Music is one of the kinder ways people sit with grief. These songs are for remembering someone, for a quiet goodbye, and for the long stretch afterward.
Updated 2026
Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen 1984
A broken, holy song that funerals and weddings both claim.
Read the meaning behind the songHurt by Johnny Cash 2002
An old man looking back on everything and everyone gone.
Candle in the Wind by Elton John 1973
A life cut short, mourned out in the open.
Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum 1969
A cheerful walk toward whatever comes next.
Knockin' on Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan 1973
A dying man laying down his arms.
Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran 2017
Clearing a hospital room after losing his grandmother.
I'll Be Missing You by Puff Daddy 1997
Grief built on a Police sample, sung by millions.
Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd 1975
Aching for someone no longer reachable.
Time to Say Goodbye by Andrea Bocelli 1996
A farewell that needs no translation.
For carrying each other, and for keeping someone close.
Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel 1970
A promise to carry someone all the way through.
You'll Never Walk Alone by Gerry and the Pacemakers 1963
Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain.
Angels by Robbie Williams 1997
Believing someone is still watching over you.