Top 10 Peaceful Songs

With the coronavirus pandemic, even just skimming the news brings us fear, anxiety, and even depression. Amid all the bleakness and worry, we are in desperate need for comfort. And one of the best mediums to find that joy and peace is in music.

Not every song on this list is the best song by its respective artist or band, but they were selected because they each bring immediate calm and happy memories. One song per artist, and that includes related acts.

10. Sea of Air (Portugal. The Man)

Portugal. The Man isn’t famous for their ballads. But while Sea of Air isn’t particularly a happy song (“When we talk to God about suicide/When you never hear back, I hope you’re still alive”), the chilled out tone of the plucked guitar strings and the simplified vocals make you sway and almost work as therapy as you sing, “I’ll be brave, I’ll be brave.” While it is somewhat solemn, it is more about letting doubts go rather than letting them linger.

9. Rubber Ball — Unpeeled (Cage the Elephant)

Commonly thought to be about Matt Shultz’s stuggle with drug addiction, I have chosen the Unpeeled version of this song because the vocals are better and the string make it even more solemn and blissful, but mostly because I say it’s superior to the original. It is a song about many things, including “Trying to stand like a big, strong, tough man” when you feel so weak and torn down. But even in these hard times, “All I got is nothing but a little bit of love/Gonna give it to the people, then they’ll see.” And that is a bit of advice and courage we can all pull from when there are contentions in the world.

8. Yes It Is (The Beatles)

The lyrics of this Beatles’ B-side aren’t exactly happy or without anxiety, but the combination of Ringo’s steady drum beat and the Fab Four’s pleasing harmonies bring a sense of calm over you. And despite the song musing over an ex-lover, but in a world of negativity and uncertainty, the repetition of “yes it is” itself makes you feel more secure knowing that even though the world is in chaos, there is one truth we can be sure of — we understand where we are in this exact moment.

7. Femme Fatale (The Velvet Underground)

Another song not exactly positive in its lyrics, “Femme Fatale” has some of the greatest female vocals in alternative rock I have ever heard. And it’s not necessarily the words that are being sung, but more the hushed vocals and a melody similar to that a mother would have sung to you as a lullaby.

6. Northern Downpour (Panic! at the Disco)

Personally, I think “Behind the Sea” is the greatest Panic! at the Disco track, but “Northern Downpour” won out because the chorus of the former song isn’t exactly comforting. “Northern Downpour,” however, has so many lyrics that bring peace, such as “You clicked your heels and wished for me,” “I know the world’s a broken bone/But melt your headaches, call it home,” and the entirety of the two choruses.

5. Shelter My Soul (Roger Gisborne)

Similar to “Northern Downpour,” “Shelter My Soul” beat out my favorite Plastiscene song, “Now As One” because of its more pleasing vocals and progression. It was an extremely difficult choice as both bring a similar feeling of peace, but the way that “Shelter My Soul” ends with the beginning lyrics, “Shelter my soul/From anything that tries to get in our way/Pull us apart,” but the guitar and the progression of energy and increase in pitch from the verse to the chorus to the bridge and then back all the way down to the outro is whimsical and takes you on a sweet ride through self-reflection and a want to stay close with those you love. After all, “There’s only one more piece of the puzzle ’til I get to the end.”

4. SoundX3 (The Pacific)

This song is calming mostly for its promises and the way the descending pitches in the chorus both please the ear and match the lyrics as he sings, “Down, down, down/Down we go.” But then the key change happens in the third chorus, sounding brighter and gives us hope, in a way, of a brighter and happier future.

3. I’ll Be There (Velvet Starlings)

Coupled with a sweet video on YouTube, Velvet Starlings often posts this video on their social media to wish people safe travels during the holidays. But while we can’t physically be with our loved ones in these times, this song reminds us that they are still with us and thinking about us, “Through thick and through thin and whatever life throws in our way.”

2. Oh My Love (John Lennon)

There is a rare time when I feel truly at peace with Lennon sings. Of course, I’ve always seen him as one of (if not the) greatest songwriters in history, but peace and calm were always more of Paul’s domain (in the sense of a blissful feeling, not in protest). But “Oh My Love” is the exact definition of the word. And the lyrics, “I see the wind, oh I see the trees/…I feel sorrow, oh I feel dreams” remind us to live in the moment and appreciate the little things around us without forgetting that it’s okay to let yourself feel a little down sometimes.

1. I’m Still Here (Kula Shaker)

I’ve previously shared a personal experience with this song during a panic attack, but this song continues to bring me peace when current events are weighing down on me. So many of the lyrics relate to both world issues and personal struggles, including the “webs” of our own desires as opposed to another, “a blazing forest fire,” a “truth” we can’t unravel, and especially relevant to recent circumstances: “a place that we are destined to return.” But in spite of all the chaos, in spite of all the anxiety and abnormalities happening in the world today, “I’m still here.” The lyrics are accompanied only by a guitar. So when Mills strums his guitar, the empty space between the next chord only shows how more alone we are physically in these circumstances. But even so, we can still hear him singing: “I’m still here.”