When Kynny came to me earlier this month and said we should do an article for National Suicide Prevention Month. From the start I was in, and today that’s what we are here to do. These songs are ones that have helped us with our own mental struggles. We both have lost people to suicide and know what it’s like to not only lose someone but be at that point in life. Today we hope to share with you songs that have helped us out mentally. If you’re someone who is struggling, reach out to someone. Whether it’s a friend, family member, someone at church, or one of us there is someone there to listen and someone to talk to.
-Bryson
Number one on my list is War With My Mind by Flatland Cavalry. This song has been one I’ve played a lot since it came out back in 2020, and that’s for a few reasons. Starting on the lyrical side, the last line in the opening verse, “I’m losing myself and my will to fight,” that right there to me speaks on getting to that point where you’re ready to end it all. I’ve been there. I’ve made horrible mistakes that lead to horrible outcomes, and I haven’t wanted to keep going, so that line really speaks to me.
Next I want to hit on the chorus, “I’m lost in a maze that ain’t got an exit stuck in a phase of bad habits, I can’t quit, I’ve run out of faith and I can’t see the light.” I’ve been lost and looking for a way out and can’t find one. I’ve dealt with bad habits that it took a lot to quit, and I’ve lost my faith in God and I couldn’t see the light, so the chorus for me hits the deepest out of everything in this song.
Moving on into the second chorus, the opening lines, “I can’t put my thumb on the hour or day when all of the color faded to gray,” I’ve had some low times as of late, but this line speaks to me. A few years back when I was at my lowest I had so much happen in one year I really don’t know when in that year everything in me faded. I had nobody; I had lost multiple people that year due to accidents, overdoses, and suicide, and I think back to that year when I hear this line because I can’t put my thumb on the hour or day.
But here’s why this song speaks to me, you have a song about being at war with your mental health, and it’s a sad song, but at the end you hit that last verse and you get the lines, “I’ve come to know all good things come with time keep fighting the battle, the war with your mind.” A lot of you sitting here reading this have dealt with mental health and have been to that point where you want to end it all, but you’re still here. I think many of us can agree we have learned with time good things come, and we do need to keep fighting that mental health battle to keep on living. I relate to this song the most out of my five songs I chose today because you realize you aren’t alone in this world and that everyone has fought or is fighting a war with their mind.
“Oh Lord please forgive me for what I’m about to do I’m running on empty and my options are few you know that I did the best that I can but I’ve done hit rock bottom, my time is at hand” is the opening verse to Finger On The Trigger by Brandon Jenkins. Now, this is one of the songs that a lot of you won’t understand why I chose for a list of mental health/suicide prevention songs. I have weird connections to songs. When I’m sad, I listen to depressing ass songs like this. I think for me it’s because it helps me realize I’m not alone. It makes me see others’ struggles with their mental health.
I also have a different view on this song because I don’t think the guy in the story goes through with it. I think it’s a song about being to that point in life where it’s all gone to shit and you’re done and you’re ready to give up, but this song gives me peace in a way because there is no resolution. There is no answer to if he went through with it. So when I’m struggling, I put this on because it gives me a sense of hope that everyone has been down and ready to give up, but we are still here. And that’s what this song shows to me, and that’s why I chose it.
Switching it over to a happier song, let’s talk about High Hopes & Low Expectations by JD Clayton. “High hopes and low expectations that’s what you’ll need to keep moving on and headed straight there’ll be good days and bad days.” That line there is from the chorus of the song, and while this song is a happier song, there is a reason I chose it for this list.
That line has helped me out a lot in the past couple of months because there have been times I’ve had high hopes and high expectations for things, and when they turned out different from how I expected, it sucked. I was good with it, but for a minute there were multiple things piling up that I had high hopes and high expectations for, and when every one of them failed, it took a toll on me. But when I changed my views and started having high hopes on things with low expectations, they’d work. Life became simpler, and it’s helped me get out of the hole I was in and helped me realize there isn’t a whole lot we can control in life. So I stopped expecting things to work out right and just let things fall how they did, and my stress has gone down and life became more enjoyable.
Feeling Whitney by Post Malone is the next up. Now, I know we write about country music, but this song just hits deep for me, so I felt the need to add it. This song was one I went back to a lot a few years back. I think it’s a song about loneliness, depression setting in from that loneliness. Along with that, I think it’s a song about shutting yourself in, keeping up your bad habits, and being self-destructive.
For me, it was a song that I went back to after losing someone close to me and the loneliness and depression setting in after losing them, then me going down a path of self-destructiveness. This isn’t one I am willing to talk about a lot from a personal side, but I do think it’s a good song to have on this list because it pulled me out of a dark time in my life.
