Songs about anxiety: 15 tracks that get what it feels like
Fifteen songs about anxiety and mental health, from 90s grunge to today, for the nights when your head won't switch off.
Panacea
11/3/20262 min read
Music has always been one of the best ways to make sense of anxiety. A good song about anxiety doesn't try to fix you. It just tells you someone else has felt the racing thoughts, the dread and the 3am spiral too. Here are 15 songs about anxiety and mental health, weighted towards grunge and alternative rock, because few genres have been as honest about what goes on inside your head.
Grunge and 90s songs about anxiety
1. Alice in Chains, Nutshell (1994)
A quiet, devastating song about isolation and feeling like you're fighting alone. One of the most honest songs of the grunge era.
2. Soundgarden, Fell on Black Days (1994)
Chris Cornell said it was about suddenly realising you are unhappy, even when nothing obvious has changed. If you know that feeling, this song knows you.
3. Radiohead, Creep (1992)
The anthem of social anxiety and not feeling good enough, wrapped in one of the most famous guitar crunches in rock.
4. Nirvana, Lithium (1991)
Mood swings set to Nirvana's trademark loud-quiet dynamics: calm verses that suddenly explode.
5. Smashing Pumpkins, Disarm (1993)
Billy Corgan turns childhood pain and self-doubt into a string-laden ballad.
Modern songs about anxiety
6. twenty one pilots, Stressed Out (2015)
A song about the pressure of adult life and missing the simplicity of being a kid.
7. Julia Michaels featuring Selena Gomez, Anxiety (2019)
A plain-spoken pop song about wanting to go out and your brain stopping you.
8. Sia, Breathe Me (2004)
A fragile, piano-led song about feeling lost and asking for help.
9. Wolf Alice, Don't Delete the Kisses (2017)
Overthinking a new relationship, every message and every pause, in perfect detail.
10. Paramore, Hard Times (2017)
A bright, bouncy song about feeling flat and stuck, proof that anxiety and depression don't always sound like slow ballads.
Songs about anxiety from Panacea's Remedies for nothing
Panacea's debut album is essentially a record about modern anxiety. These are the tracks that deal with it most directly.
11. Panacea, Scroll damage
About what endless scrolling does to your head: comparison, doom and the feeling of being worse off after an hour on your phone.
12. Panacea, Rent day
The monthly dread of money running out before the month does. Cost-of-living anxiety, set to distorted guitars.
13. Panacea, I will live how I died (in my head)
The gap between who you are and who you perform, and the exhaustion of keeping the act going.
14. Panacea, Ghost read
The particular anxiety of being left on read.
15. Panacea, Better days (never come)
The album closer. The title says it all.
Listen to Remedies for nothing on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer or Bandcamp.
Why grunge is so good at songs about anxiety
Grunge was built on honesty. Its songwriters rejected the glossy, everything-is-great tone of 80s rock and wrote instead about depression, isolation and dread. The music does what anxiety feels like: quiet, tense verses that suddenly erupt. That is why a new generation facing rent, burnout and life online is returning to the sound. Read more about what grunge music is.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good song about anxiety?
Alice in Chains' Nutshell and Soundgarden's Fell on Black Days are two of the most powerful rock songs about anxiety and isolation. For something newer, try twenty one pilots' Stressed Out or Panacea's Scroll damage.
Can music help with anxiety?
Many people find that listening to music that reflects how they feel makes them feel less alone. It is not a replacement for support, though.
If anxiety is getting on top of you
Songs can help you feel less alone, but they are not a substitute for real support. In the UK, Mind (mind.org.uk) has practical information about anxiety, and Samaritans are available any time on 116 123.
Contact
Get in touch about merch, press, playlists and collaborations, or just to chat
info@panaceamusic.website
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