doesn't matter the genre, all types of music are sure to bring a tear to your eye every so often. From songs that are sad because of the artists’ personal experiences or a story we feel all too familiar, these songs will do a 180 on your current mood. Make sure before you proceed to read this list you have a box of tissues nearby. Complex has put together a list of Songs To Play When You're Sad. 

Listen to Complex's songs to play when you're sad playlists here: YouTube/Spotify/Rdio

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Kid Cudi "All Along" (2010)

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Saddest line: "All along all allong, I guess I'm meant to be alone."

The Notorious B.I.G "Suicidal Thoughts" (1994)

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Saddest line: "I know my mother wished she got a fucking abortion."

Portishead "Sour Times" (1994)

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Kanye West f/ Pusha T "Runaway" (2010)

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Saddest line: "Never was much of a romantic/I could never take the intimacy."

Beck "Guess I'm Doing Fine" (2002)

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Saddest line: "It's only lies that I'm living/Its' only tears that I'm crying/It's only you that I'm losing."

Amy Winehouse "He Can Only Hold Her" (2006)

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Saddest line: "Now how can he have her heart/When it got stole."

Adele "Someone Like You" (2011)

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Saddest line: "I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded/That for me, it isn't over yet."

Damien Rice 9 Crimes (2006)

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Saddest line: "Leave me out with the waste"

DMX "Slippin'" (1998)

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Saddest line: "Just another little nigga headed nowhere fast."

Radiohead "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)

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Saddest Line: "That there, that's not me."

The Replacements "Here Comes A Regular" (1985)

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Saddest line: "He says opportunity knocks once the door slams shut."

Joy Division "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (1980)

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Bonnie Prince Billy "I See A Darkness" (1999)

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Drake "Marvin's Room" (2011)

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Saddest line: "Talk to me please, don't have much to believe in/I need you right now, are you down to listen to me?"

Sinead O'Connor "Nothing Compares 2 U" (1990)

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Saddest line: "Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling/Tell me baby where did I go wrong."

Sean Price f/ Block McCloud "Mess You Made" (2007)

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Saddest line: "Slit my wrists with a knife or a blade/Damn, look at the mess I made, the mess I made."

Cat Power "Colors And The Kids" (1998)

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Saddest line: "Now all we wanna do is go to red places/And try to stay out of hell."

Mobb Deep "Quiet Storm" (1999)

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Saddest line: "I spent too many night sniffin coke, getting right wastin my life/Now I'm tryin to make things right."

Tom Waits "Lonely" (1973)

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Saddest line: "Lonely lonely in your place, and/I still love you, I still love you."

R.E.M. "Everybody Hurts" (1992)

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Saddest line: "If you think you've had too much/Of this life, well hang on."

Prince "Sometimes It Snows In April" (1985)

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Saddest line: "All good things they say, never last/And love, it isn't love until its past."

Pavement "Here" (1992)

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Saddest line: "I was dressed for success/But success it never comes."

The Smiths "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" (1984)

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Saddest line: "See, the life I've had/Can make a good man bad."

Lupe Fiasco f/ Gemini, Sarah Green "He Say She Say" (2006)

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Saddest line: "You know the world is out to get him, so why don't you give him a chance?"

Lana Del Rey "Born To Die" (2012)

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Saddest line: "I feel so alone on a Friday night/Can you make it feel like home, if I tell you you're mine."

Bruce Springsteen "Streets of Philadelphia" (1993)

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Saddest line: "Ain't no angel gonna greet me/It's just you and I my friend."

Bill Withers "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971)

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Saddest line: "Ain't no sunshine when she's gone/It's not warm when she's away."

Wu-Tang Clan "I Can't Go To Sleep" (2000)

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Saddest line: "Jesse watched as they shot King on the balcony."

Otis Redding "Cigarettes And Coffee" (1966)

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Saddest line: "Help me to enjoy/This good time that we'll have, baby."

ODB f/ Lil Mo "Good Morning Heartache" (1999)

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Saddest line: "Wish I'd forget you, proper state of mind."

Nirvana "All Apologies" (1993)

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Saddest line: "Find my nest of salt, everything is my fault/I'll take all the blame, I'll concede from shame."

Blink 182 "I Miss You" (2003)

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Saddest line: "Where are you and I'm so sorry/I cannot sleep I cannot dream tonight."

Nick Drake "Day Is Done" (1969)

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Saddest line: "Didn't do the things you meant to do/Now there's no time to start anew."

Jay Z "Song Cry" (2001)

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Saddest line: "But once a good girl's gone bad/She's gone forever."

Hank Williams "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (1949)

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Saddest line: "And as I wonder where you are/I'm so lonesome I could cry."

The Rolling Stones "Wild Horses" (1971)

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Saddest line: "Let's do some living after we die."

Elvis Costello "Alison" (1977)

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Saddest line: "Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking/The silly things that you say."

The Velvet Underground "Candy Says" (1969)

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Saddest line: "What do you think I'd see/If I could walk away from me."

Belle And Sebastian "Don't Leave The Light On Baby" (2000)

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Saddest line: "It finally dawned on me tonight/Best to go down without a fight."

Eminem f/ Dido "Stan" (2000)

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Saddest line: "All I wanted was a lousy letter or a call/I hope you know I ripped all of your pictures off the wall."

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