Songs About Dreading Something
When physical or emotional symptoms become overwhelming, turning to some of your favorite songs or a soothing playlist might help you find a sense of calm.
Knowing you aren’t alone can also be a source of comfort. Knowing others have faced similar situations and this can offer some measure of comfort and help you cope. These 22 songs about dreading something can replace feelings of isolation and more connected to others who share your experience.
1. Sia’s “Breathe Me”
Sia’s “Breathe Me” is almost certainly going to be the first song that comes to anyone’s mind when they are asked to mention songs about dreading something.
“Breathe Me” by Sia is an emotional SOS for assistance, optimism, and life itself. Depression and the sense of not being good enough are discussed. the absence of self-love and a sense of worthlessness.
Sia, the song’s narrator, discusses the suffering she continues to cause herself in this song. The suffering she subjected herself to repeatedly. She acknowledges the importance of having a friend by her side. a companion to hug and hold her. She needs someone to assist her overcome her neediness.
She needs a friend to help her stop hurting herself. She needs a friend to support her through her sadness and to show her that she is more valuable than she realizes. In conclusion, “Breathe Me” is a depressing song with depression and a desperate need for a friend to lean on as its main themes.
2. The Modest Mouse ` “The World at Large”
In this song, a perpetual restlessness and desire to travel are expressed. It is about letting go of previous relationships and possessions in favor of emancipation from the shackles of contemporary existence. It involves questioning the logic of having a wanderlust and finding solace in books and music about drifters.
I comprehend. The Universe is formed just like the Earth: If you continue straight for a long enough time, you’ll wind up where you were, according to a previous Modest Mouse song.
3. Ariana Grande’s “Breathin”
Ariana Grande, an American singer-songwriter, has a song called “Breathin” (sometimes spelled “breathin”). The lyrics of this song are primarily on the vocalist (Grande)’s nervousness and how a very special person in her life helps to improve things. She’s able to “keep on breathin'” because of that individual despite the extreme concerns and worries brought on by her anxiousness.
4. Linkin Park’s “Crawling”
This tune makes you feel as though something is itching to burrow beneath your skin. Chester Bennington, who took methamphetamines throughout his adolescence, focuses on the negative impacts of using the drug in a significant portion of his lyrics. Hallucinations, anxiousness, and a creepy sensation under his skin. However, the song is applicable to anyone who is feeling uneasy and helpless.
5. Asking Alexandria’s “Alone In a Room”
This song, in my opinion, is about how spending time alone with our thoughts can occasionally be just what we need, but it can also sometimes be frightening and harmful. It can be beneficial to lock oneself in a room and be forced to listen to only one’s own thoughts, but depending on how ominous those thoughts are, it can also be jarring and disturbing.
This song is about how to take those lessons to heart and how doing so can help one achieve their true selves by removing the outer layers of who they are. It’s a terrifying procedure, but one that ultimately might turn out to be both spiritually purifying and life-affirming.
6. “Where Is My Mind?” The Pixies
The main singer’s journey to the Caribbean served as the inspiration for this song. He had reached a crossroads in his life when he realized he had no idea what he wanted to do with it. He never used drugs at a risky or heavy level like other artists, but he was aware that he was, so to say, losing his mind.
It’s a great song, and the lyrics lend themselves to a variety of interpretations. This song’s style (not sound) is similar to that of Bush in that the band intended for listeners to derive their own meanings from the song.
The confusion the lead singer went through during a lonely period of his life is, in a nutshell, the subject of this song. Absolutely beautiful. Enjoy.
7. Halsey’s song “Gasoline”
Lyrically, “Gasoline” by Halsey is one of the best songs about dreading something.” It discusses the connection between her success in the music industry and a mental illness she has, bipolar disorder. The verses are mostly dedicated to her questioning whether the listener is “deranged like” her. She also makes use of them to highlight some of the disadvantages of having a well-known face.
This image is further developed throughout the choruses, which emphasize how she is “part of a machine”. She is no longer “a human being” as a result. She thus doesn’t seem to have the time or even the want to address her serious personal problems, despite the fact that she does.
She can’t rely on her own self-worth to get her through because she has a low sense of self-worth. “Gasoline” is the source of her motivation instead. Although it is never explicitly stated what this “gasoline” is, it appears to be the same substance that is driving the “machine” and the robots it creates.
8. The twenty one pilots song “Holding Onto You”
I THINK personally (for me) that they are discussing maintaining FAITH in order to get through personal (flesh-based) issues, in this example, thoughts of suicide or depressive behavior.
He claims that all he has is flesh, and since he doesn’t trust himself, he will try to restrain his mind (put a leash on it) and surrender it to God, asking God to take his life and soul and surround him instead. Additionally, he is addressing those who share his struggles and advising them to consider faith. However, he makes it clear that people shouldn’t just believe what the lyrics say because God gave us the ability to think for ourselves.
9. Linkin Park’s “Breaking The Habit”
This is a story about a person who frequently causes physical and mental harm to himself. When he says, “You all figure I’m safe here in my room unless I attempt to start again,” he is referring to the fact that he spends a lot of time alone in his room, where everyone assumes he cannot harm himself.
Little do they realize, however, that he may start harming himself at any time without anyone being aware of it. He continuously criticizes himself for the things he has done in the past or that others have done to him since he feels responsible for them all. He regrets everything. He says, “I don’t want to be the one the battles constantly choose / Cause inside I realize I’m the one puzzled,” implying that he has a lot of difficulties thrown at him and he doesn’t know why.
10. “Heavy” by Linkin Park feat. Kiiara
The song “Heavy” by Linkin Park is about musicians who are overcome by internal issues. Thus, the term “heavy” in the title refers to the mental strain the vocalists experience.
