The Best Songs About Healing and Recovery

Music, and especially lyrics, have always held a special place in my heart for their power to make you feel like you’re not alone in the world. Sometimes songs put into words exactly how you’re feeling but never knew how to say, and I think that is an incredibly special and useful tool in life. Since recovering from Whipple surgery, music has been especially valuable to me and has calmed me down or gotten me to sleep during especially hard times. I put together this list of my favourite healing/recovery songs along with the lyrics that make them so special in case they’re useful for anyone else!

In Repair – John Mayer Favourite lyrics:

I’m in repair, I’m not together but I’m getting there

Everybody Knows – John Legend Favourite lyrics:

‘Cause everybody knows but nobody really knows,
How to make it work, or how to ease the hurt.

Be OK – Ingrid Michaelson Favourite lyrics:
Just give me back my pieces
Just give them back to me please
Just give me back my pieces
And let me hold my broken parts

I just want to be okay, be okay, be okay
I just want to be okay today
War of My Life – John Mayer Favourite lyrics:
All the suffering
And all the pain
Never left a name, oh

I’m in the war of my life
At the door of my life
Out of time and there’s nowhere to run

I’m in the war of my life
At the core of my life
Got no choice but to fight ’till it’s done
Faith – Celine Dion Favourite lyrics:

Faith!
Right beside you is where I’ll stay
It’s not too late
Just take me as I am, so please, have faith, in me

Heal Over – KT Tunstall Favourite lyrics:

Doesn’t take a genius to realize
That sometimes life is hard
It’s gonna take time
But you’ll just have to wait
You’re gonna be fine
But in the meantime

Come over here lady
Let me wipe your tears away
Come a little nearer baby
Coz you’ll heal over
Heal over
Heal over someday

And the Healing Has Begun – Van Morrison Favourite lyrics:

When you hear the music ringin’ in your soul
And you feel it in your heart and it grows and grows
And it comes from the backstreet rock & roll and the healing has begun

A Little Bit Stronger – Sara Evans Favourite lyrics:

I know my heart will never be the same
But I’m telling myself I’ll be okay
Even on my weakest days
I get a little bit stronger

Dog Days are Over – Florence & the Machine Favourite lyrics:

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run

Recover – Natasha Bedingfield Favourite lyrics:

We will recover
The worst is over, now.
All those fires we’ve been walking through,
And still we survive, somehow.
We will recover
The worst is behind
And it hurts, but in time, I know that we will recover.

I’m Gonna Win – Foreigner Favourite lyrics:

I’m gonna win
I’m gonna win
I tell you, see when it comes down to the crunch
I’ve gotta beat life to the punch
I’m gonna win

Fix You – Coldplay Favourite lyrics:

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can’t replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

My Silver Lining – First Aid Kit Favourite lyrics:

Something good comes with the bad
A song’s never just sad
There’s hope, there’s a silver lining
Show me my silver lining

By the Grace of God – Katy Perry Favourite lyrics:

By the grace of God
There was no other way
I picked myself back up
I knew I had to stay
I put one foot in front of the other
And I looked in the mirror
And decided to stay
Wasn’t gonna let love take me out that way

Swim – Jack’s Mannequin Favourite lyrics:

You gotta swim
Swim in the dark
There’s an ocean to drift in
Feel the tide shifting away from this war
Yeah you gotta swim
Don’t let yourself sink
Just follow the horizon
I promise you it’s not as far as you think

Light Me Up – Ingrid Michaelson Favourite lyrics:

And I want to keep us all alive
And I want to see you with my eyes
But I see you in the fireflies
And how extraordinary is that

Light me up again
Light me up again

Breathe – Anna Nalick Favourite lyrics:

‘Cause you can’t jump the track, we’re like cars on a cable
And life’s like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button girl,
So cradle your head in you hands
And breathe, just breathe,
Whoa breathe, just breathe

Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol Favourite lyrics:

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I don’t quite know
How to say
How I feel

Those three words
Are said too much
They’re not enough

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Let It Be – The Beatles Favourite Lyrics:

And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Oh, let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
There will be an answer, let it be