History Main / GriefSong

* ''Theatre/CrossRoad'' has the reprise of "Casa Nostalgia" the song that Niccolo Paganini's mother Teresa sang to him when he was a baby, that comes in the play after Teresa dies. She sings the same song as before, in a flashback vision, and Niccolo sings of his grief for her.

* In ''Film/ASongIsBorn'', one of the professors remembers his departed wife with the song "Genevieve". The other professors join in and it becomes a bonding song.
** As in the non-musical ''Film/BallOfFire'', which ''Film/ASongIsBorn'' is a remake of.

* In '''Film/MaryPoppinsReturns''', Michael Banks sings the heartbreaking song "A Conversation" to his dead wife.

* Music/MyChemicalRomance produced their ConceptAlbum ''Music/ThreeCheersForSweetRevenge'' in honor of Gerard Way's recently deceased grandmother Helena (see the song "Music/{{Helena}}"), whom he was close to. A [[GriefSong Grief Album]], really.

* "It's Quiet Uptown" in ''{{Theatre/Hamilton}}'' is Alexander and Eliza reeling after the death of [[spoiler:their only son Philip in a duel]].

* [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]]'s ''Literature/VitaNuova'' includes a three-part canzone written immediately after the death of a woman who made the saints in {{Heaven}} envious of Earth for having her. It is largely about Dante running out of tears, suffocating from sighing, and becoming hideous to people after taking the toil of grief.

* Music/MyChemicalRomance produced their ConceptAlbum "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" in honor of Gerard Way's recently deceased grandmother Helena (see the song "Helena"), whom he was close to. A [[GriefSong Grief Album]], really.

* ''A Crow Looked at Me'' by Mount Eerie is the grief album to end ''all'' grief albums, written after Phil Elverum's wife died from cancer. Music publications found it difficult to even review the album as music due to the album's content. "Real Death" even [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs]] the idea of a grief song, saying that all art feels completely meaningless when you really lose someone you love.

** Second is "Harley Darling" about the band's close friend and producer, Kato Khandwala who was killed in a motorcyle accident

* "He Was A Friend Of Mine", a traditional folk song that has been covered by many performers. The version by Music/WillieNelson played during the credits of ''Film/BrokebackMountain''.

** Another Gabriel tune, "I Grieve", has been used in many films during a TearJerker moment. The album it came from, ''Music/{{Up}}'', has a number of these, since at the time, Gabriel had just lost his father, and he was still recovering from the trauma of not being able to contact his daughters when they were in New York City during 9/11 (they were okay, though).

** "Let Me In" was recorded live in the studio after the death of [[Music/{{Nirvana}} Kurt Cobain]].

* "Friend of a Friend" and "Word Forward" by Music/FooFighters. The former is the ''only'' song by the band confirmed to be about Music/KurtCobain, and the latter is about Dave Grohl's childhood friend.

* The entirety of Music/NeilYoung's album ''Music/TonightsTheNight'' is about two friends who overdosed. One of them, guitarist Danny Whitten, bought his last shot with the severance pay from when Neil fired him. Neil was... shaken up, to say the least, and [[TearJerker it shows]]. Also, some of ''Sleeps With Angels'' is about [[Music/{{Nirvana}} Kurt Cobain]], who quoted Neil in his suicide note.

** The album ''Music/{{Innuendo}}''. Even though Music/FreddieMercury is alive, it was his last album, made knowing he was dying of AIDS. Several songs refer to his dying, especially the song "The Show Must Go On" where his voice is replaced by a record stuck in the groove.

* "Cryin' For Me (Wayman's Song)" by Music/TobyKeith is a tribute to Toby's friend Wayman Tisdale, and has been described as being too depressing even for CountryMusic. Heck, it even got too depressing for ''Toby himself'' -- he couldn't bring himself to sing it at Tisdale's funeral.

** The band's ''But here we are'' album, and deals primarily with grief and acceptance following the loss of a loved one. It is dedicated to the band's longtime drummer and backing vocalist, Taylor Hawkins, as well as Virginia Grohl, Dave's mother, both of whom passed away in 2022.

* Music/{{Nirvana}}'s "Lithium" from ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' qualifies, as Music/KurtCobain declared it's about a guy who loses his girlfriend ("I miss you/I'm not gonna crack") and resorts to religion ("Light my candles\In a daze, 'cause I found God").

