Five of the darkest songs about losing out to anxiety
The beauty of music is that it can, and often does, cover a broad spectrum of emotions. From day one, across all genres, music has sought to bring to life every facet of the human experience. Sometimes, that includes the darker ones too – the inescapable shadows like anxiety, which often feel inseparable from the lighter moments.
Many musicians are well-versed in the art of channelling mental health into music, sometimes as a means of navigating and reflecting broader societal paranoia. And, while the industry itself isn’t yet the most progressive place when it comes to nurturing its own, concepts and conditions like anxiety thrive well in the art form, with many embracing the catharsis of being heard and supported by the many who might resonate with the same thoughts and feelings.
Sonically, this can mean a plethora of different things. For instance, depending on the genre, the theme of anxiety can linger beneath the surface, present through lyrical connotations or storytelling tonality. In other compositions, it can manifest as something radiating through the arrangements, like the haunt of a delicate piano segment or the commanding cut of a more brazen riff.
In others, it’s an amalgamation of various components, culminating in an experience that not only voices the torment of experiences like social anxiety but evokes the sounds that feel exactly like it, too. Here is a selection of the more masterful recreations of anxiety, from the slower, downbeat journeys into the human psyche to the more emboldened cries for much-needed relief.
The five best songs about anxiety:
‘Angelica’ – Wet Leg
Wet Leg have always had a knack for spotlighting life’s more untouched ambiguities, especially when it comes to female rage and desire. Maybe that’s really why they were deemed “controversial” to begin with, but somehow, the moments when things become a little hazier also make for some of their most intriguing material.
‘Angelica’, for instance, might have been inspired by one of Rhian Teasdale’s oldest friends and an ode to innocent childish antics, but there’s also a note of melancholy beneath the surface that feels like drifting through a party, heart filled with overwhelm and no real physical attachment to your own body until it ends. Perhaps this taps more into what Teasdale called “disenchantment”, but it also feels a lot like those anxious moments when the world closes in and there’s nothing you can do to push it away.
‘I Know Alone’ – Haim
Haim are well-versed in the art of threading themes of restlessness into music. However, the malaise throughout ‘I Know Alone’ feels particularly haunting, especially as it spotlights the type of unease and anxiety that seemingly comes from nowhere yet shows no signs of quieting down or going away. The song demonstrates a lonely mind filled with haunting thoughts, like not going outside or wanting to feel anything.
This was entirely intentional. In fact, Danielle Haim’s first lyric was the sobering statement, “I know alone like no one else does.” While this lyric represents the spiral of relentless anxiety, she also said that it now seems like more of a “ritual”, provoking comfort in those darker moments, but only when you know how to do so in a way that means there’s a healthy way out at the end of it.
‘Listen Before I Go’ – Billie Eilish
Likely one of Billie Eilish‘s darkest songs to date, ‘Listen Before I Go’ is a deeply unsettling track about someone’s final bow before the end—one last confessional whisper that feels like a haunting mix of depression and euphoria. Beyond its melancholy, the song exists somewhere in the strange space between anxiety and peaceful resignation, where brain fog clears, and all that exists is quiet.
However, while some might find comfort within the song’s soft piano arrangement, listening to its warning signs is perhaps more hard-hitting than any of Eilish’s lyrics or even the soft croon of her vocal delivery, for that matter. As Eilish discussed with Rolling Stone last year, “When things happen in my soul, or whatever, the thing I’ve always held on to is ‘Well, it’ll pass. It’ll come in waves and it’ll get worse and it’ll get better.'”
‘Silk’ – Wolf Alice
Inspired by the tragedy of Edie Sedgwick’s life and her mental health struggles, Wolf Alice‘s ‘Silk’ is an atmospheric and theatrical experience with a foreboding build that feels immediately gripping. This sense is conveyed through both the arrangements and lyrics, with frontwoman Ellie Rowsell singing, “Just looking for a protector / God never reached out in time / There’s love that is a saviour, But that ain’t no love of mine / My love it kills me slowly / Slowly I could die / And when she sleeps she hears the blues / And sees shades of black and white.”
Throughout the song, some of the overlayered lyrics appear as whispers, giving it an even more anxiety-leaning feel and a story more reflective of the twists and turns of Sedgwick’s life. It also feels more ambiguous at some points, making it unclear whether it’s turning into something more upbeat and hopeful, but that also marks one of the pillars of anxiety itself—you never really know.
‘Mind’ – Talking Heads
One of the leading bands when it comes to channelling anxiety and paranoia into music, Talking Heads clutched the straws of uncertainty with ‘Mind’, reflecting the concept itself through both the arrangements, lyrics, and David Byrne’s vocal contortionisms. “I haven’t got the faintest idea / Everything seems to be up in the air at this time,” Burne sings, frustrations mounting in his voice as he makes use of varying sound dynamics for dramatic effect.
However, these effects could also be seen as quirky, tapping into the kind of trepidation that Talking Heads mastered—the kind that sits somewhere between serious and tongue-in-cheek. With ‘Mind’, it evokes the feeling of taking part in something you know you’re not really suited for, but going through with it anyway, wearing a fake smile and offering a shrug, leaving you in a strange headspace afterwards.
