6 of the Most Heartbreaking Music Videos About Grief and Loss
by Richard Howlett
• Published 29/02/2024
I have to preface this list with a trigger warning, because if you are not mentally and emotionally in the right place to get very sad, very soon, then maybe you should come back when you are feeling more prepared.
Sometimes a good cry is actually just what you need in order to release pent up feelings that you cannot otherwise seem to let out. If that’s you, then you’re in the right place!
I’ve found songs from a range of different genres, including pop, rock, and hip hop, but what they all have in common is that the videos have a story to tell about grief and loss
Marshmello ft. Bastille - Happier
This story about the love and eventual loss of a pet will be one that resonates with a lot of us. Unlike the majority of videos on this list, this one does have a happy ending, but it doesn’t mean that the journey is any less affecting.
Little Motel by Modest Mouse
This is one of the tougher videos to watch. As the events play in reverse, and you slowly realise what has happened, it’s pretty hard to hold back the emotions. Losing a loved one is never easy, but the devastation left when you’re about to lose a child is plain to see here.
How Could You Leave Us by NF
A raw and emotional song from the Christian hip hop artist known as NF, as he sings to his mother who died of a drug overdose. A lot of the time people think of grief akin to sadness, but in this example we can hear the anger in every verse. The video mirrors the tone of the song and makes for a powerful package.
Roses For The Dead by Funeral for a Friend
You don’t actually see anything happen here, but the strong insinuation is that the young pupil leaves school and commits suicide, while we simultaneously watch the mother go through a whole range of emotions as she looks through their empty room. A truly heartbreaking video, set to a hard rock soundtrack.
Dancing in the Sky by Dani and Lizzy
This song cropped up in the top 10 modern pop songs for funerals in 2023, which you can find here. The video does something different in that it doesn’t tell a story, instead it shows photographs of families who have lost someone, naming each of the deceased as we go along. It’s not as difficult a watch as some of the others on this list, but there’s still a lot of emotion to be found here.
Small Bump by Ed Sheeran
The video watches time pass around Sheeran as he sits in a hospital waiting room singing what initially sounds like quite a sweet message to an unborn child, until you get to the final verse where you learn the crushing truth that the baby didn’t survive. This one is a tear-jerker, for sure.
After all that heartbreak, I think I may need to go research a blog about uplifting songs!
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