And the fact that it is a self-imposed burden is one of its distinguishing features. Chester Bennington and Kiiara’s statements that “the universe [is] spinning]” around them serve as a reminder that this does not eliminate the existence of external problems.
11. Imagine Dragons’ “Demons”
I believe that this song has some sort of universal appeal for everyone. We all have our “demons,” whether they be jealousy, gambling, anxiety, despair, or other vices. Some of us have confronted our demons, some more intensely or frequently than others. Your “demons” stand for things that are bad for you emotionally, mentally, or both.
Do we always choose to share our deepest hidden feelings and secrets with our loved ones, let alone others? After all, we all have them? occasionally, no. To whomever you want to call it, the singer is cautious to reveal his innermost thoughts and feelings. “The eyes are the window to the soul,” they say.
Well, the song’s lyric about the singer’s demons lurking in his eyes makes it very clear. Although it’s awful to feel tortured, lost, or confused, these feelings are unavoidable in this world.
Our faith , or what sustains us, as well as how we deal with our demons and whether we choose to feed into them or not, are what set us apart. Good and evil are the two natures that are constantly at war within us.
12. Radiohead’s “Paperbag Writer”
Breathing into a paper bag has long been recommended as a helpful technique for the hyperventilation that can occur during anxiety and panic attacks, so the opening line, “Blow into this paper bag,” conjures up the image of someone trying to control their feelings of panic.
The phrase “Take your armor off, you’re not under attack” exemplifies the main symptom of panic attacks: a paralyzing sense of fear unrelated to any actual danger.
13. The Shins’ “The Fear”
There isn’t always a clear cause for anxiety. Sometimes you just have to deal with a constant fear, a “fear of all the stupid things” you might experience.
When discussing this song in interviews, James Mercer has been honest about his own experience with anxiety, claiming that it reflects the different concerns that can gradually destroy a relationship.
14. Muse’s “Map of the Problematique”
It’s undeniable that anxiety frequently makes you feel alone and isolated, particularly when you get mired in a cycle of worry and rumination.
This song captures the annoyance you may experience when you believe every decision you make is the wrong one. As you try to figure out how to get rid of sensations of fear, panic, and despair, several options appear and seem to pass you by.
15. Tori Amos’ “Concertina”
In interviews, Amos has said how this song reflects her own experience with social anxiety, or feeling “so uncomfortable you’re crawling out of your skin, even though nobody’s touched you,” while entering a room.
While “you’re the fiercest calm I’ve been in” appears to address worry directly, the words “a fever above my waist” and “a chill that bends” may reflect the perspiration and chills that frequently go along with anxiety.
You could be astonished to learn how composed you appear to others while anxiety and fear are raging inside of you to the point that you’re certain that everyone can see it plainly on your face.
16. Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle”
Early 2000s radio stations echoed with this empowering anthem to overcoming social anxiety and staying true to yourself.
Of course, telling yourself that your perception of people looking down on you is just in your head won’t always help you overcome a crippling fear of rejection.
Nevertheless, it’s sound advice to start with, even if you might require a little extra assistance to put aside concerns about what others may think of you. If you’re seeking for a quick mood-lifting song, the beat’s catchiness doesn’t hurt too.
17. “Red Light Fever” by Liz Phair
If anxiety has ever caused you to lie awake at night worrying about your concerns, objectives, or even your sense of who you are as a person, this song may strike a chord with you.
Maybe you already know how you want your life to look. Still, your worries prevent you from moving forward because they keep you mentally bogged down and afraid of committing to your goals and taking the first steps toward realizing them. This is one of the songs about dreading something I find interesting.
18. Florence + The Machine’s “Shake It Out”
Isn’t it wonderful how anxiety makes it so simple to recall every embarrassing circumstance and humiliating moment you’ve ever encountered?
Lyrically, “Shake It Out” isn’t just a reflection on how it feels to have your “darkest times” resurface when those memories “gather like old acquaintances.” They also emphasize how challenging it is to put those memories behind you and move on. Florence Welch claimed that the song expresses the need for a fresh start when one finds oneself mired in undesirable behavioral patterns.
19. Rihanna’s “Disturbia”
This song examines what it feels like to struggle with anxiety and emotional distress, according to Rihanna, who has been open about her experience with anxiety in interviews.
If you suffer from anxiety, you may be familiar with the feelings of having thoughts that “creep up inside you” and “consume you” or fears that you “don’t want to think about” but that still manage to hold you tightly.
As she sings, you might even wish that something would happen to free you from the “curse” of anxiety and fear.
20. Bmike’s “Anxiety”
This song provides an in-depth, individualized look at the difficulties frequently associated with locating qualified assistance and the best course of treatment for anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and other emotional distress.
Bmike also discusses how frustrating it can be when talk therapy doesn’t seem to be helping you, despite your best efforts, and your therapist seems to be somewhat disconnected from your suffering.
The music video, he says in the YouTube description, aims to raise awareness of mental health issues and to draw attention to the stigma that many people endure.
21. Iron Maiden’s “Fear of the Dark”
Nyctophobia, or a severe fear of the dark, is a type of phobia that is included under the category of anxiety disorders.
This song talks about how you feel uneasy and afraid when “the light begins to change” and the night falls, whether you think someone (or something) is stalking you down the street at night or hiding in the corner of your bedroom.
22. Metric’s “Help I’m Alive”
Finally on our list of songs about dreading something is this song by Metric “Help I’m Alive”, this songs has the power to completely uproot you. Why? because one of mankind’s most enduring fears and hopes are addressed in its lyrics. The pressure of the outside world and those around you is what they are referring to.
Being under pressure to be ideal or typical like everyone else, they use phrases like “if I stumble, they’re going to eat me alive” as examples of this. It appears that if you make a mistake or fail, the culture of today will “eat you alive.”