Welcome. You opened this post because something about a playlist that evokes grief spoke to you. Perhaps you’re a writer and you’re working on a difficult scene where your character(s) are struggling with an intense or sad situation. Or you’re reading a devastating novel that’s pulling out all the stops and stomping on your heart in the process. Or you’re just going through something awful right now. You’re grieving and you need to sit with it for awhile, to give yourself permission to feel it all.

That’s what this playlist is for.

Sometimes what you need is weeping violins, despondent guitar chords, lyrics to help you find the perfect expressions to convey your next gut-wrenching scene or really capture what you’re going through, and crooning vocals. This list is my secret weapon for writing the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve got in me. It’s also the collection of songs I turn to when I myself am upset or grieving a loss of some kind. I’ve never been one who can shut those feelings off and distract myself into feeling happy. I need to let those emotions run their full course so they don’t decide to revisit me when I least expect it, simply because I chose to bury it instead.

There’s been a lot to grieve lately. A lot of heavy emotions that we’re all carrying. If it helps you to listen to music that captures all of that in a bottle and gives you a cathartic way to release it, then this is the playlist for you. May it either provide you with the fuel you need to write or fully immerse yourself in a sad book, or give voice to whatever you may be going through right now.