* A [[FridgeBrilliance very subtle example]] at the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'': [[spoiler: Miguel may have written the last song, "Proud Corazón", as a tribute to his late Mamá Coco.]]

** In ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]'', Éowyn's song at her cousin's funeral is a heartbreaker, particularly when one deciphers the Anglo-Saxon.

* In ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'', an Icelandic woman (Creator/SalomeGunnarsdottir), followed by other women from her village, starts singing the Icelandic lullaby "Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu", when Arthur Curry/Aquaman leaves the village for the sea. It implies there was something going between Aquaman and her.

** In ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', the elves of Lothlórien sing a lay for Gandalf, whom they thought was dead.

* "Amor Eterno" ("Eternal Love"), composed by Juan Gabriel, and one of Rocío Dúrcal [[SignatureSong signature songs]]. It's about the composer's pain over the death of his mother. Rocío Dúrcal usually cries when singing it. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glvChxd24ZU Have a handkerchief ready]]. The song is sometimes sung in funerals. The lyrics are slightly changed: "El más triste recuerdo de Acapulco" ("the saddest memories from Acapulco") is changed to "el más triste recuerdo de este mundo"("the saddest memories from this world").

* The German song ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_hatt%27_einen_Kameraden Ich hatt' einen Kameraden]]'' (I Had a Comrade)]] is traditionally sung at memorial services and military/police/fire brigade funerals in the German-speaking world, causing many ManlyTears.

* David Crosby's beautiful ballad "Guinnevere" is about his fiancèe Christine Hinton, who died in a freak traffic accident weeks before their wedding. It was written before she died, but sung as a tribute to her afterward. "I Could Swear There Was Somebody Here" is his other song for her.

* Music/PatoFu's "Canção pra Você Viver Mais" ("song for you to live more"), inspired by a terminal disease of the singer's father.
* Also from Brazil, Barão Vermelho's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lQGbWNEdzE "O Poeta Está Vivo"]] ("the poet is alive"), an homage to the band's former singer who died of AIDS.

* Music/BrantleyGilbert's "Saving Amy," about a girl he knew in high school, is an interesting twist in the grief song. It deals with a woman recovering from the death of her fiancée, who died (presumably in an accident) on the night he proposed. However, it's told from the deceased boyfriend's point of view, begging God that while it's too late to save him, it's that "there's still hope for saving Amy" from living her life grief-stricken. It then goes on to chronicle the woman's slow climb out of depression, and at the end, he thanks God for "saving Amy" when he is reunited with her years later. It's a heartbreakingly powerful song.

* [[Music/TheCruxshadows The Crüxshadows]]' ''Astromythology'' album has "My Telescope" and "Astronauts".

* Music/{{Dalriada}}'s Igazi Tűz (True Fire) is dedicated to former member Péter Hende who died in 2001

* ''Theatre/BorisGodunov'' has the Tsarevna Xenia's lament for her late fiancé. This was one of the parts of the opera that was recomposed from the original version.

* "The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)" from the ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]: 2B A Master'' album. Although the song itself is a perfectly straight example, when it's actually used in the anime, Pikachu immediately returns as soon as the song is over.

* Double example in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FMmgGpASEs Ya Uhozhu]] (я ухожу), which counts for both death and partings. "Ya uhozhu, - skazal mal'chishka ej skvoz' grust' no nenadolgo *Gunfire*,ty zhdi menya i ya vernus', Ushel sovsem, ne vstretiv pervuyu vesnu." *Cuts to war memorial.* Prishyol domoj v soldatskom tsinkovom grobu.

* [[Music/TheCruxshadows The Crüxshadows]]' "Home", also from the aforementioned ''Astromythology''.

* "Gone Too Soon" from ''Music/{{Dangerous}}'' by Music/MichaelJackson was originally about his friend Ryan White, who died of AIDS at age 19. More recently, it has also been attributed to Jackson's own death.

* "It Don't Make Sense" from ''Theatre/{{Parade}}''.

* "The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)" from the ''Anime/[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]: 2B A Master'' album. Although the song itself is a perfectly straight example, when it's actually used in the anime, Pikachu immediately returns as soon as the song is over.

* "The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)" from the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}: 2B A Master'' album. Although the song itself is a perfectly straight example, when it's actually used in the anime, Pikachu immediately returns as soon as the song is over.

** Mike's solo EP ''Post Traumatic'' is three of these, most notably "Over Again", written on the night of Chester's tribute concert at the Hollywood Bowl.