The Letter by Southall was one I debated putting on this list because it’s a song about losing a girl and wishing you were still with her. That isn’t me. I don’t have an ex I miss. I don’t have one I wish I was still with, but there is one that messed me up mentally, and this song gave me peace with losing her the way I did.
As of now the chorus doesn’t mean anything to me, but at the time of her leaving the words “lay your head down on his pillow let him hold you tight” were words that hit me in the gut. I do want to hit on the lyrical side of this one pretty good. Starting with the first verse, we have the words “I remember all them nights we spent together I remember every single I love you hell, you’re better off without me but I’ll always have you in my heart and in my memory and I’ll keep you there ’til my days are few.” I remember every moment I was with her. I really don’t think about it anymore. I do think she’s better off without me, and I doubt she thinks about me because she sees nothing wrong with the things she did, but I’ll always hold a part of her in my heart and in memory, in my heart because I care and want the best for her, in my memories because what happened isn’t something I can forget.
Moving onto the next verse, “I heard you took up drinkin’ I guess you learned that from me.” I take that a different way because she was not a big fan of my actions and lifestyle at the time. When we broke up, she started doing all those same things she hated, so I guess she learned them from me.
The last line I want to hit on is “We were on the verge of that happiness why did it have to end so soon?” We weren’t far into the relationship when it ended. We were happy. We were doing great, and it ended. Before her I never had mental health issues. I changed the day everything happened with her. That whole year my life fell apart, and it all started when she left how she did, and it hasn’t stopped since. This was over four years ago, and it wasn’t until July 4th of this year I finally started to feel better and do better. But I hope she’s doing better. I hope she’s happy.
Suicide prevention is something that is very important to me, not only as someone who has lost someone to suicide, but also as someone who has suffered the ideation and horrors of living with suicidal thoughts, actions, and depression. Music is and was and always will be my way of coping. These songs are some of the ones that have gotten me through the worst and hardest points in my life.
-Kynny
Please Don’t Go – Wyatt Flores
I discovered the song when it was first released. At the time of discovery, I was in a very dark place, struggling with my identity and who I was. The lyrics to this song really resonated with me. The concept of pleading “please don’t go” really stuck with me as an anthem and affirmation. For 2 years, it was a reminder to myself to stick around even though times truly were getting hard.
Let You Down – Zach Bryan
I discovered this song around the same time as Please Don’t Go, but it really didn’t become an anthem until mid to late 2024. I began dealing with extremely harmful behaviors and honestly felt like I was going off the deep end. I was terrified of myself. I felt like such a letdown. How had I managed to lose everything I had worked for, my whole life, and myself in the span of 2 years? I knew I was still good at heart, and I knew I could be saved deep down, and the lyrics “and I am not the evil that you make me out to be, I will let you down and that’s a damn guarantee” really stuck with me at the time. I felt so alone and like no one else felt the way I did, but hearing this song put my thoughts into music made me feel a little less alone.
I’m Still Fine – The Red Clay Strays
This song genuinely may have saved my life, and I don’t mean that lightly. I don’t think I’ve ever had lyrics resonate more. 2024 was the worst year of my life, and when I reached 2025, I was still struggling. Hearing the lyrics “I’ve been through hell but I’ll be alright” really made me reflect. If I had made it through the absolute nightmare that was 2024, I could make it through anything, and you know what, I’m still fine and I’ll be alright.
Angels Over You – Wyatt Flores
This song was released months after a very, very difficult time in my life, and I was still coping with the pain. The concept of divine protection and making it through the hell I’d been through was a very comforting thought that helped me fight through my depression and spiraling. I also just really love the lyric “every breath is a blessing better make it count” because that’s pretty much what I live by now.
Orange Bottles – Wyatt Flores
Yeah, yeah, judge me for another Wyatt song, I DON’T CARE. I remember hearing this song for the first time, and I remember exactly what I felt and even tweeted about it. This song made me want to get sober. The lyrics “what am I chasing, who have I become?” really hit me deep in my core. I was insanely suicidal at the time, dealing with substance abuse and basically drowning my problems away in whatever I could get my hands on. One night, while super messed up, this song came on, and I started crying. I knew I had to get sober then and there. I looked in the mirror and thought, “no really, who have I become?” I didn’t recognize myself anymore. This song is a huge part of the reason I got sober, as I’m not sure I would’ve had that self-reflective moment without it… and by the way… that’s part of why Wyatt Flores’ music means so much to me.
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